| 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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From a very high standard of clues to MIRACLE I had ticked a dozen before selecting these five:
29 - May be slightly easy to solve but I found this best of the & lits
24 - Another clever & lit with nice use of 'means' 39 - This would have been improved without the two 'a' words but appealed nevertheless 19 - Short but has a lot to say 21 - Probably deserves more for such a 'wonderful' idea |
| 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'? |
