| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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My clue 40 was actually:
"The ship has no rumpled sail or speed of fare, kept from the port"
-> "The ship has no rum; plastered sailors, peed off, are kept from the port"
but an internet problem near the deadline meant what was submitted was a mid-edit combo of two drafts. Apologies to the judges for the screw up. It wouldn't have troubled the excellent 21, 37, and 8 anyway. |
| 2. |
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| The ‘baste roast’ and ‘waste recycled’ clues took all my points, these were the best ideas (of the ones I could vote for!), especially 21, 42 and 8. |
| 3. |
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| I very much enjoyed attempting this month's challenge which brought home how very difficult it is to come up with two sentences making sense in both versions, especially if (following the advice of the organisers) you attempt to make 'aster' straddle two or more words. As this was my basis for judging,I discounted entries in which 'aster' was contained within a single word and focused on entries taking the more difficult route. This narrowed the field considerably and, of these, I liked clue 21 the best. |
| 4. |
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| A lot of entries don't seem to get the point of PD clues, which is that the undevilled version should make sense in a way that convinces the solver that the answer is correct. It's good if the devilled version makes sense too, but that is a secondary consideration. 32, 33 and 46 are examples where the undevilled version makes less sense than the devilled; 2, although it "works", doesn't give the solver enough information. Several clues used "b/aste roast", but most of them, didn't make it clear enough _why_ basting is a good thing. 21, which I gave my best score to, successfully makes both versions make sense, with a nice change of meaning between them. |
| 5. |
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| Five instances of "baste roast" in this contest. Not sure it's grammatical though, as "roast" is apparently a countable noun. |
| Comments on the clues |
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| 1. A cook wishing to impress will frequently boast |
| 1. | The best of the b/aste roasts. |
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| 2. All they wanted? To-do; wasted! |
| 1. | Not enough context given to find answer, and neither reading is natural | | 2. | All _who_ wanted? Would be better as something like "All wine-lovers wanted.." |
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| 4. Boris Johnson's humble in Parliament |
| 1. | Undevilled version makes less sense than devilled. |
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| 8. Cheshire Council hasten a Crewe cycling facility |
| 1. | Almost, but not quite convincing in the devilled version. |
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| 10. Cut and pound object from tray |
| 1. | Undevilled version makes little sense |
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| 11. 'Daisy – Got stuck in terrible north Ely!' |
| 1. | a bit too simplistic compared to some efforts at concealment |
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| 12. Ely wind comes in over the Fens |
| 1. | What's an Ely wind? | | 2. | a bit too simplistic compared to some efforts at concealment |
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| 13. Ely winds, blowing directly from Siberia, can be frosty |
| 1. | a bit too simplistic compared to some efforts at concealment | | 2. | Surely "Ely" here already means "Easterly"? |
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| 14. Fans go wild, races are won, over in under ten seconds |
| 1. | aster is inserted between two words in the devilled version but I enjoyed this one nonetheless. | | 2. | Novel wording but surface reading stretching it a bit in both versions. | | 3. | What's the relevance of ten seconds? |
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| 15. Flash is Ming the Merciless, Emperor of Mongo |
| 1. | a bit too simplistic compared to some efforts at concealment |
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| 17. Going to polls again will only be papering over the cracks? |
| 1. | Novel wording but reads better in devilled version than undevilled. | | 2. | Nice idea, but undevilled version makes less sense than devilled. |
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| 18. Good cooks boast frequently. |
| 1. | "Good cooks usually b(aste r)oast" would give a more accurate undevilled version | | 2. | Like 36, a bit awkward without 'roast' being in the plural in undevilled version. |
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| 21. Greens are happy to see we cycled |
| 1. | Great scan in both devilled and undevilled versions; outright winner for me. | | 2. | Reads well in both versions – simple and effective – excellent. | | 3. | Nice that both versions make sense. |
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| 22. I love peace, not bomb blast as terror messages |
| 1. | Error message: this is a "hidden(!)" clue for "blast" rather than a PD clue for "aster"! | | 2. | You appear to have written a clue for LAST, and provided your devilled and undevilled versions the wrong way round. | | 3. | Something seems to be wrong – devilled version has "blast as terror", undevilled has "bast error" | | 4. | doesn't work – you removed the L too | | 5. | Faulty |
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| 23. I, macho man, claimed a Vestal virgin |
| 1. | Slightly unnecessary claim for a Vestal virgin perhaps? |
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| 28. Mr Daisy? |
| 1. | There are too few "r"s in the undevilled version, and it's uninteresting besides that | | 2. | You've got an extra R which disappears – M(aster)r Daisy. | | 3. | Possibly the worst PD clue in the history of PD clues, or a very strong contender. | | 4. | a bit too simplistic compared to some efforts at concealment | | 5. | Faulty clue – the undevilled version would be "M Daisy". Not clear why "Master" makes more sense than "Mr". |
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| 29. My! Is full command over a subject so hard to achieve? |
| 1. | a bit too simplistic compared to some efforts at concealment |
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| 32. Passwords would provide protection (5) |
| 1. | Different approach with both versions making sense. | | 2. | Undevilled version makes less sense than devilled. |
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| 33. Pro ran awful business |
| 1. | Makes sense in both versions and does the business | | 2. | Undevilled version makes less sense than devilled. |
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| 35. She’s disappointed at the shopping bought instead of diamond |
| 1. | Nice reading | | 2. | Devilled version just a bit awkward but great idea. |
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| 36. Some chefs frequently boast |
| 1. | Like 18, strictly, to make better sense with 'chefs' roast should be plural in undevilled version. |
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| 38. Tabloid covers diss Tory |
| 1. | I like this and gave it a point, but best PD clues have solution not at beginning or end of a word |
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| 40. The ship has no rumpled sail or speed of fare in the doldrums and can't find their port |
| 1. | To be able to shuffle so many letters is impressive and this earns a point if only for that! | | 2. | Ingenious, but how can the sailors be plastered if the ship has no rum? |
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| 41. Though I don't like to boast, this rump of mine is still exquisite! |
| 1. | The best of the "baste roast" clues. |
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| 42. We cycled from Bath reaching Wells in no time |
| 1. | Good idea but the undevilled version not quite believable enough. |
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| 43. We do burrow, destroying the ship. |
| 1. | Sound but rather obscure – I had to look up what a teredo is. |
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| 44. Wheelchair users often go for speed on M25. |
| 1. | As someone with a disability, I find this offensive. Also it's strange and unfair to the solver. Why not "impatient drivers"? | | 2. | Do they really? |
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| 45. When chef doesn't boast, join the ends up with dry meat |
| 1. | Best of the "baste roast" clues. |
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| 46. Without binary code, computers do exist |
| 1. | Undevilled version makes less sense than devilled. | | 2. | Interesting concept, but the more usual term seems to be "ternary computers" rather than "ternary code computers" |
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| 47. You'll find a cathedral in the Ely region of England. |
| 1. | a bit too simplistic compared to some efforts at concealment | | 2. | Surely there's more than one in the east of England? |
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