CCCWC February competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 54: Red biddy has Bubka doing somersaults!
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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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Difficult word to clue, resulting in a number of rather strained efforts and several that were close but rejected for various reasons (37 was almost good but Chambers doesn't give the doll sense of babushka; likewise 5 but no need for 'initially', and 'deliver Hair cover' is a bit odd; in 24 'Barbara beginning' should be 'Barbara's beginning'; in 35 the definition is too vague).
1st= (4.5 points each): 4 ('not a' is a blemish where there are two a's), 54 (pity about the unnecessary exclam).
3rd= (2.5 points each): 9, 18
5th (1 point): 7 (an exotic Baku bash is rather an odd idea) |
