The Crossword Centre Clue-Writing Competition

CCCWC September competition voters’ comments

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A clue to CICERONE.
160 comments were received for this competition (from 15 competitors, 2 others)
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Comments on the competition
1.
Though the definition was limited, there were multiple options for wordplay. Overall, the offerings disappointed with few Aha! moments . 56 and 46 were my picks.
2.
Guide is a very obvious definition (I used it myself) so clues need something exceptional to make them stand out
3.
Too many 'guide' definitions!
4.
So many great clues to enjoy – I shared my points across more than 5 entries
 
Comments on the clues
1. 100-1 shot? Encore! She'll be leading the Tour (8)
1.Very good – my winner for topicality and deception
2.Clever idea, but "bravo" would be more appropriate, and tennis reference is not obvious (my first thought was the Tour de France)
2. A guide for the beer sommelier?
1.It’s a red flag for me when the explanation needs to be this long. The second def. is very specialised and not in dictionaries
2.A long essay to try to justify a not-very-distinct double definition
3.Not very cryptic
3. A shower around noon regularly interrupted recce I organised
1.The definition is great but 'regularly' sticks out and the rest of the surface doesn't make much sense
2.Great definition but I’m not convinced by the surface suggestion of a regular recce – aren’t they generally one-off missions?
3.Great definition
4.Amusing definition.
5."Regularly" implies more than one recce
6.Nice to have a definition which isn't 'guide'
4. "At the Prado, none may enter theatre," he informs the tourists
1.Cleverly constructed. Is there a theatre at the Prado?
2.The best clue by a distance
3.Nice clue, but not sure you can expect solvers to know this Spanish word
4.Nice clue but solver shouldn’t need to know Spanish.
5.Non-trivial knowledge of Spanish language required
6.¿El Museo del Prado tiene teatro?
5. Bamboozled concierge loses a thousand dollars to tourist guide.
1.Like the anagram, don't like link word "to"
6. Big fish (term for chairman) in French company's to conduct guided tour
1.Good idea rather spoilt by the brackets
2.Don't like "term" for last letter
7. Busy concierge ignores Girl Guide (8)
1.Chambers doesn't give me G = girl.
2.I can’t find evidence for this abbreviation
3.A very nice short clue, possible winner
4.Nice clue – couldn't find a source for g = girl when considering a similar clue, but it works for me
8. Circe, transforming, required a guide
1.Rather obscure
9. Conductor ruined concert (i.e., out of time)
1.Like the idea but the surface is rather clunky
2.Better without the brackets, but still very good.
3.Nicely worded, but the bracketing upsets the grammar of the wordplay
4.Rather unnatural use of "i.e."
10. Cone filled with ice cream (sans ground mace) for tour guide
1.Unconvincing surface, surely no-one puts mace in ice cream in the first place
11. Courier almost coerced during drug withdrawal breakdown
1.It's not clear what this means
12. Courier once directing our outing
1.Clever, but I'm not 100% convinced by either of the two indicators.
2.I don’t think ‘directing’ can mean ‘rearranging (itself)’ in this way
3.Directing and outing don't work for me
4.Original and neat – 'directing' rather than 'directed' jars a bit.
13. Eric playing cornet without show
1.Since cicerone is a noun, the clue needs to define a noun
14. Erotic acting, it's ignored in film guide
1.Good idea – not totally convinced by film as synonym of cine
2.Clever idea
15. Escort used when touring Nice or Crete on vacation? (8)
1.Happy with either "Escort" or "Escort used when touring" as definition. This seems to be "Escort used" which makes no sense
2.Neatly constructed, an avenue I attempted to follow but couldn't make with such elegance – votes from me
3.‘Used when’ looks redundant in the wordplay
4.My favourite – should score well
16. Expert guide deployed on recce round island
1.Very fluent surface.
2.Another neat clue
17. Guide at the Natural History Museum, perhaps dropping aitches: "Chic 'eron, eh?"
1.Interesting idea though a bit contrived.
2.Very ingenious, although surface is rather forced
3.Too contrived I'm afraid
18. Guide captain in charge east, or back another direction
1.dont like Direction to indicated one of 8 compass directions
2.Surface meaning is unclear
3.Surface doesn't flow nicely
19. Guide disturbed cornice near summit of Everest
1.Great surface.
2.Very good surface
3.Unlikely place to find a decorative moulding
20. Guide divers on island recce
1.I am on the fence about divers as an anagram indicating adjective – worth a merit
2.Economical cluing and creative use of 'divers' as an anagram indicator, this gets some of my votes
3.One of my favourite anagram indicators!
4.Clever and concise
5.Not sure I would have spotted divers as an anagram indicator
21. Guide hag around rocks (8)
1.A bit too obvious
22. Guide ice cream’s second portion into cornet
1.Guide is rather an inappropriate word in this context
23. Guide in charge replacing leaders of hotels and parks (8)
1.Chaperone is a good spot but I don't think the clue works as a whole
2.I like the idea and wordplay but for me the whole clue doesn't quite work as a definition
24. Guide in Rome could be Marcus Tullius?
1.CICERONE = CICERO? Does it?
2.'Cicerone' is derived from Cicero?
3.Shared roots is problematic
4.This is more a general knowledge question than a crossword clue
5.Not cryptic
25. Guide old woman over frozen water (8)
1.Frozen water is a bit too obvious
2.Simple but effective using kinder definition of 'crone'.
26. Guide old woman without coat
1.Coat = ice in the sense of icing a cake.
27. Guide rice once mashed
1.Weird surface?
2.How do you guide rice?
3.What does it mean?
28. Guide shows club round church in central Gloucester
1.Ingenious, although I find double insertions a bit too fiddly to unravel
2.Layered like a Russian doll!
29. Guide to really cool stuff found in old bag (8)
1.Very nice use of "cool" as an adjective in the surface reading and as a verb in the wordplay.
2.Not clear what the surface story is here
3.Not sure if there's a market for such a guide, but well clued
30. Guide wandering close to the cornice
1.OK wordplay, although surface doesn't say much
2.Lovely
31. Guide wild rice into ice-cream container (8)
1.You don't guide food into containers – it sounds odd
2.Does one guide rice?
3.How do you guide rice?
4.Nice work!
32. Guide's diamonds concealed by old woman
1.A bit too obvious
33. Guide’s upset: No ice cream till morning sadly
1.Nice but isn’t ‘sadly’ redundant with ‘upset’ earlier in the clue?
2.There are two anagrinds ("upset" and "sadly").
3.An original approach, but maybe "before morning" would be better for the wordplay. (There's no reason to capitalise No, either)
4.If 'till morning' means 'get rid of AM, then 'sadly' is redundant
5.Nice, but "sadly" seems extraneous.
6.I love the 'till morning'! Such an unusual way to get rid of letters but I think it works
34. Having seen off guests early on, versatile concierge becomes what?
1.My favourite of the concierge – g clues
2.There are many jobs a concierge could moonlight in
3.Good surface, but I'm not convinced by "early on" for the initial letter of guests. Why not "at first"?
35. He might point to an exotic cornice (8)
1.“To” would not indicate E comes after or is next to the fodder
2.Best of the cornice clues
3.Is might a fair anagram indicator?
36. How to serve gelato right? Here's a guide
1.too indirect for me
2.Interesting idea but too indirect for my taste
3.Gelato belongs in a cone but not ‘gelato right’
4.A "Bust down reason?" type of clue (BRAINWASH) where the solution points to the wordplay rather than vice versa, but rather opaque
37. I knew where to find the local places where rice once was cultivated (8)
1.Nice surface, know would be better than knew.
2.'where' is unjustifiable padding and 'was' is the wrong tense
38. Ice cream sandwiches in freezer for tour guide (8)
1."in" is superfluous
2.Worplay doesn't use "in"
3.Not sure about 'in', but a clever idea
39. Ice-cream cone came awry, wrecking tourist's experience
1.This is not &Lit
2.Very definitely not an & lit, and "tourist's experience" doesn't work as a definition for cicerone
40. In Arctic ice, Ron encountered a guide (8)
1.Finding a hidden word clue for cicerone is impressive
2.I like a hidden word – nicely done
41. Incorrect guide or turgid one?
1.Anagram indicator missing or incorrect is doing double duty
2.Ingenious composite anagram of "incorrect guide" and "turgid cicerone", but needs a better anagrind than "or"
42. Lithuania omitted from dodgy electronic guide
1.Surface seems rather arbitrary
2.I nearly submitted the very same wording – worth a point for the 'bingo' moment!
43. Measure of type, not once a guide
1.Same root – CICERO and CICERONE
2.Surface makes little sense, and I can't see how "not once" gives NE
3.??? I don't get this
44. Museum guide at the entrance to gallery confused for concierge (8)
1.Best of the concierge clues
45. Nice core exercises in guide
1.Short clues are always good clues to me
2.Simple and effective
3.“for” is better than “in” , I think
4.Different take – nice and neat.
46. Old woman collecting money for guide (8)
1.Best of the “old woman” clues.. Ice for money seems indirect
2.Money = lolly = ice is too far removed
47. Old woman eating gelato is a tour guide (8)
1.My favourite of the ICE in CRONE clues
48. One circle assembled taking first of lectures from one making interesting points
1.Quite complex but compltete1y fair – a solid clue, getting some of my votes. Nice surface reading.
49. One with concrete plans, taking out tourists primarily (8)
1.Is "plans" the anagram indicator?
2.I'm not convinced 'fodder plans' works, and 'with concrete plans' not really anything anything to do with def
50. Perhaps concierge's no good as a guide (8)
1.As is a weak connector. Neat clue otherwise
2.I really liked this clue. Unsure about 's and as
51. Religious painting in church, capturing our first lady, gets a knowledgeable guide
1.ER = our first lady is too much of an indirect leap for me
2.Nicely done
52. Shower curtain’s opening with hero getting top slashed in cinema (but not the mother!)
1.Clever and made me giggle but a bit too contrived for points
2.A slightly strained clue but one I particularly enjoyed
53. Shower of diamonds filling bag
1.Good misdirection with the word shower
54. Soldier, Queen and I need guidance.
1.Need guidance does not = Cicerone
2.Doesn't define cicerone
55. Sort of religious instruction once found in church guide
1.'Sort of' (rather than 'sort') does not work for me as anagrind – pity as excellent clue otherwise.
56. Source of information on recce trips?
1.A very neatly constructed clue, votes from me
2.Nice one.
3.Clever & lit
57. Top Roman capital guide taking tour round centre of Trevi?
1.There seems to be a misprint in the explanation, but I still can't see where "one" comes from
58. Tour Guide 101: on vacation choose right one (8)
1.Entertaining clue
2.Unconvincing surface
59. Tour guide can become egocentric when plied with gin and tonic
1.Not too difficult, which is the normal problem with comp anags, but might have been better with G&T not spelt out
2.Too complicated, I can't be bothered to unravel clues like this
60. Tour guide’s drugs in old bag
1.Reasonable clue, but doesn't really stand out from all the other guide clues
61. Tourist guide takes old woman around reserve (8)
1.Maybe the best surface of the CRONE ICE clues
2.Reasonable clue, but doesn't really stand out from all the other guide clues
62. Tourists’ leader on 101 scores four from bouncer and a single
1."scores four from bouncer" is very ingenious, but "on" doesn't quite work
2.Ingenious!
63. Travelling circle getting left abandoned needs one?
1.Clever &lit although definition is rather loose
2.Clever & lit
64. Tully, the Roman docent
1.Maybe this is a Latin thing I don't understand. Your wordplay gives CICERO but where are you getting the -NE from?
2.This is more like a general knowledge question than a crossword clue
3.Not cryptic