CCCWC January competition voters’ comments

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A clue to UNDERGROUND.
155 comments were received for this competition (from 12 competitors, 0 others)
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Comments on the competition
1.
A lot of clues used the solution as cryptic fodder (anag. of under for ‘nuder’, or ‘under G, round’ for ‘go’), but failed to indicate this in any way, which is unfair on the solver. The double definition clues mostly worked best.
2.
This month's competition could have been inspired by the film "A Fish Called Wanda", when Jamie Lee Curtis tells Kevin Kline, "The London Underground is not a political movement". Several clues, perhaps with the old clue GEGS in mind (scrambled eggs) use a reverse anagram of UNDER with GROUND as the inferred anagram indicator. But that wordplay could just as easily give GROUND UNDER, UNDERPLAYED, UNDERWORKED, or UNDERACTIVE, for example. Several other clues use the French UN or the German UND or DER. A well-worn idea, and I prefer the clues with a more original approach. An honourable exception is 25 for its excellent surface reading and deceptive use of "shelled".
3.
There were quite a few clues with common approaches and/or similar themes, so I awarded points (and merits) mostly to clues that chose the ground less traveled, my favorites being 8, 27, and 51. Unsurprisingly, there were several "tube" clues, including 34, 66, 74, 64, and 65, the latter two being a bit too similar to a previously published clue (by Chalmie in FT 16,336). We also had a "metro" (38), a "subway" (58), and a "transport system" (68). Other clues, such as 28 and 35, took a subtler approach to this theme, with 7, 27, and 67 doing so more cleverly/effectively and earning points or merits. Likewise, there were quite a few "resistance" clues, including 1, 6, 21, 23, 61, 47, and 56, the latter two being rather too similar to a previously published clue (by Brummie in Guardian 28,077). We also had a handful of "dungeon" clues: 9, 14, 20, and 24. Finally, many clues took the rather too easy/obvious offering of using "GROUND" (implicitly) as an anagrind for "UNDER." We had "drune" (16), "Ed, run" (17), "runed" (36), "urned" (31, 70), and the particularly popular "nuder" (5, 10, 39, 40, 41). Of these, 70 stood out for its boldness, succinctness, and effectiveness. (Although many (most?) urns are placed in columbaria, it is not uncommon for urns to be buried instead.) I am not a Ximenean, so I don't have a problem with "underground" cluing, e.g., "NUDER." But I expect some judges will object to this as "unfair" to the solver.
4.
A huge number of entries for a word with a limited number of opportunities for wordplay to disguise the more obvious definitions available, leading to many clues on similar lines. There were some brave attempts at originality which also presented plausible surface stories and these received my votes.

Comments on the clues

1. A French socialist uprising: good honest resistance

1.	How does honest = round?

2. A rebellious group too coarse, we surmise?

1.	The idea of a rebellious group being too coarse is rather odd.

3. After dune collapses, beachgoer ultimately gets crushed here

1.	Nice wordplay, not convinced by "ultimately", surely the crushing would happen immediately

5. Alternative lifestyle's possibly nuder (11)

1.	Definition doesn't work for me

6. Articles of Europe bring down resistance organisation

1.	Surface meaning of "Articles of Europe" is unclear. And how would these bring down a resistance organisation?

7. Audacious drug run done with network of tunnels (11)

1.	I really like this except for the 'with' link – 'in' would have worked with the surface
2.	I like the surface but audacious doesn’t indicate an anagram to me
3.	I like this but 'audacious' is a cheeky anagram indicator so only half a point
4.	I associate a network of tunnels more with warfare than drug running, but admittedly I have no experience of either.
5.	“With” is redundant and doesn’t seem to work well as a connector
6.	Clever idea, smooth surface, better executed than 15. Might "in" have been an improvement upon "with"?
7.	Not convinced that 'audacious' qualifies as an anagram indicator for an otherwise very good clue.

8. Behind closed doors, frisky nude starts to rouse gents with dance

1.	Nicely constructed and funny
2.	I like this but can’t persuade myself that round is fair for dance, in the same way that line wouldn’t be
3.	Clever, solid wordplay, with an evocative surface!
4.	Nude man or nude woman?
5.	Good clue with a diverting surface

9. Being thrown in dungeon ends in utter despair here

1.	"in" spoils the wordplay.
2.	Pity about the 'in'
3.	Nice idea, but not sure "being thrown in" works as an anagrind (vice "being thrown" or "being thrown together").

10. Buried nuder cryptically?

1.	Nice pun on crypt, but wordplay is too imprecise. (Underactive, etc)

11. Clue set to go down well?

1.	Fun surface and beautifully disguised definition – my favourite clue
2.	Clever reverse definition with seamless surface. "Down well?" is fine for the definition.

12. Covert sub force ammunition.

1.	Surface rather awkward

13. Cryptically somewhere wonderful where wolf is delivered ? (10)

1.	Presumably "cryptically" is meant as a pun on "crypt", but the surface is very odd.
2.	'Delivered' seems the wrong word to use here
3.	If it is a semi&lit should not anagram indicator be adjacent to the fodder? Marks for original albeit unusual construction

14. Disconcerted crusader abandons case in derelict dungeon, citing its location

1.	i.e. insert an anagram of RUDR into an anagram of DUNGEON, but in practice the RUDR is broken up.

15. Drug run done by arrangement in secret (11)

1.	Would prefer ‘after’ to ‘by’ here
2.	One of the best anagrams.
3.	Nice idea but not as smooth as 7.

16. Drune?

1.	Unlike GEGS, this has several possible answers. (underactive, underworked, etc.)
2.	No definition
3.	No defintion ?
4.	To borrow Peter Biddlecombe's critique of "Gegs": This clue is "a bit poor, as ['Drune'] doesn't mean anything and there's no definition."

17. Ed, run for it!

1.	Definition is too weak
2.	Seem to be missing the defintion
3.	Unlike GEGS, this has several possible answers. (underactive, underworked, etc.)

18. Fine after falling short of anti-establishment tendencies

1.	Can you fall short of a tendency?
2.	How does one fall short of a tendency?

19. First recorded location of Wellington or Tobermory, perhaps?

1.	‘First recorded location’ is lovely, but feel this only works if the surface refers to people, and I'm not aware of a famous Tobermory
2.	A nice idea, although perhaps too easy.
3.	Too obscure to be fair!

22. Go in hiding ? (11)

1.	Same idea as 11, but less well implemented.

23. Group's leader shot after a French communist uprising, leading to anti-government resistance

1.	Link and definition could be much briefer

24. Gruesome dungeon murder left me shaken and sunken (11)

1.	Shouldn’t the cryptic reading be ‘me left’?
2.	"left me" doesn't work for me.
3.	'leaves me' would be better in the cryptic reading

25. Hidden guns shelled the German base

1.	Best of the Germans
2.	Well constructed but lacking a little sparkle to gain more than one of my points
3.	I like the deceptive use of "shelled" and the completely natural surface reading.
4.	Not sure that hidden is a precise enough definition
5.	Succinct clue with meaningful surface.

26. How mafiosi allegedly make their cappuccino?

1.	I prefer cryptic clues to riddles in a cryptic clue-writing comp!
2.	For cappuccino, a coarse grind is not "under" ground.

27. How to get to Victoria’s Secret? (11)

1.	Nicely done
2.	Nicely done – I hadn’t heard of Victoria’s Secret but I’ve now been briefed!
3.	Nice clue even though some people may not be aware of this lingerie retailer.
4.	My top clue!
5.	One of the best of the lot. Nice misdirection.
6.	Clever, succinct, nice misdirection in surface.
7.	There is more than one way (other than by underground) to get to Victoria.

29. Illegal drug one chopped up and used, once or twice, casually

1.	An underground activity might or might not be illegal

30. In hiding, posh despicable Andrew, stripped of wings, has ban from usual activities

1.	Clever, accurate and topical.
2.	Good use of ‘ground’, surface overall a bit too forced
3.	You mean Prince Andrew, don't you? All rather laborious.

31. In the grave, urned perhaps?

1.	Clever idea!
2.	I don't think "urn" is a verb, so perhaps urned should be in quotes.

32. Inferior golf – all eighteen holes bunkered

1.	Well constructed clue
2.	Well constructed clue – held back slightly by the lack of a QM I think – bunkered being a definition by example?
3.	Votes from me but I think that 'bunkered?' may be stronger.
4.	Good clue despite the definition by example. It works because "under" can be an adjective, e.g. the under part.
5.	Nice theme.

35. Local one, District originally, runs lines such as Circle

1.	Local to where?

36. Location of buried relic that is runed? (11)

1.	Sounds odd but a nice idea

37. Lumpy ‘gravy’?

1.	Very clever, spoilt slightly for me by the inverted commas
2.	The quotes around gravy ruin the surface reading.
3.	I like the idea but you don't really 'grind' gravy!
4.	Would be the best of the lot if it lacked the scare quotation marks. They're really not necessary.

38. Nude criminal runs in front of entrance of garden near metro (11)

1.	Very implausible surface.

42. Our drug den busted, last of heroin found inside – hidden here.

1.	I quite like this, except for the hyphen. A comma might make it more readable.
2.	Clever clue with misleading surface, votes here

44. Pierre and Gunter’s articles on real estate describe Mafia dealings

1.	Iffy definition

45. Pose on red rug nude, not keeping one's rear concealed

1.	A shade of Velazquez perhaps? This gets displayed in my gallery!
2.	Original, amusing, excellent clue.

46. Red gun round was thrown in the basement (11)

1.	The basement is under the house; it's not under the ground

47. Resistance not entirely crushed?

1.	Best of the ‘under-ground’ double defs.
2.	The best of a number of similar clues in my opinion
3.	I like this but 'not sufficiently/adequately crushed' would be more precise
4.	Too similar to previously published clue (by Brummie in Guardian 28,077).

48. Roger Bent and German couple harbour secret

1.	The wordplay is sound, but the surface (though smooth) lacks real meaning. (Who is "Roger Bent"?)
2.	Who?

49. Roger operates between two German Boolean operators beneath the surface

1.	I don't get the surface? Does Boolean operator have a meaning beyond the mathematical one?
2.	This only happens in crossword clues
3.	It always used to be German joiners. What are Boolean operators in this context?
4.	The wordplay is sound, but the surface lacks real meaning.
5.	Surface is spoilt by those Booleans

50. Royal limited by experience regularly turned against establishment

1.	I’ve never seen evidence for R = royal
2.	Excellent clue with original wordplay and plausible surface.

51. Rude Northern German ordered drinks for all of us? Where’s mine? (11)

1.	Not bad but I prefer the simplicity of 75.
2.	Clever wordplay and definition smoothly combine for an entertaining surface.
3.	I liked the originality of this very well disguised clue.

52. Ruined cryptic clue when one's forgotten to indicate hidden (11)

1.	Almost v good….. hidden what?

53. Ruined, fears Garbo, ruined: every other character should be dropped and buried.

1.	The use of alternate letters is ingenious but it doesn't give a convincing surface reading.

54. Rump-end PM leaving party with Lords possibly illegally? (11)

1.	I see underground is listed as an adverb in the dictionary, but I'm struggling to think when you would use it for 'illegally'
2.	The significance of "rump-end" when applied to PM isn't clear.
3.	Lord’s needs an apostrophe

55. Secret mole's location

1.	The strongest DD in this round.
2.	Nice surface, although it's not very cryptic.
3.	Original and succinct.

56. Secret resistance movement not adequately crushed

1.	Too similar to previously published clue (by Brummie in Guardian 28,077).
2.	My favourite of the "under ground" clues

57. Secretly run to drug den, perhaps wanting a bit of tranquillity

1.	I'm struggling to think when you would use 'underground' for 'secretly'

58. Subway mostly serve a sandwich

1.	Nice wordplay, although I'm not convinced by the definition subway for underground.

60. The German nun cooked with gourd, insufficiently pulverized

1.	Part of the anagram fodder is indirect and has 6(?) possibilities (der, dem, die, den, des, das)
2.	The definition is a fanciful meaning of underground – this should be indicated
3.	The DER part of this creates an indirect anagram.
4.	Not sufficiently ground would be under-ground with a hyphen, I think.

61. The German plot to follow one from the French Resistance

1.	Very tidy indeed. The most points from me.

62. The racing car torn asunder ground to a halt…

1.	52?
2.	Where’s the definition? What’s a racing car got to do with it?
3.	Needs a definition.

63. Therefore, with Russian front held either side and in Berlin, lay low?

1.	clever wordplay but 'lay low' is too cryptic a definition for such an unfamiliar meaning of the word for my liking
2.	But underground isn't a verb. Laid or lying low would solve this

64. Tube is insufficiently hollowed out

1.	'hollowed out' a bit of a stretch for 'ground'
2.	Rather vague surface – what does it refer to?
3.	Conceptually similar to previously published clue (by Chalmie in FT 16,336).

65. Tube is too large

1.	I think the allusion to coarseness found in other clues is fairer/makes more sense
2.	Too large does not necessarily mean not ground enough, e.g. My new shoes are too large.
3.	Conceptually similar to previously published clue (by Chalmie in FT 16,336).

66. Tube to pass through opening in order to withdraw bullet

1.	Can't quite imagine a scenario where the surface reading would take place…

67. Tuber mostly seen here! (11)

1.	Excellent well done!
2.	That's kinda the same definition twice, though. I mean, the Tube meaning of "underground" comes from the potato meaning of "underground".
3.	Clever use of double meaning of "tuber."

68. Two foreign articles land a transport system

1.	How do 'articles' land something?

69. Unorthodox core of Barnaby Rudge changed game

1.	I don't know what this refers to, although admittedly I haven't read the book.
2.	The wordplay is sound, but the surface is nonsensical.

70. Urned?

1.	Could just as easily clue undercooked, underactive, or underplayed.
2.	Not entirely convinced that 'enclosed in an urn' = underground but it's still one of my favourites.

71. Victoria’s a French Revolutionary in retreat, and was pulverized!

1.	Victoria doesn’t define underground
2.	Definition by example.
3.	It would help to indicate that Victoria is an example rather than a definition/synonym

72. What lies below is primarily unsurprising: Nadine's first to defend our garden parties without hint of atonement (11)

1.	A point for working all that topical material in!
2.	Rather laborious.
3.	Clever clue with current relevance. (I had to look this up to understand it.) Might have been even better if "atonement" had been "apology."

74. Where you may find a root tube (11)

1.	What's a root tube?
2.	What is a root tube, if not simply a root?
3.	That's kinda the same definition twice, though. I mean, the Tube meaning of "underground" comes from the potato meaning of "underground".
4.	Good idea but the 'tuber' clue did it better

75. Where's mine? (11)

1.	Mines are not always underground, but this is commendably concise.
2.	Nice and succinct, but I found 51 more enjoyable.