CCCWC October competition voters’ comments on Clue no. 23

CCCWC October competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 23: It's certainly not included in this copy of Collins!

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A clue to MOCKTAIL (New Chambers Word).
4 comments refer to this clue (from 2 competitors, 1 other)
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Comments on the clue

1.	Clever reference to the dictionary entry, though I doubt 'It' is in any sort of Collins!
2.	Head and shoulders above the competition. Double meanings beautifully sustained throughout.
3.	Good misdirection

Comments on the competition
1.
For the most part, not a very inspired entry this time, though 23 is first rate and 20 pretty good too. When the name of a particular cocktail is used as (part of ) the definition, it is necessary to include (as most such entries do) some indication – at least a question-mark – that it is an example. Thus 37 will not do. I can't quite put my finger on why I feel that 23 is different in this respect, but my gut feeling is that it is. There is also an issue over capitalization. Chambers (like the OUP) is inconsistent and, to my mind, often perverse on this subject. I can see that there is some sense in distinguishing, as Chambers does, between Martini (a brand of vermouth) and martini (a cocktail made with (presumably, any brand of) vermouth). But where no brand-name is involved? The drink is surely a Bloody Mary, not a bloody Mary? Yet Chambers gives the latter. On the other hand, Chambers has Between the Sheets, not “between the sheets”, which, surely, makes 5 unsound (as the author’s explanation, referring to Between the Sheets, already seems to concede). Although there is no entry in Chambers for it, the cocktail is, surely, Screaming Orgasm, not screaming orgasm, which invalidates 13.

Comments on the competition

For the most part, not a very inspired entry this time, though 23 is first rate and 20 pretty good too.

When the name of a particular cocktail is used as (part of ) the definition, it is necessary to include (as most such entries do) some indication – at least a question-mark – that it is an example. Thus 37 will not do. I can't quite put my finger on why I feel that 23 is different in this respect, but my gut feeling is that it is. There is also an issue over capitalization. Chambers (like the OUP) is inconsistent and, to my mind, often perverse on this subject. I can see that there is some sense in distinguishing, as Chambers does, between Martini (a brand of vermouth) and martini (a cocktail made with (presumably, any brand of) vermouth). But where no brand-name is involved? The drink is surely a Bloody Mary, not a bloody Mary? Yet Chambers gives the latter. On the other hand, Chambers has Between the Sheets, not “between the sheets”, which, surely, makes 5 unsound (as the author’s explanation, referring to Between the Sheets, already seems to concede). Although there is no entry in Chambers for it, the cocktail is, surely, Screaming Orgasm, not screaming orgasm, which invalidates 13.

CCCWC October competition voters’ comments Clue no. 23: It's certainly not included in this copy of Collins!

CCCWC October competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 23: It's certainly not included in this copy of Collins!