1 don't equate Advent with Christmas.
2 is good but surface long. Holly and Christmas OK. 3 votes .
3 I associate pantos with period after Christmas. Too many jumps from CRIM to bad boy.
4 surface uneven. Definition like the answer.
5 criminal means blatantly wrong. Don’t understand definition.
6 remedy not a good anagrind. Bromic remedy might kill. Misprint too obvious.
7 misprint too obvious. Wordplay sound
8 too easy. Definition like the answer.
9 interesting surface. How many remember Powell and 1974? 1 vote.
10 I like crudely as CRIMBO is inf. Well concealed misprint. Unsure about smoothness of surface.
11 short which I prefer. Reasonable surface. Sound wordplay. 2 votes.
12 Fanta screams misprint. Santa is out of stock after Christmas, not at it.
13 too big jump from hip people to their use of CRIMBO for Christmas.
14 is dismantled a valid anagrind?
15 wash too obvious as misprint in 15. Wordy.
16 feast too vague as definition. guilty not definition for CRIM.
17 like the surface but feast is too vague definition.
18 short, succinct, but fails on surface, e.g. manger of mule.
19 fest is even vaguer than feast as valid definition.
20 like wordplay but definition too off the wall.
21 don’t understand the use of decorated.
22 is for example necessary? Wordplay good but surface not quite right.
23 wordplay clear but uniting and some guy are odd within the surface.
24 good misprint; different from others. Surface creaks a bit.
25 don’t think CRIMBO is pidgin. Its just informal.
26 don’t understand the last bit of the clue, but see it can’t just stop at 25 Deg.
27 bit long. Misprint well hidden. Initial seizures clumsy indication of first letters.
28 Lory shouts misprint.
29 surface not smooth.
30 equating rhombic array to crossword step too far. Which of resolving or array is the anagrind.
31 unsure whether wing changed means changing L to R rather than L to any letter.
32 like the definition referencing the informal nature of CRIMBO. Chambers supports wordplay. Good surface. 5 votes.
33 misprint and wordplay good but not sure about surface.
34 linking of nineteen to nought at Cribbage step too far.
35 misprint well concealed. Bit of jump from one is to I am.
36 Very clever. Didn’t know The Edge and Bono link until research. Struggled with short festive period as definition, but 4 votes.
37 misprint not in the definition.
38 definition vague. gave birth is not a valid indicator of the first letter of Mary.
39 don’t feel the indication of compound anagram is clear enough. Unsure about surface.
40 like the misprint. Think babes are more intelligent than bimbos.
41 think I know what prozzie means but can’t find it in Chambers.
42 extraordinary compound anagram, but surface doesn’t work for me.
43 equating waits to play now with Christmas is clever, but definition misses the informality of CRIMBO. Think a waits band would be traditional and be appalled by the word CRIMBO.
44 Advent does’nt equate to Christmas.
45 clever clue, but struggle a with U-turn meaning switch L to R.
46 like this. Gives good example of the on/to issue recently debated at Crossword Centre. Surface doesn’t gel. Almost put on ledge doesn’t mean much.
47 tries too hard to link all the Unis and Colleges and doesn’t work for me. |
In his Crossword Manual, Don Manley states “It is a curious feature of the misprinted clue that it always makes much better sense than the so-called correct version!” This, which must, I suppose, be regarded as the orthodox view, presents me with some difficulty in judging this competition. For, to my mind, the whole exercise is singularly pointless and unsatisfying unless both versions make good sense, while, in a really good misprint clue, the misprint will turn some unremarkable, but entirely credible, statement into something with a totally different, but still coherent, meaning that is, preferably, also witty or absurd or outrageous. Is it reasonable for me to judge the entries against my criteria for a good clue? Or would it be unfair to penalize clues that do not meet those criteria, but are in line with Don Manley’s “orthodox” dictum?
Since it is clear that the overwhelming majority of the entries are from adherents of the Manley school, there seems little point in my seeking to apply my criteria to the full, but I cannot (with one exception –39 for its originality and brilliance of execution) bring myself to give points to clues in which the “original” version makes no sense at all (eg, because the grammatical/syntactical structure is destroyed by substituting the alternative letter) – even if the Manley dictum was intended to include such clues, which I rather doubt. For example, in 10, the misprinted version makes reasonable sense, but, in the original, “everyone gets pressies corrupt relatives…” is simply gibberish. I have looked for contrast between the meanings of the two versions, well-disguised misprints/definitions, originality, convincing and arresting surfaces and, of course, sound wordplay.
3 points:
3 is amusing, has a good original definition/misprint and, above all, achieves a striking contrast between the meanings of the two versions, but “Derek” for BO without a “perhaps” or equiv. is arguably unsound, which was all that prevented this from scoring more highly.
2 points each:
9 I’m far from convinced that “it must be Nowell” can do duty for “it must be Christmas” in the way suggested, but, acc. to the Manley rules, this is otherwise an accomplished clue, with a reasonable degree of contrast.
30 excellent s.i. (surely suggesting antennae rather than crosswords), but surface, in both versions,let down by the rather clumsy way in which definition is expressed and by link-word “causes”.
43 excellent, and excellently disguised, definition, but surface, in either version, is slightly let down by unnaturalness of “overturned objection”
1.5 points each:
20 original and reasonably well-disguised definition & misprint and a degree of contrast.
27 misprinted version indeed makes better sense than “original” and misprint is rather obvious, but s.i. is accomplished and misprinted surface good.
39 I certainly didn’t expect to see a comp. anag. in a Misprint competition, even a variant version with additional definition! And a very neat one too. Unfortunately, however, surface of “original” version makes no sense at all unless one invents a previously unknown character called Simon Nowell.
0.5 point each
11 original version has good semi-&lit surface, but misprinted version rather “flat” in comparison and offers relatively little contrast
18 misprint is rather obvious, but surface is apposite in either version
33 As 18 |
