CCCWC November competition voters’ comments on Clue no. 21

CCCWC November competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 21: High time for in-flight refuelling expert (11)

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A clue to HUMMINGBIRD.
3 comments refer to this clue (from 1 competitor, 1 other)
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Comments on the clue

1.	Original definition and I like "high time" for the word play
2.	Deserves recognition for an imaginative cryptic definition, though it's a bit liberal so a question mark would be better.

Comments on the competition
1.
I struggled to find clues worth awarding points to. Many of them define the answer with an example (hermit, coquette, etc) without any indication of definition by example. I discounted all these. Predictably, many broke 'humming-bird' into its two components, which is not the best cluing practice unless the result is a stunner. None of the examples here are, but some are perfectly sound, and one shows wit and ingenuity in the definition 21. Because it also has a natural surface I ended up placing it at the top of my selection. An anagram possibly offered the best scope, though one that had the potential to be a very good clue is faulty 25. I thought 1 and 10 were the best of the anagram clues, coincidentally both based on BIRMINGHAM. Some clues contained obscure references that might escape many solvers. A clue that needs the compiler to explain obscure references is not a good clue in my opinion, especially for a clue competition – e.g 7, 12.

Comments on the competition

I struggled to find clues worth awarding points to. Many of them define the answer with an example (hermit, coquette, etc) without any indication of definition by example. I discounted all these. Predictably, many broke 'humming-bird' into its two components, which is not the best cluing practice unless the result is a stunner. None of the examples here are, but some are perfectly sound, and one shows wit and ingenuity in the definition 21. Because it also has a natural surface I ended up placing it at the top of my selection. An anagram possibly offered the best scope, though one that had the potential to be a very good clue is faulty 25. I thought 1 and 10 were the best of the anagram clues, coincidentally both based on BIRMINGHAM. Some clues contained obscure references that might escape many solvers. A clue that needs the compiler to explain obscure references is not a good clue in my opinion, especially for a clue competition – e.g 7, 12.

CCCWC November competition voters’ comments Clue no. 21: High time for in-flight refuelling expert (11)

CCCWC November competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 21: High time for in-flight refuelling expert (11)