CCCWC April competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 14: Hip-hop, hatefully, enshrines cool
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A clue to PHAT.
3 comments refer to this clue
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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| a) 1st (4 points): 39. Up the ante, when the odds are dropping? That's fine! [possibly a rather hackneyed device, but the surface is so good, and the whole thing is done so well, that this problem is surmounted] 2nd (3 points): 21. Nymph's rear moving in a way that's sexy [It always seems a bit of a weakness when 'a way' has to be used although the wordplay requires only 'way', but this apart a very nice clue] 3rd = (2 points each): 12. Grand piano lid [simple and strong] and 37. They say grease is sexy, when applied to a woman ['They say' is not very subtle, but a clever clue with a good surface] 5th = (1.5 points each): 11. Grand piano -- something you may associate with the shows of Flanders and Swann [a little cumbersome and I don't know if my love of F & S has something to do with it, but it seems good] and 14. Hip-hop, hatefully, enshrines cool [very simple but a good surface] 7th (1 point): 2. Cap on parking fine [I don't like the definition by example (even though such abominations can now be found in The Times), but otherwise a very pleasing clue with a good surface] |
| 2. |
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g) I'm afraid that this set of clues struck me as the weakest I can recall. Many I thought unsound, usually because of extra words (occasionally amounting to more than half the clue) but sometimes because the cryptic reading was ungrammatical, and sometimes where the solver was required almost to guess a word from a hint. Two that I liked but couldn't vote for: #6, where "nozzle" didn't convince me as an initial letter indicator, and #19, where wordplay and definition have become unacceptably intertwined. My favourites (top down) were
#12 simple and effective
#2 likewise - but suffering by comparison in that to my mind a cap is a type of hat and so needs a "possibly" or its equivalent
#14 a pity about the need for a clumsy word order
#4 also simple and clear
#8 I like the idea, but "change for" reads wrongly |
| 3. |
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i) 5 points to clue no. 16 - a brilliant example of an &lit
4 points to clue no. 4 - cleverly done, with a very good surface reading
3 points to clue no. 14 - I couldn't agree more!
2 points to clue no. 5 - nicely misleading
1 point to clue no. 18 - for sheer rudery! |
