CCCWC January competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 5: A sweet wine or spirit to go in a trifle
Back to competitor’s clues |
All the comments |
Other competitions
A clue to TOKAY.
2 comments refer to this clue (from 2 competitors, 0 others)
Move your mouse pointer over any bold clue number to see the clue.
Here is the text
| Comments on the competition |
|---|
| 1. |
|---|
Apart from discounting a few for unsoundness and some others for being a little bland or too convoluted, it was quite hard work to decide on the best clues. In the end for my top place clues I chose ones where the definition was more precise than simply ‘drink’ or even ‘wine’, as well as the usual criteria such as surface reading.
Top place was 5. Although ‘ka in toy’ was an obvious treatment used by several entrants (and one I’d considered myself), this clue was elegant – sound with a good surface reading and a fuller definition. Next was 4, with a slightly amusing surface reading and a clever construction. For third place I chose 35, although the surface reading I thought was very slightly strained.
Honourable mentions (1 point each) go to 33 which made me laugh and seems to be sound enough, although a slightly strange way to present the definition; to 14 for a brave attempt at an &lit. (although I’d say slightly unsound unless Bartok was known to have drunk Tokay – a ? and leaving off “beloved of Hungarians” would have made it better, in my opinion); and to 39 for an interesting ‘picture’.
I also quite liked 1, 15 and 19, but the weaker (although sound) definitions moved them down my list. I appreciated the topicality of 36, but the ‘it’s’ used for linking I thought also diluted it. The use of 'essence' at 9 was an interesting idea but did not quite work for me in the way the clue was written. |
| 2. |
|---|
| There were fewer examples than of late of serious unsoundness among this month’s offerings, but a fair number of rather pedestrian clues, in some cases relying upon well-worn devices unrelieved by an original and convincing surface. One or two were spoiled by carelessness. For instance, in 26, even if one accepts the slightly dubious evidence of Roget that “Okay” can mean “middle of the road” (which surely requires hyphens to produce roughly this sense), it can hardly mean “the middle of the road”, and the “the” before “junction” would also have been better omitted. 30, on the other hand, has a delightfully zany surface, but the use of “That” rather than “This” mars the definition. Nor is the clue, as claimed, a double definition – “drunk” as opposed to “drink” cannot define TOKAY. Something along the lines of “Is this lizard drunk?” would have conveyed the basic idea more soundly, though the surface would, admittedly, not have been nearly as strong. 36 (0.5 point) is an excellent idea, but it was, I think, a mistake to use capitals for “barperson”, which mars the definition; inverted commas would have been better. Also, although “Okay” can mean “very good”, it doesn’t really mean “it’s very good”. I’m not fully convinced that 31 (0.5 point) works; arguably the wordplay produces BARAY. In 41 (1 point), the “extremely tasty” device is rather hackneyed (even if, arguably, grammatically unsound, for all that it is very widely accepted), but the clue is otherwise quite neat. 14 (2 points) is the best of the hiddens with an appropriate surface (even if I can find no evidence that Bartok was a fan of Tokay). 4 (3 points) is ingenious and original, if a little on the long side, and 5 (3 points) simple, but elegant. But the pick of the bunch for me was 33 (5 points) – sound, concise, clever and original. |
