CCCWC Christmas Special competition voters’ comments on Clue no. 26

CCCWC Christmas Special competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 26: "The Heartless Screw" -at the box-office, it's the pits

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A clue to TURKEY (STONES) (Wrong Number).
4 comments refer to this clue (from 1 competitor, 2 others)
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Comments on the clue

1.	Would have been more convincing if 'T.. H… S…' was an actual movie or play
2.	Use of inverted commas to provide a link for the word play to the excellent definition(s)is a bit too easy for the setter but a good clue.
3.	pity such a movie doesn't actually exist. still a nice clue considering the challenge.

Comments on the competition
1.
An entertaining variety of approaches to these clues bearing in mind the constraints of providing a definition for 'stones' within the clue framework. Many chose 'rocks' but with a less convincing surface story. I really liked clue 19,despite the use of 'initially' as a (easy) first letter indicator for its topical surface story and its compensating deceptive use of 'island' for 'key'. I gave it 5 points. Clue{4} was a close contender but with a slightly less appealing surface story and I gave it 3 points. Clues 112430and 35 deserve a mention but were discounted by me for perceived minor flaws: Clue 11 because 'rocks' is an awkward fit in the surface story here; Clue 24 because it is a little too straightforward without a strong surface story; Clues 30 and 35 because (to me) the clue construction seemed flawed – Clue 30 the use of 'leaving' on its own as an omission indicator and Clue 35 the positioning of 'When finally released' before rather than after 'UK entry'. This left 7 points to award and I gave 4 points to Clue 32 for originality and it would have been my winner but for the use of the rather contrived and perhaps unnecessary 'ratings-wise'. I gave my remaining 3 points to Clue 26 which ticks most boxes but relies on more easily contrived word play by using inverted commas to find a link to the excellent definitions. One final clue that merits a particular comment is Clue 9: this I was immediately drawn to as a possible winner as a succinct all in one clue which seemed to do the trick; but, on further consideration,I discovered that 'bomb' as a noun meaning 'failure' appears only in American English and,for fairness reasons, needs to be qualified by 'US' or 'American' – pity

Comments on the competition

An entertaining variety of approaches to these clues bearing in mind the constraints of providing a definition for 'stones' within the clue framework. Many chose 'rocks' but with a less convincing surface story.
I really liked clue 19,despite the use of 'initially' as a (easy) first letter indicator for its topical surface story and its compensating deceptive use of 'island' for 'key'. I gave it 5 points.

Clue{4} was a close contender but with a slightly less appealing surface story and I gave it 3 points. Clues 112430and 35 deserve a mention but were discounted by me for perceived minor flaws: Clue 11 because 'rocks' is an awkward fit in the surface story here; Clue 24 because it is a little too straightforward without a strong surface story; Clues 30 and 35 because (to me) the clue construction seemed flawed – Clue 30 the use of 'leaving' on its own as an omission indicator and Clue 35 the positioning of 'When finally released' before rather than after 'UK entry'.

This left 7 points to award and I gave 4 points to Clue 32 for originality and it would have been my winner but for the use of the rather contrived and perhaps unnecessary 'ratings-wise'. I gave my remaining 3 points to Clue 26 which ticks most boxes but relies on more easily contrived word play by using inverted commas to find a link to the excellent definitions.

One final clue that merits a particular comment is Clue 9: this I was immediately drawn to as a possible winner as a succinct all in one clue which seemed to do the trick; but, on further consideration,I discovered that 'bomb' as a noun meaning 'failure' appears only in American English and,for fairness reasons, needs to be qualified by 'US' or 'American' – pity

CCCWC Christmas Special competition voters’ comments Clue no. 26: "The Heartless Screw" -at the box-office, it's the pits

CCCWC Christmas Special competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 26: "The Heartless Screw" -at the box-office, it's the pits