| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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#19. 5 points. Funny, clever, short.
#43. 4 points. Unusual indicator for deleting PI from EMPIRICAL, but I buy it.
#30. 3 points. Good surface reading and nice definition.
#11. 2 points. Not a soccer/football fan, but this seems like a clever play on a "hand" foul vis-a-vis "Hand of God". (Surely a Monty Python reference? "Ain't you never seen the Hand of God before?")
#13. 1 point. A good container clue; wasn't sure if there was a missing comma after "Kashmir" - that would have made it read better, I think. |
| 2. |
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| It It seemed to me that this word called for something light and witty, after the torture of TINSEL/BAUBLE. I thought clues 19 and 11 best exemplified this, and I'm giving the nod (5 points) to clue 19, which is lovely. 4 points to clue 11, which also made me smile. Third place and 3 points I give to clue 38, not least for an original theme. Fourth place I give to clue 6, which is very neat, and fifth place to clue 40, which I thought the best of the insurance claim efforts. Well done to the composers of all these. Near misses for clues 2,7,29, 36, 39 and 43. |
| 3. |
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| I would love to have given 5 points to 11 because of its conciseness and a theme no-one else found but it needs a PERHAPS at the start to make it work properly. It's just one example of a miracle; and also Chambers doesn't exactly support hand of God as a miracle Also liked 25 but not sure STREAKING is a good enough anag indicator 22 is nice but it's very easy to write that sort of clue and even easier to solve |
| 4. |
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Of the 47 clues, I was able very quickly to come up with a short-list of 11. Bearing in mind the clue word, I was a little surprised by how uninspiring some of the clues were. Poor surface readings abounded on many of the sound clues. However, as always, there were also a few brilliant ones.
Two that didn't quite make my short-list but are worthy of comment are:
11. 'Hand of God' claim re foul - This would be a fantastic clue if 'Hand of God' meant miracle, but Chambers does not seem to define it so.
43. Wonder if empirical formula = pi(x) - An interesting idea indeed, but I don't think it *quite* works.
My short-list:
3. Bush remarkably inflamed, for instance, by Liberal America's endless stirring - Excellent clue with misleading definition and associated surface reading.
6. Dodgy claim re bleeding statue? - Nice idea, but better executed in clue 34.
7. Email leaders of Roman church about possible grounds for canonization - Decent surface reading and a slightly different slant on the definition.
14. In problematical situation a class idiot's not going to be considered a prodigy! - A different approach. not sure it merited an exclamation mark.
19. LA, crime-free?! - Made me laugh, but on reconsideration not quite correct grammatically and perhaps pushing things a bit too far as a definition.
20. Law-breaker, perhaps, reversing vehicle in the distance - Interesting definition in a natural surface reading. Simple and fairly elegant.
30. One rarely sees this many drivers in a race - I liked the definition and, after some thought, 'many drivers' for RAC.
34. Preposterous claim re supernatural event - Straightforward and elegant.
35. Rehabilitation of this ever-blind: incredible marvel! - Best of the composite anagrams by far and not too contrived in trying to obtain an &lit clue. 'Ever-blind' is slightly weak.
42. Wonder drug seized by porter on remote station - Great way to bring in 'Wonder' as the definition. Completely misleading context for all parts of the clue and a very plausible surface reading.
48. What a martyr's original relic might generate? - Neat &lit clue. In my opinion it misses out slightly to some of the others because it is a bit too direct (i.e. no misleading context). |
| 5. |
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A good lot this month. The word lends itself to many interesting treatments.
1st = (3 points each): 38. "Sort of rice many Asians like for starters" [beautiful; pity the surface couldn't have said "as a starter" not "for starters", which doesn't seem quite grammatical if you think of miracle rice as a "starter"] and 40. "What initiates rapid conclusion to insurance claim? Blooming this!" [great fun] 3rd = (2 points each): 3. "Bush remarkably inflamed, for instance, by Liberal America's endless stirring" [very good, but I don't really like "by"] and 36. "Religious drama? High Carmel's setting for one" ["High Carmel" is a bit unnatural, but otherwise very nice]
5th (1.5 points): 11. "'Hand of God' claim re foul" [the definition perhaps needs a question mark, but the idea is good]
6th (1 point): 19. "LA, crime-free?!" [not strictly Ximenean this, but an amusing idea]
7th = (0.5 points each): 6. "Dodgy claim re bleeding statue?" [I couldn't separate this and 34, so included them both], 13. "In Kashmir a clearly wondrous event" [very simple but nice], 27. "New Year claim to promptness - it could be this, says R.T. Top tip? Omen?" [almost very good and rather fun, but I couldn't understand "Top tip", which doesn't seem to have anything to do with it], 34. "Preposterous claim re supernatural event" [see 6 above] and 48. "What a martyr's original relic might generate" [nice, but miracles tend to be more to do with workaday things so far as I can see, like disease and blindness and death] |
| 6. |
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I'm afraid I found most of what was offered to be either uninspiring or unacceptable for one reason or another. Many clues seemed cumbersome, which I thought wrong for a reasonably friendly word. Some of those I discarded were #2, #19, #24, #25, #40 and #44; although Chambers suggests that any surprising or unexpected event qualifies, clarity surely requires that what's described breaks natural law rather than merely being a pessimist's response to what isn't physically impossible. #24 has the additional weakness (sorry!) that the wordplay seemingly uses medians, not means. There were several entries containing padding or sections doing double duty (#17 - a shame because I liked "turbulent mill race", and #39) and some that required a change in word from wordplay to definition (such as #12 - artists or artists'?). #43 contained an attractive idea that I thought wasn't fully exploited.
My favourites (top to bottom) are
#11 "Re" is of course contrived, but worth it for the succinctness. Very elegant.
#7 Convincing surface and unambiguous definition.
#3 Although it reads clumsily, the picture is an attractive one
#30 I like the superficial blandness of the statement - the solver has no obvious way in.
#45 Very obvious solution - but then we're judging ideas, not simplicity! |
| 7. |
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Praise: I dumped any ideas that I had already rejected for my own lousy clue, so Claim re, re claim etc was rather too easy but 11's foul was a nicely judged misleading contextually well placed anagram indicator, and made me change my mind.
19 scored because I value brevity and had to figure out how tough it would be if we didn't already know the answer...
22 I liked but thought executed was rather strained to make the initial letters work. (Though what on earth could replace it is anyone's guess.)
30 I thought the gap between this and many was beautifully disguised
40 got on my list even though I felt blooming a slightly dodgy anagram indicator, just beating 24, where 'means' was very clever but I felt streched a point for middle (average, yes, but middle? - isn't that median?)
41 More brevity, but club a little obscure (compared to 'many drivers) and missed chance to incorporate driver.
45 I almost missed the subtle distinction of 'sings' not 'sing'.
Fainter praise:
Well, my own, obviously; then
3 L for Liberal not left?
16 smoky = smokey = too stretched
27 Flattering and deserved but overworked compound?
28 definition?
32 care? why?
36 High may help the biblical context but spoils the cryptic clue
39 should not contain 'a' 'a'? |
| 8. |
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I thought clue 11 was the stand-out from a reasonable list of clues, so my voting is:
Clue 11 5 points
Clue 39 4 points (I like this sort of partial and lit, even though I'm not sure it's strictly Ximenean)
Clue 30 3 points (slightly neater working of a good idea than the next one...)
Clue 2 2 points
Clue 6 1 point (humorous if somewhat irreverent) |
| 9. |
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| The 'Hand of God' clue (11) stands out so clearly that I'm sure it'll be a runaway winner - definitely in the 'wish I'd thought of that' category. I liked the definition in 3, using the opportunity a word like this gives for a specific (but misleading) reference. On the subject of definitions, a couple of clues (26, 28) seemed to lack them altogether. The latter may have had a clever +lit definition with a Biblical reference that passed me by, but in that case it needed to be pointed out in the explanation. And I don't like being over-picky with homonyms, but I can't make 'eau vin' sound like 'ova'. |
| 10. |
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I eliminated those where I thought the link words or anagram indicators were dodgy, the Smokey Robinson references (too obscure for me; might have been worth doing if we were cluing 'miracles' plural) and a few that I didn't really understand even with the explanations. Given the high submission rate, that still left quite a lot, so plenty of perfectly serviceable clues have gone unscored. Surprised that no-one went for the "Motorway unusually clear..." construction. That aside:
Four pts to no. 3: a nice disguised reference to a specific miracle, and a good surface reading. Three pts to no. 22: most of the &lits seemed strained but this one worked; also 'initials' clues can be very obvious but this one managed not to be. Two points to no. 30: RAC in MILE was a blindingly obvious construction, but this version of it was succinct and joined the def. to the subsidiary neatly. One pt to each of the following: No. 43: a clever use of mathematical notation to make a compound anagram, and didn't suffer (as several other compound anagrams did) from long-windedness. No. 38: 'sort of' nicely used both to indicate 'type of' and as anagram indicator, and the &lit def. was not bad. No. 11: 'claim re' is a bit of a giveaway anagram, but the image of Maradona was nicely conjured. No. 6: much the same reasoning. No. 13: def. was a bit pedestrian but kudos due to the only person to risk a 'hidden', and it works fine. No 8: Another capable compound anagram, not TOO long, and nice construction around the religious subject matter. |
| 11. |
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An excellent set of entries although many were easily spotted anagrams. Some clues were very good but for their containing an extra word or two that detracted from the overall strcuture. Some clues, I felt, were a little obscure without that little bit of finesse that turns the ordinary into the fascinating. I also felt that the numerous compound anagrams (of which I am not a big fan unless they have an innate beauty) did not quite hit the mark. My selection is as follows:
1st, 5pts 20: Law breaker, perhaps, reversing vehicle in the distance Parsimony with all the elements of a good and challenging clue
2nd, 4 pts 11 Hand of God claim re foul I like clues that make me smile while still abiding by the rules of compilation. A clever reference to a "miracle" and sufficiently devious to put one off the scent.
3rd, 3 pts 46 Wonder when I'm turning left in channel Almost made this 2nd equal but felt the humour in 11 just pipped it. A nicely constructed, parsimonious clue.
4th, 2 pts 48. What a martyr's original relic might generate? Liked the construction of this anagram-containing &lit.
5th, 1 pt 7: Email leaders of Roman church about possible grounds for canonization A well constructed clue in which all the words contribute to the solution, without giving the game away too easily. |
| 12. |
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Generally, a better crop of clues, I thought, than last month and, despite there being twice as many entries, easier to judge, especially as there is, in my view, a very clear winner. Several perfectly acceptable clues (eg, 2, 13, 34) missed out on the points only because they struck me as a little bland.
5 points: 48. What a martyr's original relic might generate? A superbly crafted and completely natural-sounding &lit.
2 points each: 6. Dodgy claim re bleeding statue? Neat and economical, and, although it is not in fact claimed as an &lit in the explanation, it surely has a much better claim to be one (or at least a semi-&lit) than many others in these competitions that make that assertion. Some Catholics might, I suppose, find the suggestion mildly offensive, but, set beside Clue 10, it is mild indeed in that respect!
24. Means of achieving insurance claim, after accident? 40. What initiates rapid conclusion to insurance claim? Blooming this! I find it difficult to separate these two seemingly heart-felt side-swipes at the insurance industry. Clue 24 is punchier, has a more natural-sounding surface and marginally smoother wordplay, while Clue 40's surface meaning for the &lit is more accurate and more precise. The comma in Clue 24 is perplexing.
1.5 points each: 29. One darner ultimately stopping monstrous camel achieving this? This original, intricately constructed and daring attempt seems to me to fall short of complete success as an &lit, but it is, I think, the most interesting approach on offer. Although it would indeed be a miracle were a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, it isn't really accurate to say that it is the needle that prevents the camel from achieving that miracle; what's more, unlike the wedding at Cana, the calming of the storm, etc used by others, the episode of the camel and the eye of the needle is not a miracle, but a parable. The surface reading is also a little strained.
42. Wonder drug seized by porter on remote station The definition is straightforward and only very lightly disguised, but the subsidiary indicator has rather more to it, offering a convincing surface (fairly) leading the solver well away from any idea of miracles. However, "porter" = ALE is a case of defining the general by the particular, which is a weakness, if not a very serious one in this case. (I don't feel competent to take sides over the contentious issue of whether, technically, porter is in fact an ale; Chambers seems to suggest that an ale is a beer that does not contain hops, but this is clearly not the view of most beer aficionados on the web.)
0.5 point each:
11. 'Hand of God' claim re foul This is very neat and has an immediately recognizable reference, but I am a little uncomfortable, for all that the overtones are right, with "Hand of God" as a DEFINITION of "miracle".
18. It's no small wonder Michael's confused: Henry's out and Ray's first in An acceptable definition and accomplished wordplay, but, although the surface makes sense, it has no obvious reference to anything - why should it be confusing that "Henry's out and Ray's first in"? |
