The Crossword Centre Clue-Writing Competition

CCCWC July competition voters’ comments
 
Clue no. 22: Expressing it in adversity, endlessly keep fighting!

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A clue to NEVER SAY DIE.
2 comments refer to this clue (from 1 competitor, 0 others)
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Comments on the clue
1.Very good & Lit.
 
Comments on the competition
1.
Very clever disguised anagrind in "New Year's Eve" in clues 5 and 36, getting 4 and 3 points respectively, the former edging ahead with the disguised def

Some entrants incorrectly claimed to have written &. Lit clues, and some of these weren't even semi-& Lit., so were fatally broken as clues. For an actual &. Lit that works and is excellent, see 22, which got 4 points from me

49, 37, 12 all good enough for points too, with nice anagramming. I also gave 7 clues merits!

Very clever disguised definition "Carry On Regardless" in clues 8, 9 and 43. I also noticed but did not use “Seven Year Itch” wordplay and am happy 43 successfully worked it in.

Lots of potentially great clues ruined by a mistake: flawed grammar, wrong indication syntax, poor choice of anagrind, clunky surface etc. Worst is when a clue looks superficially good, but has the wrong grammar — indicating the wrong part of speech (e.g. verb instead of noun) or wrong tense of a verb, which is very unfair to the solver.

29 has some flaws with the wordplay and indication, but their "immortal words" with a question mark would've made a brilliant cryptic definition by itself.

A few clues such as 25, 26, 28, 38, 48 defined the adjective "never-say-die" rather than "never say die" which I didn't penalise, since the solutions would have the same letters in the same squares in any potential grid.