CCCWC March competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 12: Diarist Frank initially eluded immediate attention
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A clue to FIRST AID.
3 comments refer to this clue (from 3 competitors, 0 others)
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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| Generally people seemed to struggle with FIRST AID, but I thought clue 30 was outstanding: terse, witty and with a clear definition (unlike many). I would have scored clue 12 highly but can't convince myself that 'eluded' works as anagrind. |
| 2. |
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| A great turnout of 58 clues, and many of fair quality, but no outstanding winners. 'If Tardis' was a good anagram idea, and 14 made the best clue out of it. I liked 9, 50 and 58 for misleading definitions and 47 for a concise & lit., but my overall favourite by a narrow margin was 1 for its simple and economical surface. As usual, a few quibbles with some otherwise good clues: in 12 I can't see in what sense 'eluded' works as an anagram indicator; 15's 'Ernest a kissin' = staid' is a novel variation on the indirect anagram, but still indirect; 36 attempts a 'reverse cryptic' & lit., but I wouldn't accept 'First Aid = A'; and 'doubling C = F' in 55 is a step too far for the solver – and it certainly isn't true in hexadecimal. |
| 3. |
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| I have discounted clues that simply substitute "help" or something similar for "aid", or use "Dr." in place of "doctor". Some questionable anagram indicators, e.g. 12 and 15, and some false &lit claims, e.g. 8, where the definition is just "immediate benefit" and not the whole clue. 34 verges on brilliance, although in the UK it's usually a literary "draft" but a medicinal "draught". However Chambers supports draft = draught "in various senses; occasional and US". I don't think many solvers would recognise the biblical allusion in 44 or the reference to Jeremy Paxman in 54. ("I find the Scottish national poet little more than a king of sentimental doggerel".) 58 combines originality and soundness and to my mind it's the best clue, just beating 47's neat &lit. |
