CCCWC March 2012 competition results
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51 clues entered. 45 votes cast (42 competitors, 3 others).
A “GMT” word (Letters Latent)
An intriguing contest. I usually wonder (worry!) whether these special contests will arouse the ususal levels of interest, but I should have no fear – you always rise to the challenge – and what a wonderful selection of GMT words were chosen!
There was a close fight between 1st and 2nd this month, and then a little way back another close fight for 3rd-5th!
Congratulations to last year's champion on regaining form with some neat wordplay – well done Mike! Very pleased to see a certain Mr Francis pop up in that close 2nd spot – a renowned expert from another field of word gaming – welcome Darryl, and commiserations for just missing out with the most succinct clue.
John McCabe nicked 3rd spot from Rob, and JT completed the podium of 5 different target words!
Well done to all – thanks for the entertainment!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Mike Baker | A ring – expression of love from a boyfriend? (7) | Grommet; ROMEO – O | 56.5 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 39 | darryl.francis | Severest frosts (8) | Grimmest: severest = grimmest; frosts = rimes | 51.5 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | 37 | John McCabe | Ruling body in disarray? No, never. (10) | GOVERNMENT;(gmt+nonever)* | 35 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | 47 | Rob Jones | Usain's first lane mix-up results in a bronze (8) | GUNMETAL – UNEAL – U + Anag. | 33.5 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | 45 | John Tozer | Tumbler's very nasty contents (7) | GYMNAST as YNAS; hidden | 30.5 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 25 | Don Manley | Groan — he's misfit here (11) | (G)OR(M)ENGHAS(T): anag. & lit., Ref Titus Groan in Mervyn Peake trilogy | 30 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | 36 | Dave Howard | Ring the Pope's residence (7) | GROMMET = Ring . GROMMET – ROME = GMT | 27 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | 8 | John Appleton | Brilliant rock melodies on Elvis covers (8) | GEMSTONE = ESONE; hidden in (covered by) melodiES ON Elvis | 26 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | 23 | Paul Coulter | Game tarts could be sorest (9) | gRUm+PIESt [Apologies to Cyclops] | 24.5 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | Barry Solomons | Being out of work without a penny, it can be boring! (6) | GIMLET..a tool for boring….GMT / ILE…..…out of work..I(d)LE…..d = penny. | 20.5 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | 26 | David Brown | Groan – he's playing here? (11) | (GORMENGHAST) Anagram GROANHES &lit | 20.5 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | 43 | Dave Parfitt | The timeless Groans in novel form (11) | (G)OR(M)ENGHAS(T); (t)HE + GROANS all anag. & lit. | 20.5 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | 10 | Circle Italy's capital (7) | 2 defs. GROMMET/ ROME | 19 | 1 | 3 | |
| 13 | 33 | Nerve aroused by charged matter (8) | UP+ION (GUMPTION) | 19 | 2 | 1 | |
| 15 | 44 | They're just made for boring French islands! (7) | Gimlets (made for boring) minus GMT leaves iles (Fr islands) | 18.5 | 3 | 3 | |
| 16 | 2 | A mate twitching, spotted bird rarely seen (8) | GAMBETTA anag; rare form of GAMBET, a spotted redshank (Ch) | 18 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | 12 | Cocktail priest knocked back (6) | gimlet; Eli (rev) | 15.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 18 | 22 | French king in the wrong trousers? (6) | GROMIT ROI = Fr for 'king' Wallace and Gromit best known for 'The Wrong Trousers' | 15 | 0 | 3 | |
| 18 | 34 | No more news about European sovereignty (10) | GOVERNMENT – OVERNEN no more = OVER, news = NN, European = E, sovereignty = def, OVER+N(E)N | 15 | 2 | 4 | |
| 20 | 42 | Tactic used by English openers against India (6) | GAMBIT; English openers=AB; India=I (Phonetic alphabet) | 14.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| 21 | 4 | Argon, helium and uranium refined here? No, oil is! (11) | GRANGEMOUTH (Grangemouth Oil Refinery is major UK oil refinery). Anag. ARGON HE and U (+GMT). Def. 'refined here? no, oil is' | 13.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 22 | 7 | Briefly out of the office for a meeting (5) | GEMOT. EO = ex officio | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| 23 | 16 | Decoration has inner defects (12) | Direct: Decoration = GarnishMenT has inner = arnishen (defects = anagram indicator) | 9.5 | 3 | 2 | |
| 24 | 11 | Cocktail makes Eli drunk (6). | Gimlet. Def/anag of "ile". | 7 | 0 | 2 | |
| 24 | 49 | Woman likely to use stick to thrash rear – "The Dragon" (16) | great-grandmother: anag. 'rear the dragon' | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| 26 | 40 | She reads shadows when at their shortest. (9) | GNOMONIST (sundial creator) – GMT = NOON IS (when shadows are at their shortest). GNOMONIST from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition. | 6.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 26 | 41 | Some somersaulting thus could be athletic (9) | GYMNASTIC [YNASIC: ANY (some) somersaulting = YNA; thus = SIC; athletic = definition] | 6.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 28 | 24 | Groan. He's cancelled Peake's series (11) | GORMENGHAST minus "Groan. He's". Titus Groan is the subject of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series of books. | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
| 28 | 28 | I shun violent characters (8) | (GUNSMITH). anag & lit | 6 | 0 | 8 | |
| 30 | 18 | Drive skied, then iron leaks right (8) | GUMPTION = drive; skied = UP + I(R)ON | 5.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 31 | 15 | Darkest night becomes light! (8) | Grimmest. GMT plus rimes | 4.5 | 0 | 6 | |
| 32 | 13 | complaining most, setter seen in Russian capital shouting first (10) | Grumbliest or rublies (I seen in Ruble plus s) | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 32 | 38 | Said to be a friend of Wallis, but more exotic (7) | GROMMET. Double homophone (Said to be …); ref Wallace and Gromit. Anag MORE; indicator: exotic | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 34 | 51 | Young one tumbling with two poles? (7) | GYMNAST: Y(oung) + anagram(A,N,S); &lit. (re: the asymmetric bars) | 3.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 35 | 1 | 18th Century Irish playwright managed his own production (9) | GoldsMiTh ; *(hisold) | 3 | 1 | 5 | |
| 35 | 46 | Turner movingly depicted Shakespeare's fledgeling hawk (7) | GYMNAST (YNAS = NYAS* – (old form of EYAS = unfledged hawk, both in Chambers) ; Turner = gymnast (U.S. usage). | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 37 | 9 | Church washer (7) | Answer GROMMET; grommet = washer; Rome = Roman Catholic Church | 2.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 37 | 30 | More active, young Australian surfer (7) | GROMMET (7) = (In Australia) young surfer; GROMMET – G M T = ROME Wordplay (for ROME) = anagram of MORE suggested by 'active' | 2.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 39 | 21 | Foreign Legionnaire missing! The French note development in the case. (11) | (GerMinaTion) anag=(foreign) of legionnaire (missing)-le -g(note); def.= development in the (seed) case | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 39 | 31 | Most obdurate coatings (8) | GRIMMEST | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 41 | 19 | Eternity objectified in ring (7) | GROMMET: ROME aka The Eternal City contained within GROMMET, which is a type of ring. | 1.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 42 | 17 | Directions by higher authority (10) | GOVERNMENT: NE + N by (=beside) OVER (=higher) + GMT = (G)OVER-N(M)E-N(T)(=authority) | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 42 | 50 | Yields the eucalyptus in a department in the North of France (7) | GUMTREE: Definition is "a tree that yields the eucalyptus" and "department in the north of France" is "EURE" ( anagram of "uree" ) i.e GUMTREE with the GMT removed. | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 44 | 32 | Neat "ought" I sought, primarily (7) | Gnomist = A writer of pithy and sententious sayings, generally in verse, embodying some moral sentiment or precept (Chambers) N + O + I + S (initials) & lit. | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 44 | 35 | One dwells upon common sense (8) | GUMPTION,upion | 0.5 | 1 | 4 | |
| 46 | 5 | Aries on calendar not the Fish containing – this? Not entirely! (11) | (G)RA(M)MA(T)ICAL. (The) RAM + CAL(endar) containing AI (a Japanese fish – see Chambers, cf Pisces). The words “Aries…containing” are not entirely “grammatical”. Also, GMT is not in effect for the whole of Aries & the s.i., as required, does not contain GMT. | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 46 | 14 | Courage to charge up first. (8) | [Courage] to charge (ION) up (UP) first. GuMpTion | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 46 | 20 | Foodie oddly using takeaway – no curries for him! (7) | gourmet / oure / no curries with odd letters taken away | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 46 | 27 | Heather takes one direction for century, and another to begin to grow. (9) | Heather (ERICA) takes one direction (N) for century (C) [giving ERINA], and another (another direction, E) [giving ERINAE] to begin to grow (definition of gERmINAtE) | 0 | 0 | ||
| 46 | 29 | It could create most misery!(8) | GRIMMEST, MISER(y)* = RIMES &lit | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 46 | 48 | Without it, Aramaic formerly followed the rules of language (9) | A(='it')+ra+ma+ic (G)RA(M)MA(T)IC = formerly, according to the rules of grammar. | 0 | 0 | 1 |