CCCWC May competition voters’ comments

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A clue to MERCURY.
54 comments were received for this competition (from 8 competitors, 1 other)
Move your mouse pointer over any bold clue number to see the clue.

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Comments on the competition
1.
Found the rating process this time to be easy as just a handful made it to the shortlist. Was easy to discard many due to 1) wrong use of HG instead of Hg 2) Queen instead of member of Queen 3) unnatural or ungrammatical surfaces. Having said that, the few clues that did make the cut were really good. The two &lits at 57 and 38 stood out, a difficult choice but in the end 57 seemed more apposite
2.
A bumper entry with a range of different clue types not all of them working for me on the cryptic and surface grammar levels. For example, clues 21 and 22 use 's as a possessive in the surface story but as the link word 'is' in the cryptic. In my view, for the cryptic grammar to read correctly 'protects' in clue 21 needs to become 'protecting' and 'embraces' in clue 22 to become 'embracing'. Similarly, 'embodies' in clue 1 needs to be 'embodying' for it to make grammatical sense cryptically. All otherwise very good clues. I do hope I am not the one man out of step with the regiment on this! There were also some (too) loosely defined references to Freddie Mercury which I discounted. Of the remaining clues, I liked clue 44 the best and gave it 5 points. It read better than clue 45 to which I gave 3 points. I liked clue 55 for the surface story and off-beat definition that might be just a little bit too broad and gave it 2 points and I gave 2 points to clue 42 for its different approach. Clues 5 9 and 49 all attracted 1 point each.

Comments on the clues

1. An element of compassion embodies maturity essentially

1.	Needs to be 'embodying'.
2.	cryptic grammar iffy, otherwise very good clue.

5. Centre of Brighton disoriented messenger

1.	This is really a clue to a clue
2.	Indirect. GH to HG to Mercury (implied)?

6. Chaos may recur without a divine messenger

1.	Can't accept 'chaos' as anagram indicator
2.	Chaos isn’t a verb – you can’t chaos a group of letters
3.	Chaos is a noun – does not “work” on the anagram fodder
4.	a good tight clue with skillful deletion technique

7. Cheerful when about 29 — or 80!

1.	Original, but 29 and 80 are insufficient as definitions

8. Classic American car thief

1.	great clue, but dubious explanation (i.e. Edsel?)

12. Cure my runs “Doctor Quicksilver”

1.	Assuming 'doctor' is the anagram indicator, it is wrongly placed and not grammatical

14. Envoy regulating commerce under Romans originally occupied by Jove!

1.	Clever initial letters clue.

16. Freddie and me have spicy curry! (7)

1.	‘me have’ is not grammatical

18. God: "Heavens shalt protect the City of Abraham"

1.	thou shalt, but they shall

19. God, in Burgundy, drink’s hot stuff. Resistance evaporates!

1.	Original wordplay

20. “God ordered rest days to be free from work!” –Mystery Crusader

1.	A comp. anag. should produce a more meaningful surface

21. God's blessing protects ancient city (7)

1.	Needs to be 'protecting'.
2.	cryptic grammar iffy, otherwise very good clue.

22. God’s grace embraces purity without pity

1.	Needs to be 'embracing'.
2.	It’s an odd sort of grace that’s without pity
3.	cryptic grammar iffy, otherwise very good clue.

23. H G Wells's 'Invisible Man' bearing a message

1.	The justification for ‘invisible’ is rather weak

24. He was a messenger for heavy metal

1.	Triple definition actually

26. Heavy metal singer

1.	The one Freddie Mercury reference in this comp that just about works

27. Hermes offered sound OHMS delivery service till 1991 (7)

1.	Much too indirect

30. I heard the Geordie double Nobel laureate lass discovered this element!

1.	Is this meant to be ‘Marie Curie’?
2.	Being from the general area of Geordieland I'm baffled as to why a Tynesider would prounce Marie Curie as Mercury.
3.	Homophone is imprecise

32. I prepared curry for the Queen! (7)

1.	This might be justified if Queen were called The Queens, but they weren’t

34. Messenger causing laughter hugging copper

1.	Definition causing wordplay is not correct

35. Messenger, one from Queen and good-King-Henry

1.	The hyphenation for g-K-H spoils the surface though required for correct definition
2.	Pity about having to use the hyphens which makes guessing the def too easy.

38. Metallic element that’s sloshed around

1.	Standout winner – brilliant!

39. Middle Eastern curry powders could be extremely hot (7)

1.	Wordplay is ok, but not the definition. Almost anything could be extremely hot
2.	Definition’s part of speech is incorrect

41. Most excellent curry cooked for the one at table number 80

1.	A better Periodic Table ref. than 7
2.	How is most excellent = M E?

42. Number 1 for Mötley Crüe, playing extremely rowdy metal

1.	The second outing for Mötley Crüe in recent months. Nicely done.
2.	Different approach which seems to work.

44. Pity about lack of love for our planet

1.	Good idea but the construction is not grammatical. Pity needs to be about OUR that lacks love
2.	Good surface and wordplay
3.	Well – disguised novel approach with topicality.

45. Pity about our defaced planet

1.	Good surface and wordplay
2.	Nice surface
3.	Just pipped by clue 44.

51. Reasonably heavy metal coated with jolly heavy metal

1.	Copper is a light metal, surely?

55. Slightly drunk, pinches copper's revolver (7)

1.	Cheeky definition but nice surface story.

56. Space missions initially suggested by Wells?

1.	This does at least try hard to indicate that Wells is an indirect indication of the solution

57. This you see rising when it's sunny outside

1.	Easy solve perhaps, but a great clue and nice wordplay, very natural and right on the money. No dic support for you=u, but widely used
2.	I’m not keen on U = you, but a good attempt at an & lit.
3.	Nice

59. What typifies the volatility that has gone up during the time of May (7)

1.	Doesn’t work in the Southern hemisphere