| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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| The quality of the clues was mixed, but it was good to see that everyone got the hang of P.D. clue writing, as it's quite a different proposition from normal clueing. Several clues fell down with an undevilled reading that made less sense than the devilled – this makes the clue very difficult to solve – including 23, 28 and 32. I also reluctantly excluded 10 (though I loved its bizarre devilled reading) and 12 (whose the devilled version was almost too smoothly worded). One clue, 6, contained an original idea, but overdid the devilry to the point where I thought it was unsolvable. The po/ly idea occurred to a lot of competitors, and 2 handled it best. But my points went to clues that managed to subtly shift the meaning or mood of the passage between the two readings, preferably adding something amusing along the way. These were 3, 20, 24, 29 and 31. |
| 2. |
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My overall impression is one of disappointment. Few entries convince in both readability and the extent to which the two versions differ.
Erring in favour of the latter of those qualities, my votes are:-
12 One from Pseud's Corner, surely. Both versions read well – 5 points
42 Clue is less convincing, but undevilled version reads very well – 4 points
24 My favourite amongst the rest. Witty and sound – 3 Points
3,13&29 1 point each
Regarding 12 it has astonished me that 'canal-ways' is not in C. and regarded as obscure by OED. It is not listed in my SOED 6th Edition. The term seems very familiar to me. |
| 3. |
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As a newcomer to the Centre and a relative novice in clue-writing, I can't claim deep technical expertise in judging merits of clues. I do understand that a key condition for a satisfactory PD clue is that the undevilled version makes good sense. Given that a clue meets that condition, I have simply looked for enjoyment in the submitted clues, and neatness, wit and, to some extent, brevity. I have indeed enjoyed most of this month's clues — thanks to all entrants! Near misses, to my mind, were 3, 5, 8, 13, 24 and 38. I award points to 14, the neatest of the "post early" group, 29 31, 33, 34 and 36.
Limiting total points so as not to give my inexpert view the same weight as those who have more experience, I'll give 1.5 points to 14, 29 and 34, and 1 point to 31, 33 and 36. |
| 4. |
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It is extraordinarily difficult to produce a really good Printer’s Devilry clue, at least according to the criteria which it seems to me should apply:
a. the undevilled version should not only make good sense, but should read naturally, ie, should be a piece of English, whether written or spoken, such as might occur in a readily credible context and not sound stilted, artificial or hopelessly ungrammatical;
b. the devilled version should also make sense (albeit sometimes zany sense). Although a little more latitude is allowable with regard to grammar and syntax, the more naturally the English reads the better;
c. the devilry should significantly alter the meaning, and the greater the contrast the better. Ideally, the sense of the devilled version should be startling, amusing or bizarre and contrast with some more mundane sense in the undevilled one and not vice versa.
It is all too easy, by attempting to improve a clue with respect to b. and c. above, to make it worse with respect to a. or vice versa. (This was certainly true of my own entry.)
Add to these, the traditional requirement that the letter immediately before the clue word in the undevilled version should not be the last letter in a word in the devilled version or the letter immediately after the clue word in the undevilled version the first letter of a word in the devilled version, and it amounts to a pretty stiff challenge. (I have never understood why this should be a requirement, but it seems to have become as unalterable a law as those of the Medes and Persians.)
None of the clues seemed to me unequivocally to tick all of these boxes. 5, for instance, did pretty well with respect to a. – c. above, but offended against the traditional requirement, while 17 and 36 were iffy with regard to b. and 9 and 23 with regard to a.
Without a great deal of confidence in my judgements, I have awarded points as follows:
2 points each: 12, 13, 19, 24, 31, 33
1 point each: 8, 29, 42 |
