CCCWC January competition voters’ comments

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A clue to PIPSQUEAK.
80 comments were received for this competition (from 11 competitors, 0 others)
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Comments on the competition
1.
That was painful. I feel piqued and may sue for quiplash.
2.
Some excellent entries, although anagrams involving PEAK, SPEAK and QUIPS are not very imaginative.
3.
Answers were strangely consistent. Clues were usually serviceable but lacking the spark of inspiration. Several took the opportunity to use a Spoonerism – I thought 4 the best of these. For anagrams, perhaps the letters made it difficult for fodder to go beyond quip, pique and quean. 6 and 37 had deletions from the fodder. Pip was defined in different ways – I liked the reference to Great Expectations in 25 and 7. Definitions in several cases settled for something straight forward – often nothing, nobody or nonentity.
4.
It seemed to me that many of the clues struggled badly when it came the surface reading.

Comments on the clues

1. A sprog's two WWI medals

1.	I guess the medals' names were derived from 'pipsqueak', so this is more of a double def.
2.	Interesting World War one trivia, as an internet search reveals, but perhaps more could have been done with this idea.

2. Animosity about police sergeant, a constant very petty thing

1.	Surface is not very natural.

3. Contemptible one shows up to defeat sea king, taking hold of queen

1.	Don't think "shows up" works very well for the cryptic.

4. Contemptible person's clever remarks point to Spooner

1.	Normally I loathe Spoonerisms but this one is amusing and subtle.
2.	Good idea, but the surface reading is weak – why is the person contemptible?
3.	My preferred one of the spoonerisms.
4.	Wonderful clue worth 5 points
5.	Nice use of point.
6.	An excellent Spoonerism, although for me just pipped (sorry) by the more concise 34.
7.	It seems a good idea to use a Spoonerism when the opportunity arises. I thought this the best.

5. Contemptibly insignificant fellow peaks with a quip!

1.	Needs an anagram indicator, and no 'a'
2.	a.i. might be clearer as "Insignificant fellow contemptibly …"
3.	Is 'contemptibly' the anagram indicator? If so, shouldn't it be in the middle of the clue?

6. Criminal equips pack, head of crowbar poking out, the despicable man

1.	'The' is perhaps redundant.
2.	An imaginative attempt at fodder. I wasn't completely persuaded by poking out (deletion), criminal (anagrind) or despicable man (def).

7. Did Orlick make Philip do this insignificant thing?

1.	The cryptic definition leads to 'squeak', not 'pipsqueak'
2.	Intention seems to be "Did Orlick make Pip squeak?" but it doesn't work.
3.	I like the literary reference.

8. Dingbat quips within the summit! (9)

1.	You can't give one word two roles like this, it's neither & lit. nor plain
2.	Double duty of "dingbat" makes for a poor clue.

9. I speak up animatedly to defend Queen being described as a 'nobody'

1.	Nice definition, surface rather implausible, I think
2.	Really good use double us of 'being'
3.	Well done. A clear winner. Loved the use of "being". Thanks for pointing it out in explanation as I may have missed it otherwise.
4.	Slightly ambiguous – is the speaker defending the queen or her description? Clever use of "being" in definition.

11. Insignificant quip? Speak up!

1.	I am not sure that 'up' works as an anagrind.
2.	Since 'insignificant' is only in the dictionaries as an adjective it can't really be used to define 'pipsqueak' which is a noun.
3.	The justification of "up" is presumably that it can mean something like "excited". I think it's dodgy – it's a different kind of excited.

12. Insignificant spot? Southern half of Quebec to Alaska?

1.	Since 'insignificant' is only in the dictionaries as an adjective it can't really be used to define 'pipsqueak' which is a noun.
2.	A rather contrived way to indicate Canada's size.

13. Kill, and confess nothing

1.	Someone's done their homework. Great combination

14. KP's pique; a twisted, contemptible thing

1.	Something specific seems required to indicate cricketer Kevin Pieterson, otherwise the initials KP are just arbitrary.

15. Midget quips rudely during climax

1.	Use opf QUIPS not too original, but surface makes up for it.
2.	My only question mark over this is the use of "during".
3.	Hmmm! Quite a suggestive surface reading!

16. Nobody gets the better of Kirkpatrick when in pursuit of a lassie that shall be nameless

1.	'Gets the better of' is redundant in the wordplay, I think
2.	Very wordy. "when in pursuit of a lassie that shall be nameless" could be "pursuing a nameless lassie".

18. Nobody let offensive quips disrupt summit

1.	Quite subtle – you need to read "let" as an instruction, but offensive is a questionable a.i.

19. Nobody quips about crashing into mountain

1.	"crashing into" to indicate insertion is a bit over the top. (I assume 'crashing' is not a second anagram indicator).

20. Nobody speak — quip's terrible!

1.	Nice and short but rather an unoriginal anagram.

21. Nobody spots an end to deadlock over recurrent EU question

1.	Unusual but correct cryptic use of "recurrent". A tricky and ingenious clue.
2.	The explanation is very misleading. It should read, eg, EU q (rev) in (pips + a + k)

22. Nobody’s hurt when rider falls in lake naked

1.	I liked it all up to 'naked'. Had it been 'unclothed' it would have been excellent
2.	Don't like this use of "naked".

23. Nonentity's resentment about writer's supplementary note on Alaska

1.	"writer's supplementary note" for PS is a bit long-winded.

24. Nothing beats playing Quake

1.	Wonderful surface, and concise.
2.	Excellent clue with very natural surface, although I was only vaguely aware of this video game.

25. One with great expectations quakes violently, the little upstart (9)

1.	The definition is a bit awry here – a pipsqueak is not an upstart, although might be called one.
2.	An interesting combination of cryptic answer and anagram.

26. Pak's pique-being treated/viewed with contempt (8)

1.	"being treated" as both anagram indicator and part of the definition doesn't work. "/viewed" seems unnecessary.

27. Pique as KP circulates text, one provoking contempt

1.	Nice if dated reference to the text message hoo-ha, although I'm not convinced by "circulates text" to indicate the anagram.
2.	Great surface and anagram
3.	Another really good clue just behind 4 I think
4.	Nice work. Circulates text was clever.

28. Pique as KP Nuts revealed shrimp!

1.	Best use of the KP.
2.	Well, at least it wasn't horse!

29. Pitiful sod needs grass seed on

1.	Lovely misleading def.
2.	"on" is rather weak.

31. Quips' peak – the height of absurdity in distinguished don's exchange with little man (9)

1.	Not sure how this actually works as a cryptic clue
2.	Interesting attempt to do something different with a Spoonerism, but giving the jumbled phrase verbatim makes the clue too easy.
3.	Thought this definitely the best clue this month.

32. Speak and quip about something insignificant (9)

1.	Unoriginal anagram.

33. Spooner exclaims "Sally, say nothing!"

1.	Including the definition in the quote doesn't work.

34. Spooner's cracks nettle nobody.

1.	The best of the Spooners
2.	Best of the Spooners
3.	Excellent concise Spoonerism.

35. Two small noises that are insignificant

1.	Since 'insignificant' is only in the dictionaries as an adjective it can't really be used to define 'pipsqueak' which is a noun.
2.	Rather lightweight.

36. Unnamed Scots lass found in skip injured after parking motorbike

1.	I would have liked to see some justification for "motorbike" as the definition.

37. Wearing Lycra, contemptible type quickly appears flustered

1.	I think the definition "contemptible type" needs to be at the beginning of the clue.
2.	A imaginative attempt at fodder and anagrind.

38. With Spooner's little man, jokes reach a climax we hear!

1.	The def. seems to be 'Spooner's little man', which is not right
2.	"We hear" is unnecessary – it's already implied by the fact that this is a Spoonerism.

39. Worm prevents quake – Extraordinary!

1.	Unconvincing surface, despite the "extraordinary!"
2.	A delightful surface, but, unfortunately, "prevents" = "pips" won't really do.

40. Would he ape UKIP's irritation about question of being insignificant?

1.	As a (semi) &lit, the clue is a poor definition, and the wordplay element 'ape UKIP's irritation about question' is misplaced.