CCCWC June competition voters’ comments on Clue no. 3

CCCWC June competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 3: After setting the tent it was clear his pitch was high enough

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A clue to ORATES (Printer’s Devilry).
5 comments refer to this clue (from 4 competitors, 1 other)
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Comments on the clue

1.	A decent effort, though rather wordy.
2.	A good double meaning, well constructed
3.	A nice shift of meaning between the versions
4.	Nice double use of 'pitch' and relatively unforced before and after versions

Comments on the competition
1.
As is common in PD, the undevilled versions often make some kind of sense, but were they to appear in a 'real' puzzle, would give the solver no indication of the word required. Compare the two statements (in which no attempt has been made at 'devilry'): 'Smoking is bad for your health' and 'Fred bought a new pair of shoes'. One is sensible and recognizable, the other is irrelevant waffle. The PD cluer should aim for a valid statement rather than a collection of words which in themselves have little meaning. Clue3 made more sense than the rest but could have been improved, whereas 5 was a good example of a clue which made perfect sense, but was unverifiable, not necessarily 'true' and therefore 'non-sense'.

Comments on the competition

As is common in PD, the undevilled versions often make some kind of sense, but were they to appear in a 'real' puzzle, would give the solver no indication of the word required. Compare the two statements (in which no attempt has been made at 'devilry'): 'Smoking is bad for your health' and 'Fred bought a new pair of shoes'. One is sensible and recognizable, the other is irrelevant waffle. The PD cluer should aim for a valid statement rather than a collection of words which in themselves have little meaning.
Clue3 made more sense than the rest but could have been improved, whereas 5 was a good example of a clue which made perfect sense, but was unverifiable, not necessarily 'true' and therefore 'non-sense'.

CCCWC June competition voters’ comments Clue no. 3: After setting the tent it was clear his pitch was high enough

CCCWC June competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 3: After setting the tent it was clear his pitch was high enough