CCCWC March competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 45: When to put away "The Beano"? Before "Batman"!
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A clue to DINNER-TIME.
3 comments refer to this clue
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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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... |
| 2. |
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k) 4 pts to no. 39 (nicely coherent surface). 4 pts to no. 19 (likewise, good misdirection). 3 pts to no. 5 (clever alternative way of providing the def.). 3 pts to no. 4. 1 pt to no. 44 (my favourite of the 'indeterminates'). 1 pt to no. 34 (had potential but phrasing felt under-honed).
Several seemed to be cluing "dinner" (the meal), rather than "dinner time" (the moment scheduled for it). Some strained anags. One clue which was very similar to my own, I disregarded for fairness' sake. Special mention (but not points) to no. 45, whose explanation made me go "ouch!" |
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| o) Despite the number of entries, it was easy to reduce it to a third considering the normal criteria of soundness, natural surface reading, misleading context, etc. Beyond this, although not the over-riding consideration, I looked for a clear differentiation of 'dinner-time' from simply 'dinner'. Some otherwise good clues (e.g. 36) I marked down compared to some others for this. I always like clues that amuse or interest me and can forgive a little unsoundness with this as compensation. 43, 45 and 48 all made me laugh, but only 48 was close enough to sound to be forgiven. Although I would not submit this myself because of the convention that 'for' as a link word only works one way, personally I've never agreed with this anyway. Clue 25 made the short-list, but I considered use of 'time' from the answer in the clue word to be too much of a weakness for it to score points. Clues 23 and 44 were other near-contenders, but fell down on the definition compared to my final choices. Although not my first choice, I thought clue 37 was a unique and interesting idea. |
