CCCWC February competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 29: Granny knot holds this to Russian nut
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A clue to BABUSHKA.
2 comments refer to this clue (from 2 competitors, 0 others)
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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One of the problems in judging this was deciding how precisely a Russian headscarf, or an elderly Russian lady, should be defined. Should it have a specific reference to Russia, or could it refer to any old lady or headscarf? My final decision was that those definitions that didn't point to Russia explicitly would be fine; however, if a definition (and not the surface) suggested a country other than Russia, I considered this too much of a logical leap. Example of this were 6, 19 and 30. 63 also fell into this category, I felt, but I must congratulate the contributor on the clue's surface. 7 was another that fell foul here, mostly because I can't be sure that Azeri people (speaking a Turkic language) would refer to such an item the same as a Russian (who speaks a Slavic language).
On the positive side, points to:
5: 35 – Gots the edge over 36 due to a smoother surface.
4: 36 – See above.
3: 29 – Clever defintions.
2: 62 – Indirect anagram is perhaps obscure, but it doesn't harm the clue much.
1: 38 – Good surface.
I should also give mentions to 4, 14, 18, 25 and 49, 53 and 54. 46 has an excellent surface, but I'm not sure Red is synonymous with Russia. |
| 2. |
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| My short list was very short this month. The clues on the list were 12 (like "agreed to suppress desire", but surface reading not so believable), 28 (1 point, a bit convoluted construction, but neat sound idea), 29 (surface reading a little uninspiring), 30 (3 points, like the consistent theme using presidents' names), 33 (5 points, lovely "story" in the surface reading with cryptic elements neatly arranged), 42 (4 points, simple and convincing surface reading), 50 (2 points, like the cryptic definition "top-level cover-up job?") |
