The Crossword Centre Clue-Writing Competition

CCCWC February competition voters’ comments
 
Clue no. 3: BBC drama queen left in shock

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A clue to SHERLOCK.
8 comments refer to this clue (from 7 competitors, 0 others)
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Here is the text

Comments on the clue
1.Nice colocation of drama queen but though the clue tries hard to disguise, giving away "shock" gratis makes it easy
2.The clearest of the 'Left in shock + queen/pause' variations, with a nice surface from the different angle on the def.
3.Neat definition. A synonym of 'shock' would make this more interesting to solve
4.Nice, but would this be fair for non-UK solvers?
5.BBC drama too vague a definition
6.Shock a bit too close to Sherlock
 
Comments on the competition
1.
I thought the trickiest part of writing this clue was getting the definition right.
I felt that definitions like detective, sleuth, or Holmes were a little too leading. Given the number of letters, a solver could probably whizz through a few detectives (or fewer Holmes!) and get it without wordplay.
Dick was a better choice, even if it lead to some risque work! 18
I liked the creativity in 3 and 51, and the disguising of the definition in 15.
I'm still not entirely convinced by Busy, although Chambers has it!
2.
There are a lot of clues this month but none stood out and I found it hard to allocate big points. I awarded most points to 5 which works well and would have me thinking and to 3 as the best of the shock envelopes. I also gave points to 7 because the clue makes sense as a statement and for me is the pick of the Shylocks. I also gave points to 37 which is very clever and would have allocated more were it not a little too easy to solve.