CCCWC May competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 37: Problem that's grounded BA planes; trouble one can solve with injection of money
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A clue to VOLCANIC ASHES.
4 comments refer to this clue (from 4 competitors, 0 others)
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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Clue 32 – very brave to enter a non-topical clue but I found it so well-formed that it stood out and became my five-pointer. Personally, I think the ? at the end was not needed as the clue did not stretch a point either as anagram or literal meaning.
Clue 37 – of the topical ones, this was the most interesting for me as it deflected the solver's mind towards an unrelated topic whithout losing quality in relation to the real one (presuming that a bit of cash wisely spent would put ash clouds in perspective again). It also read smoothly – a clue that flows or has some poetic quality adds to its enjoyment. |
| 2. |
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| This was much more difficult than GRAVE to clue, so it's good to see so many competitors having a go. The selection of inventive anagrams and definitions is impressive, but only minority of clues combined them with a very fluent and convincing surface reading. All my marks but one in the end went to & lits. or near & lits. 44 is the best example of these, very natural, and got top marks, closely followed by 37 (nicely misleading reference) and 42 (clever anagram indicator), then 28, 32 and 50 (working in the awkward 'can' well). All credit to the competitors who used completely misleading definitions and contexts, like 14, 17, 31, 47 and 51, but unfortunately none of them was quite up to the standard of my top six. 35's definition is inspired but a bit too cryptic for solvability in this context, I think. |
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Whilst some clues had definitions that seemed far too weak, there were far more clues than usual that I wanted to award points to included: 6, 17, 25, 30, 32, 36, 37, 39, 42, 43, 44, 47, & 52.
Outstanding clues for me were: my favourite 44 concise, clever and a superb surface, 52 which will be appreciated by those who Googled 'Calicos Havens'
, 32 my second favourite and unbelievably brief, 36 my third place – loved the def here! |
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Many very good clues this month and I found it hard to separate them. It seems this Iceland thing has inspired setters. Last week's offering in The Week by Tim Moorey was excellent, and a regular setter in a daily was telling me how he had painstakingly produced a crossword with that unpronounceable island in the unches, for it to be rejected as having already been done.
1st (2 pts): 41
2nd= (1.5 points each): 25, 37, 42, 48, 50, 53
8th= (0.5 points each): 4, 10, 15, 23, 38, 40, 44, 46 |
