CCCWC February competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 43: Who's this we find swimming in fresh hot waters?
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A clue to TETRA.
4 comments refer to this clue
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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| This was a friendly word to clue, but the temptation to go for an obvious anagram or a hidden was strong, and many of the clues were just too easy. 34 managed a good misleading definition and 3, 9, 24 and 43 had nice surfaces, so they got my marks. A few comments on the rest: 1. Too many unwarranted exclamation marks. What has 42 done to deserve two? 2. I can't accept 'offensive' indicates 'Tet'. The other way round would be ok (just). 3. If you're cluing TETRA as a prefix, you need to indicate this clearly. 'Tetra-' may do the same job as 'four-' but 'tetra' doesn't mean 'four'. |
| 2. |
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5 pts: Clue 5 - Not the most fluent clue, but 'Chromatic scales' is really excellent 4 pts: Clue 9 - Much the best worded of clues using the 'batter' treatment 3 pts: Clue 43 - Very good &lit 2 pts: Clue 3 1 pt: Clue 11 - I would have preferred a comma to a full stop, and no exclamation mark, but otherwise very good wording
Near misses:
29 - Another good &lit, but the definition reading isn't quite as smooth as clue 43.
34 - Needs a capital for 'Net' in the surface reading
16 - Almost very good but 'Hardly' is superfluous to the cryptic reading; clue 15, on the other hand, needs a question mark |
| 3. |
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I think the few definitions of this word limited this competition just a bit.
My 1st (five points) is, last but not least in your list, the 43rd of the 43. I'm not a fan of long composite anagrams but this is an excellent short one esp as the extra letters (WHO'S) are not extraneous and tie in very well with the word. 2nd (4 points) No 38 - a top quality &lit which read very smoothly. 3rd (3pts) No 9 just edging out No 10 (2 pts) which used the same idea. Finally 5th (1pt) No 36. |
| 4. |
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| 1st= (3 points each): 24. "Odd glimpses of The Eternal that could come to those fishing on lake?" [not sure if the question mark is really necessary, but an old idea done very well] and 32. "Seconds from stifling Ken, Otto brazenly eats a fish" [remarkably fortunate but extremely clever] 3rd (2 points): 21. "It's great foremost in tank, less good battered!" [unnecessary exclam but a nice idea excellently done] 4th= (1.5 points each): 11. "Fish paste.Traditional sandwiches!" [messy punctuation - a dash would I think have improved it, but otherwise an excellent hidden, the best of several], 30. "Retrospective of paintings, etc, etc - no place for severed head of cow or confounded fish in tanks?" [too long and cumbersome, but a very good idea that just about works], 37. "Tank group offensive, supported by gunners" [rather banal wordplay but a very nice definition which is I think OK: is it the name of a group?] and 43. "Who's this we find swimming in fresh hot waters?" [almost a very good comp. anag., marred by the "hot", which suggests the water that comes from a hot tap]. 8th = (0.5 points each): 3. "Brilliant swimmer's caught in elaborate trap" [unexciting but sound] and 9. "Fish in batter topped with dressing" [quite nice, but the anagram indicator is a bit weak] |
