CCCWC March competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 21: If eating dodgy naan, this could end with mint and a Rennie, possibly
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A clue to DINNER-TIME.
4 comments refer to this clue
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| 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. |
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| d) 39 - Touch of class. 19 - Perfectly disguised. 9 - Another classy clue. 14 - Jolly good. 21 - Nice compound. |
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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... |
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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 |
