CCCWC March 2013 competition results
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54 clues entered. 45 votes cast (40 competitors, 5 others).
EASTER (Misprints)
It would seem that most competitors enjoyed this slight variation on the misprints theme and it certainly threw up some interesting and clever clues.
A familiar name re-emerged at the top though. So our Annual Champ for the past two years notches his first win of 2013 – well done Mike – and as we know, a bit of not-too-risque smut always goes down well with the voters!
John grabs his second 2nd place this year – achieving an &lit. in this type is always commendable, so tough luck on just missing out again.
Dave returns to his recent good form by taking 3rd spot with the slightly more felicitously worded Listener clue.
Hearty congratulations to Kiran, a staunch supporter of this competition for many years without much success, so great to see a 4th place podium finish for you.
Final plaudits go to Peter for his 5th spot with the other "Listener" clue.
Thanks and well done to everyone for an entertaining competition!
Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Mike Baker | Breasts are jiggling; bra's sadly lacking control | Master (verb) = control; Anag. minus anag. | 69 | 0 | 6 |
2 | 13 | John Appleton | Follower of Lent? | &lit; Misprint is FASTER (one who fasts at Lent). Easter, of course, follows Lent. | 56.5 | 2 | 10 |
3 | 53 | Dave Parfitt | Virtuoso set crackers in The Listener | MASTER; SET anag. in EAR; ref. The Listener crossword | 41 | 0 | 6 |
4 | 8 | Kiran Parekh | Difficult teaser is not so difficult | Anagram of teaser and easier | 31 | 0 | 8 |
5 | 30 | Peter Cargill | Not so hard puzzle set in The Listener | STE(*ind by 'puzzle')in EAR; not so hard=EASIER; ref The Listener (Sat Times) very difficult crossword | 24.5 | 3 | 3 |
6 | 4 | Pete Milne | Base on which swivel seat runs? | Caster. E(base)+SEAT*+R(runs). &lit | 22 | 2 | 7 |
7 | 1 | David Harry | A bum steer – a dud | bum2 = waster; anag. 'STEER A'; | 20 | 1 | 3 |
7 | 42 | Bhalchandra Pasupathy | Skipper's always about when close to port | E'ER(ever/always) outside AS(when)+T(last letter of port); def: skipper = (M)ASTER(ship's captain); [all as per Chambers] | 20 | 0 | 6 |
9 | 16 | Margaret Irvine | Get the hang of sin, originally, biting into apple | MASTER = get the hang of; S in eater = apple suitable for eating raw (C) | 19.5 | 4 | 5 |
10 | 33 | Don Manley | Prodigal son? Type to enjoy fatted calf, having rejected father initially | WASTER,(f)easter, Luke chap.15 | 18 | 4 | 3 |
10 | 41 | John Nicholson | See art nouveau as original | (SEE ART)* = Master | 18 | 1 | 6 |
12 | 32 | Perfect Asian flower | Perfect (v.) = MASTER; E + ASTER | 16.5 | 0 | 4 | |
13 | 27 | More relaxed when out of uniform, otherwise austere | 'More relaxed' = EASIER; *A(U)STERE | 15.5 | 2 | 3 | |
14 | 17 | I sample food before the queen eats out | Misprint TASTER. Definition "I sample food". Wordplay for Easter: eats* er | 15 | 2 | 1 | |
15 | 6 | Consumer sipping a sample of Syrah? | Wordplay: EATER sipping S(yrah). Definition: TASTER, as given by whole clue, so an &lit. of sorts | 14.5 | 1 | 4 | |
15 | 52 | Use a sterile environment for sample | Hidden word. Sample = taster | 14.5 | 1 | 5 | |
17 | 25 | Messy eaters will get just a small portion of course (6) | EASTER anag of eaters indicated by messy. TASTER just a small portion of course | 14 | 2 | 7 | |
17 | 26 | Models see art teacher | models (anagrind): see art (easter): teacher = Master | 14 | 1 | 4 | |
19 | 50 | The lines on a television set are interference. | Misprint = Raster. : Easter from "set are" – "interference" as anagram indicator. | 13.5 | 1 | 7 | |
20 | 19 | In essence, a sterile, unproductive animal? | WASTER (Chambers – "an animal…not suitable for breeding purposes"). Hidden. Semi-&lit. | 12.5 | 3 | 4 | |
20 | 51 | This entomic region starts behind middle sections of bee and wasp | (e + as + t + e + r & lit.; gaster) | 12.5 | 2 | 3 | |
22 | 35 | Reset a switch to get cathode ray pattern. | "Reset a" anag. of Easter "switch" indicates change of order "cathode ray pattern" is "raster" (Oxford Concise) | 11 | 0 | 4 | |
22 | 49 | Tea's terrible with this type of sugar | tEA'S TERrible, def=caster | 11 | 0 | 7 | |
24 | 29 | Non-consumer in a Consumer Society | faster; S in eater | 10.5 | 3 | 2 | |
25 | 14 | Food quality assessor eats stew with hesitation (6) | Food quality assessor=TASTER, eats stew=EAST, hesitation=ER | 9.5 | 1 | 5 | |
26 | 7 | Consumer society's in control | Wordplay: S in EATER; Definition: 'control' = MASTER as verb (meaning to lord over, dominate – Merriam-Webster) | 8 | 1 | 2 | |
26 | 11 | Festival for a Muslim in July, possibly | Festival = Easter; a Muslim in July, possibly = Faster (Ramadan). | 8 | 0 | 10 | |
26 | 34 | Relax, begin revising, take time to learn | EAS(T)E+R [MASTER] | 8 | 2 | 2 | |
29 | 12 | Festival time waster (6) | 'Festival time' = EASTER | 6 | 0 | 7 | |
29 | 28 | No new oriental guru (6) | No new oriental: EASTERN less N, Guru – Master | 6 | 0 | 3 | |
29 | 37 | Sample Sauternes cocktail beneath parasol perhaps (6) | Sample = taster; anag Sauternes without sun | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
32 | 2 | A director usually releases teaser | teaser*; def. CASTER | 5.5 | 0 | 3 | |
32 | 23 | It's the end of the diet he's on. | End of Lent (Easter) On a diet (Faster) | 5.5 | 0 | 5 | |
34 | 21 | Is sage a drug plant? | SAGE (def. of MASTER) = E (drug) + ASTER (plant) | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
35 | 10 | Feast on piece of cake! (6) | feast = easter. piece of cake = easIer | 4.5 | 0 | 8 | |
35 | 18 | Idler: term of abuse as applied to chumps in unemployment zone, right? | WASTER e as t e r term & chump = end | 4.5 | 1 | 3 | |
35 | 45 | Take a steroid extract with more speed | takE A STERoid (extract); FASTER (with more speed) | 4.5 | 3 | 2 | |
38 | 48 | Teacher's breasts are saggy without bras | (BREASTS+ARE-BRAS)*, saggy – anag. ind., Teacher – MASTER | 3.5 | 3 | 7 | |
39 | 46 | Take absolute control after invading overseas territory. | MASTER = t.a.control… overs(eas ter)ritory | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
40 | 44 | Spendthrift Greek star backs euro | Greek star (ASTER *) backs (follows) euro (E); Def = spendthrift (WASTER); (* from ancient Greek, hence 'asterisk', 'asteroid' etc) | 2.5 | 1 | 3 | |
41 | 22 | It's on the heels of a fast vessel | It's on the heels of a fast = wordplay for Easter (ref. preceding period of Lent); def.: (for CASTER) = VESSEL | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
41 | 24 | Lent fellow salt in diner (8) | EA(S)TER/ Lent fellow = FASTER | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
41 | 39 | Scanning lines from novel about assam and ceylon. | Raster (scanning lines) novel (=anag) re (=about) + teas | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
41 | 40 | See art involved making sampler | anag of see art; taster | 2 | 0 | 6 | |
41 | 47 | Tantalise… let top slip down roguishly – initially giving just a sample | TEASE, move T down to give EASTE, + R(oguishly), sample=TASTER (this works best as a down clue) | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
41 | 54 | When the stone rolled away, it revealed a revolutionary movement | When the stone rolled away – Easter; it revealed a revolutionary movement – caster | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
47 | 20 | Irrational Goldilocks, say, has a bit to try (6) | e + aster = taster | 1.5 | 1 | 5 | |
48 | 3 | Are joining set embroidering sampler | areset*; sampler = taster | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
49 | 15 | Food sampler's hesitation holding dodgy eats | TASTER ER round EATS* | 0.5 | 1 | 7 | |
49 | 31 | Orient queen more simply | orient+queen = east+er. More simply = easier | 0.5 | 0 | 4 | |
51 | 9 | 'e and 'er, collecting a season ticket initially, headed off to the Orient long ago. | Wordplay = e [ast] er; def = "headed off to the Orient long ago" = easted. (Ref: Leyton Orient Football Club). | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
51 | 36 | Riddle, after second time, is less difficult | TEASER (=riddle) with T(ime) after S(econd) / def=EASIER | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
51 | 38 | Sampler gets extremely eager after spreading eats (6) | Sampler (definition of TASTER, which results from misprinting of the first letter of EASTER as T), gets (link), extremely eager(ER) after (position indicator), spreading(anagram indicator) and eats (fodder, which yields EAST) | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
51 | 43 | Somehow Teresa may gain control we hear | anag(teresa); gain control = master | 0 | 0 | 9 |