The Crossword Centre Clue-Writing Competition

CCCWC January competition voters’ comments
 
Clue no. 25: Hidden guns shelled the German base

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A clue to UNDERGROUND.
6 comments refer to this clue (from 5 competitors, 0 others)
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Here is the text

Comments on the clue
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.
 
Comments on the competition
1.
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".