CCCWC July 2015 competition results
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62 clues entered. 50 votes cast (44 competitors, 6 others).
POUNCE
Our closest competition for a long time, and not surprising as there were some very neat clues. Pete Milne squeezed home in the final furlong – straight to the top after a little gap in his competing. Very well done Pete, excellent &lit!
The unlucky bridesmaid back in 2nd was Steve Randall – just one point adrift – an elegant clue with a convincing surface. Hard lines Steve especially after the 3rd place last month, I'm sure it won't be too long before he is matching his excellent successes in the Sunday Times clue writing competition!
An even narrower gap to 3rd place – 1/2 point back was John Tozer. It looked on the cards for John to do the double after his win in the Azed MILESTONE (well done JT!), but sadly he drifted a little at the end despite that ingenious use of Oz in his wordplay.
Barry Solomons is another starting to make regular visits to the podium and his effort was not too far back in 4th spot, with a clue that's surface cleverly disguised the wordplay breakdown.
Finally, I am absolutely delighted to welcome Denis Borris aboard the podium for his first time. Denis has been a staunch supporter of the CCCWC for many years, and is one of our intrepid international members who takes on the challenge of composing clues in what is not his first language – very well done Denis, I am really pleased that all your efforts have reaped some reward!
Thanks to all competitors for an excellent month – you all deserve a rest – sit back in that CHESTERFIELD!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47 | Pete Milne | Set upon with tips of claws extended | Anagram of UPON plus C plus E. &lit | 44.5 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | 12 | Steve Randall | Eagerly seize parking spot | Eagerly seize=pounce, parking=P, spot=OUNCE | 43.5 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 9 | John Tozer | Cowardly Lion couldn't do it, needing Oz power first? | P + ounce; ref. The Wizard of Oz | 43 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | 8 | Barry Solomons | Converting upon joining the Church, maybe a big leap? | (anag) upon + CE = Church of England | 37.5 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | 22 | Denis Borris | Jump once, up high! (6) | direct = jump; anagram of "once up: high (drunk) = indicator. | 31 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 32 | Margaret Irvine | On Ron's dismissal, declare wildcat strike? | pronounce minus ron, cryptic def | 30 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | 56 | Paul Coulter | There's no end of money at church vault | POUNd+CE | 29 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 25 | Tom Borland | Launch of predatory leopard? | P + OUNCE; &lit. | 25.5 | 2 | 4 |
| 9 | 29 | Dave Howard | No puce fashions for spring, unexpectedly | NO PUCE*/fashions = anagrind / spring unexpectedly = definition | 24.5 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | 11 | Dave Parfitt | Display of power by snow leopard? | P + OUNCE & lit. (ie the word POUNCE is itself a display of 'P' by 'OUNCE') | 22 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | 7 | Claw hammer almost taking one's head off | Def = Claw, POUN[d] + [a]CE. ('s = has) | 21 | 0 | 5 | |
| 12 | 38 | Powder up once | Anagram &Lit | 19 | 0 | 4 | |
| 13 | 60 | What mousers do upon startled mice, eliminating half | what mousers do = def; UPON* +(mi)CE | 16.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 14 | 51 | Starts to change Euros after pound dropped last spring | POUN(d) + C(hange) E(uros); definition spring | 15.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| 15 | 19 | Jump conclusively shown by cat | p + ounce, & lit. | 14.5 | 3 | 1 | |
| 16 | 28 | Made-up opulence without the French powder of cuttlebone. | made-up(anag)of OPU(le)NCE+def | 14 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | 26 | Leap finally taken by wild cat? (6) | leaP finally=P; wild cat=OUNCE; &Lit | 12 | 1 | 2 | |
| 17 | 39 | Power is provided by Jaguar — when Morse, in hot pursuit, decides to? | P + ounce, ref. Inspector Morse | 12 | 1 | 2 | |
| 17 | 49 | Spring bash cut short by church | A charade of POUN[d] (‘bash’ minus the last letter, ‘cut short’) plus CE (‘church’). | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| 20 | 16 | Jaguar after parking no longer in use: puncture. | Pounce=puncture (obsolete); p+ounce=jaguar. | 11.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 21 | 55 | The snow leopard stalking prey's beginning to leap | P(rey) followed by OUNCE(the snow leopard); def: to leap | 10.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 22 | 35 | pennyweight of powder | p + ounce; definition | 9.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| 22 | 61 | What quiet cat might do ? | Quiet= p , cat = ounce. Whole clue definition. | 9.5 | 3 | 3 | |
| 24 | 33 | One cup's plastic mug | ONE+CUP*; mug=attack | 9 | 0 | 3 | |
| 25 | 31 | Old puncture resulting from parking jaguar | P + OUNCE … pounce=puncture(obs) | 8.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 26 | 5 | Big cat following bit of prey in sudden attack (6) | OUNCE following P(rey); sudden attack – defn (noun) | 8 | 0 | 1 | |
| 26 | 15 | Ground cuttlebone pod could be bottled this (6) | Comp Anag; & Lit | 8 | 1 | 3 | |
| 26 | 27 | Leopard follows its heart to seize prey | OUNCE (snow leopard) after P ("heart" of leopard) | 8 | 2 | 3 | |
| 26 | 57 | Trace wobbly upper-case 'O' with pen | pounce2 (Chambers Dict.) + anagram [uc, o, pen] | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| 30 | 18 | Jump and crash upon church (6) | def.: jump; wordplay: (UPON)* + CE (church), anagram indicator: crash | 7.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 30 | 58 | What a cat may do with a morsel of prey in front? | P(rey) + OUNCE. Semi-&lit. | 7.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 32 | 21 | Jump on money endlessly given to church. (6) | MONEY ENDLESSLY [POUN(D)] + CHURCH [CE] GIVES POUNCE [JUMP ON]. | 7 | 1 | 3 | |
| 32 | 50 | Spring camp one takes in may be attended by all. | Def/camp one = ponce ("an effeminate, posturing man")around "u" (as in "u-certificate"). | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| 34 | 40 | Puncture vintage Jaguar on parking | OUNCE after P | 6.5 | 1 | 4 | |
| 34 | 53 | Swoop down upon this in France? | Def: swoop down= pounce; anagram of upon +ce(This in French)=pounce | 6.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 34 | 62 | What, softly, big cat might execute | P+OUNCE & Lit | 6.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 37 | 36 | Pink Panther? Top Cat! | P + OUNCE and ref 1960/70s cartoons | 6 | 0 | 3 | |
| 38 | 3 | A pennyweight of powder. | A (P)ennyweight(OUNCE), of powder = def. | 5.5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 39 | 2 | 1% of a pound on 6.25% of another? That's quite a leap! | 1% of a pound (£) = P on 6.25% of another (lb) = OUNCE. That's quite a leap! (definition) | 5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 39 | 23 | Jump the river uncle Noel. | River (PO) + UNCLE no L | 5 | 1 | 4 | |
| 39 | 42 | Quiet feline likely to do this? | Quiet P + ounce (feline) | 5 | 3 | 4 | |
| 42 | 4 | At first puma, a cat, is inclined to do this | first puma = P, cat = ounce; A cat pounces. | 4.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 43 | 10 | Discarded Pink Panther, maybe soft in the beginning | p ounce | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| 44 | 13 | Eagerly seize penny – fraction of pound | P + OUNCE | 3 | 5 | 1 | |
| 44 | 17 | Jaguar's parking leading to early puncture | OUNCE (jaguar) after P (pressure) | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 46 | 45 | Scramble upon mice – not half ! | Anagram less 'mi' and literally | 2.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 47 | 14 | Edgar Allan keeps a foreign cent to swoop. | Edgar Allan POE keeping a foreign UN cent C or PO(UN+C)E to swoop or POUNCE. | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 47 | 30 | Not even propugnacled? A sudden attack's an inevitable consequence | Propugnacled = having ramparts, battlemented (Obs. nonce-wd (OED)); PrOpUgNaClEd (not even), sudden attack = def.. | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 47 | 48 | Smeared one cup of fine charcoal powder (6) | ONECUP* | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 47 | 54 | Term for a bound by big cat | d + ounce term = end in Ch | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 51 | 34 | Pelt from quiet big cat | Pelt = pounce (hammer to emboss) – p (quiet in music) + ounce (snow leopard) | 1.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 51 | 63 | Wildcat follows quietly in order to leap upon prey. | Wildcat = ounce, following p (quietly), then def. | 1.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 53 | 52 | Strike upon changed extremes of climate | Def=strike, upon* c (limat) e | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 53 | 59 | What comes of a leopard finding head of prey ahead (6) | P(head of prey) ahead of OUNCE (a leopard); Semi-&lit | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 55 | 20 | Jump on leader of ultras in Puerto Rican port (6) | U in PONCE; 'jump on' is def. | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 55 | 37 | Pound an ounce for a fine powder? | P+OUNCE; def = a fine powder (formerly used to smooth and finish writing paper and soak up ink). | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 55 | 43 | Quietly the animal will attack | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 55 | 44 | Return to take fresh start and jump (6) | BOUNCE(=return)on taking a fresh start = POUNCE | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 59 | 6 | Bound to declare with Don's opening lost after rare dismissal | declare = pronounce [P(r/{D}on)OUNCE]; cricketer, Don Bradman] | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 59 | 24 | Launch a battery/power unit laced with uranium and carbon | P + ONE intertwined with U & C | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 59 | 41 | Put a play of words onto a measurement of butter. | The letter "P" goes in front of :ounce (which is a measurement) | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 59 | 46 | Seize portmanteau containing two weights | portmanteau word combining pound and ounce | 0 | 0 | 1 |