CCCWC August competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 36: On left, division as of old, if Brown goes. What PM’s pinning hopes on?
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A clue to RELAUNCH.
4 comments refer to this clue (from 3 competitors, 1 other)
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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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. |
| 2. |
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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! |
| 3. |
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| Not as much unsoundness as often that I could see and a fair few worthy clues. Some exceptions that I discounted to start with included: 1 (noun indication of anagram?); 35 (no indication of "again" aspect in definition; 41 (no anagram indicator). With a lot of clues showing the same treatments, instead my criteria were originality combined with elegance and relevance. Using this as the yardstick, 5 clues stood out, namely 12 (runaway winner, I suspect), 55, 36, 28 and 19. |
| 4. |
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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. |
