CCCWC November competition voters’ comments on Clue no. 25

CCCWC November competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 25: Humid days bring out tiny hovering creature

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A clue to HUMMINGBIRD.
6 comments refer to this clue (from 3 competitors, 2 others)
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Comments on the clue

1.	Original idea, but a faulty anagram. Humid months (m) would have worked.
2.	The anag fodder is incorrect. Missing an M, extra D
3.	Unfortunately, HUMIDDBRING* gives HUMDINGBIRD, not HUMMINGBIRD, while D = day, not days.
4.	Good surface meaning; clever anagram
5.	Would have been nice if it worked. The anagram omits an M and has too many D's.

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. 25: Humid days bring out tiny hovering creature

CCCWC November competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 25: Humid days bring out tiny hovering creature