| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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A number of clues seemed to be comments disguised as clues, or perhaps clues disguised as comments. As much as I agreed with the praise therein, I couldn't bring myself to accept that the meaning of the word RELAUNCH had anything to do with a voting system for crossword enthusiasts! So I tended to favour the traditional clue over the gimmicky one.
Top of my list was 22. I can't fault it: 'Fresh start (def.) can lure broken (anag, ind.) hearts (H)'. Succinct, meaningful, accurate and fair. |
| 2. |
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Most of the clues that referred to the competition I rejected as unfair because they wouldn’t stand alone. If you put them in a puzzle the solver wouldn’t understand them. I also applied this to #1 because it referred to a previous competition. Others might have been structurally OK but lacked surface – eg 2, 5 15, 23, 40, 42, 45, 47, 48, 53. 5 also didn’t have a homophone indicator for ‘U’. Some had unclear definitions such as 8, 26, 29, 38, 50, 53, 55 or I just didn’t understand at all – 10, 12, 19, 27, 28, 36, 42, 43, 46, 49, 52. I don’t see a hidden word indicator in #20. #35 doesn’t seem to have an anagram indicator and the definition is for LAUNCH rather than RELAUNCH. #45 contains “where there won’t be a clash” for ‘unch’. I don’t think this clearly defines ‘unch’. Checked letters don’t ‘clash’. #51 had the definition in the middle of the clue. #54 read well but I couldn’t verify the definition.
Of the rest, I enjoyed #3. It is structurally sound and there are no superfluous words. It has good surface that sounds revolting but fairly leads the solver to the answer. I don’t think it needs the question mark. #7 & #34 were the best of the ‘nuclear+h’ anagrams. I liked the definition in #9. #22 provides a lovely image of lonely people being lured by the prospect of a fresh start. |
| 3. |
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A very good set of clues, I thought, which didn't make voting easy.
55 is a very natural English sentence, 'Chanel' and the 'starts to…' work perfectly, so I've given it 5 points.
22 also reads very nicely, simple but highly effective, 4 points.
36 is much more complicated but is timely and ingenious, so I've given it 3 points.
I liked the image of a boozy lunch created in 8A, to which I've given 2 points, although the definition seems slightly shaky.
Lastly, my favourite of the 'Herculean' efforts was number 56, to which I've given 1 point. 'eccentricity' is a little obvious, but nicely encapsulates the quirkiness of what we do! |
| 4. |
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| A pretty high standard overall with about a dozen clues contending for points. Other things being equal, a witty definition always wins it for me, so 8, 9 and 43 are in my top three, followed by 22 and 55 for convincing surface readings. 28's just out of my top five as the definition isn't as precise. A few clues used 'dine again' or similar for 're-lunch', but I couldn't buy this. It needs a ? at the very least. Some clues I rejected: 42's 'place! In deep water again' takes too much liberty with punctuation; 5's 'without limb' to remove l, e, g from 'Challenger' is too difficult to solve (it's a clue to a clue), similarly 'not directed' in 30; 26's 'again' has no part in the wordplay, so the clue is semi-& lit. at best. A couple of clues had typos. I was lenient this time but I hope Robert will remind competitors again that under the new system they need to double-check what they've submitted. |
| 5. |
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Well done everyone – I failed to enter, but will do better next month. I promise! I liked 36's topical surface, and 22's simplicity.
I split some marks among a few of the crossword-related clues – re 6's query, I decided 'unch' could be accepted in this context, though others may diasgree. I thought 11 was promising, but 'definition of' seemed unnecessary. |
| 6. |
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A lot of good ideas, but I found it frustrating that clues that were fully sound in definition & wordplay tended to have weak or even meaningless surfaces, while those with good & imaginative surfaces tended to be flawed. On closer inspection, quite a lengthy short-list had to be drastically reduced.
One error was to take a naively mathematical approach to equivalences of meaning and to assume (wrongly) that, because word A can be a synonym for word B & word B for word C, word A is necessarily a synonym for word C (eg, 12 – demise/death/end (otherwise excellent clue); 29 – awesome/dreadful/very bad). Other (to me) fatal flaws included: first-class (not same as upper-class) for U (49); comeback as a definition (relaunch might be a way to achieve a comeback, but is not same thing) (6); “the result of” as an a.i. (29); X introducing Y to indicate YX, when it actually means XY, producing NCHRELA not RELAUNCH (32 – otherwise excellent); too specific a definition (39). What is 54’s definition? Presumably, clue as a whole, since “Try once more” clearly inadequate on its own, but it isn’t an &lit, since “try once more” plays no part in subsidiary indication.
No less than five composite anagrams. Some think that each half of a comp. anag. should have an a.i., while others see this as a weakness. However, most would, I think, agree that, esp. if there is only one a.i., there must be some sort of connector – an equivalent of = – between the two halves, whether in form of words or punctuation, which rules out 1. 52 doesn’t have one either, but there is at least a natural break between two halves; not a very convincing surface, however (& “habitualness” makes it iffy as an &lit). In 28, it’s not clear whether author intended “arrangement” to be part of a.i. to first half - ie, nounal a.i., widely frowned upon – or (better), with “for”, to be a second a.i. governing second half . In either case, however, “writing” seems to have no role other than to make sense of surface, which dishes clue for me; pity, because surface is highly appropriate. On 14 & 51, see below.
4.5 points:
56. A fairly straightforward clue, but entirely sound & elegantly done, with a nicely appropriate surface. The best of the bunch.
2.5 points each:
14. The best of the composite anagrams, but with an a.i. that teeters on edge of unacceptability
43 Somewhat bizarre surface, but elegant wordplay in subsidiary indication & quite a clever definition, exploiting two senses of “bodies”.
2 points:
51. “dodging” a rather desperate compromise between needs for an a.i. & for a word conveying sense of avoiding to suit surface. Result a bit artificial in latter respect, even if one accepts that “a clash with R Teuton” was ever on cards.
1 point each:
10. Surface not entirely convincing – “stranded hookers” (even of meretricious sort) not naturally associated with “business rejuvenation initiatives” - but clue is sound enough & use of word “hookers” would almost certainly lead most people (fairly) up the garden path.
55. Unless Chanel is currently facing severe problems requiring a relaunch – in which case my apologies for my ignorance - the use of such a proper name solely for purposes of an anagram a definite weakness. However, wordplay is quite neat.
0.5 point each:
8. Is “chance” quite the right word in context of definition? Otherwise, sound wordplay & quite good & (fairly) misleading surface.
22. Sound & economical clue, but with pretty weak surface.
52. See above.
[Apologies if , owing to truncated style dictated by character count, arguments lack clarity.] |
| 7. |
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| In order downwards 5pts to 1. 22 original, brief and perfectly constructed was my favourite. 56 was best of those using the Herculean idea, amusing. 18 another original idea. 3 and 24. New voting system is very easy to use and no need to check and recheck that I've quoted the correct clue numbers. |
