| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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| a) Reading through the clues, I have the impression that DINNER-TIME proved a tougher challenge than might have been expected. I think there are a few near-misses, but no clue which works on all levels. This has made it difficult to fix the order for my chosen five. However:- First place, 5 points, to clue 2. The surface sense isn't perfect, and the capital letter is awkward, but 'lapses' is very nice and 'announcement of a gong?' is probably the best definition among the 48 clues. Second place, 4 points, I award to clue 44. Probably the best use of 'indeterminate', but a rather stretched definition (as so often with &lits.) and regrettable anacoluthon. In third place, for 3 points, I put clue 21. I'm not very keen on composite anagrams, but 'Rennie' is entertaining in the context of 'dodgy naan'. Anacoluthon again, I'm afraid. In fourth place, for 2 points, I put clue 10. This dares to be different, but 'with' is awkward, the spelling of 'interne' is a give-away and the definition is weak - better for DINNER than DINNER-TIME. One point for fifth place to clue 5; 'peak fare period' is very good, and I wonder whether 'Afternoon and...' could simply have been omitted. I hope this doesn't seem too churlish; there are some fine ideas in these clues, but, in my opinion, none of them fully comes off. |
| 2. |
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| f) Despite the fact that a high number of entries made for repetition of anagram fodder, I found a good variety in the clues. There were several near misses for my points. The most amusing and enjoyable clues used misleading terms for the definition, not always matched by precision. Too many clues alluded to the meal rather than the time. I was sorry that the clue with 'before Batman' (45) did not quite work for this reason, similarly (21). Some clues were insufficiently specific about which mealtime was indicated, including (11) Burg? and (12) Call to the table. Some clues were marred by slight clumsiness in the surface reading such as (2) After Darling's latest...., (39) What gong conveys... and (4) After work... and I couldn't think what context, other than a crossword clue, one would read about (7) Angry red mite... |
| 3. |
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| h) Not as good a set of clues as I'd expected, given the friendliness of the word. The main problem seems to have been too many competitors spotting an '& lit.' opportunity, and then delivering either an unconvincing clue or a very obvious one (though I was well-disposed to 36 for its nice wording). I'd have liked to see more misleading definitions and contexts, like 10 and 2. |
| 4. |
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i) I thought this a disappointing collection - not so much in terms of unsoundness, more because of too many contrived anagrams and so clues that read clunkingly artificially. No doubt a student of social mores would find aspects of the entries to be of interest, given that some of the clues presuppose a midday meal while other contestants clearly eat dinner in the evening, or at least presume that others do so. My favourites were those that either attempted an &lit or found a misleading surface (usually gong-related; more for the sociologists?) My favourites (top to bottom) were
#19 "Fast" perhaps suggests a longer wait than is likely, end "entire mind" reads strangely, but the misleading definition is neatly sneaked in before you're aware of it, and even then needs some thought to clarify where it ends and the wordplay begins.
#4 Another clever construction. Turning the clue into a question is an attractive way of avoiding having to find a clumsy synonym for "time".
#9 "Order of Merit" is admirable. The weakness (and the reason why I didn't rank this higher) lies in "surely", needed for the surface but not the definition. Why not "a gong might..." or similar?
#5 I'm not sure about "peak" but I like the idea involved.
#2 The ? makes the gong much more acceptable. But however superficially attractive the surface is, in the end it's hard to see much sense in it. Elevation to the Lords, maybe, but an award? |
| 5. |
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| j) A tougher challenge than it looked. Sometimes when you see poorish clues (including your own) you can almost see brains struggling to produec a worthy effort, but when you see good clues all the brain machinery has beenn hidden behind the scenes, as it has in my first choice here : No 9. These others tag along behind and the jangling brains becomes very evident in places: Nos 10, 14, 21, 46. No 2 was nice at first sight but I couldn't quite persude myself to make dinnertime synonymous with an announcement |
