CCCWC February competition voters’ comments on Clue no. 11

CCCWC February competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 11: Decadent way of life died out with COVID Delta variant (5,4)

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A clue to DOLCE VITA.
4 comments refer to this clue (from 2 competitors, 1 other)
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Comments on the clue

1.	The 'with' slightly spoils the cryptic reading
2.	Good idea. “In” would have worked better than “with”
3.	Nice surface, but "out with" doesn't really work as a removal indicator in the cryptic grammar.

Comments on the competition
1.
Don't cry for me, Crossword Centre! Unsurprisingly, EVITA featured in many clues this month: 3, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 30, 50, and 58, with 50 standing out for its subtle use of "musical" to clue EVITA. I would have liked to have seen Che make an appearance in at least one of these clues. Fitting for the times, there were also several COVID variants, with 10, 12, 28, and 55 pairing it with LATE, while 11 and 64 combined it with DELTA(-D). Other recurring anagrams included DO EVIL/LIVE/VILE ACT ([13, 36, 37, 38, 39) and CAT I LOVED (5, 25, 27). Like last month, I awarded most of my points to sound clues with meaningful surfaces that took more original approaches, including 31, 47, 54, and 63. Finally, I wanted to award points to 44, which had a very nice surface, but it was spoiled by lack of subject-verb agreement in the wordplay. Perhaps something like "Reckless advice to gal* ultimately leads to life of hedonism" would have worked. (*or other suitable word ending in "L")

Comments on the competition

Don't cry for me, Crossword Centre! Unsurprisingly, EVITA featured in many clues this month: 3, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 30, 50, and 58, with 50 standing out for its subtle use of "musical" to clue EVITA. I would have liked to have seen Che make an appearance in at least one of these clues.

Fitting for the times, there were also several COVID variants, with 10, 12, 28, and 55 pairing it with LATE, while 11 and 64 combined it with DELTA(-D). Other recurring anagrams included DO EVIL/LIVE/VILE ACT ([13, 36, 37, 38, 39) and CAT I LOVED (5, 25, 27).

Like last month, I awarded most of my points to sound clues with meaningful surfaces that took more original approaches, including 31, 47, 54, and 63.

Finally, I wanted to award points to 44, which had a very nice surface, but it was spoiled by lack of subject-verb agreement in the wordplay. Perhaps something like "Reckless advice to gal* ultimately leads to life of hedonism" would have worked. (*or other suitable word ending in "L")

CCCWC February competition voters’ comments Clue no. 11: Decadent way of life died out with COVID Delta variant (5,4)

CCCWC February competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 11: Decadent way of life died out with COVID Delta variant (5,4)