The Crossword Centre Clue-Writing Competition

CCCWC June competition voters’ comments
 
Clue no. 18: I see this has fetishes and pole dancing

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A clue to FLESH POT.
7 comments refer to this clue (from 6 competitors, 0 others)
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Comments on the clue
1.Not an &lit, since the definition is simply "this".
2.Lovely taut and clever clue – wins for me
3.A good try at an &lit, though 'I see' is superfluous to the definition (see clue 43).
4.Excellent comp. anag. & lit. A clear winner for me
5.I like the pole dancing, would have preferred a different linking word to 'has'
 
Comments on the competition
1.
Top Shelf was such an obvious anagram, that a clue was going to have to be truly excellent to stand out, none did so I dismissed all of them, though 50 got close.

Other anagrams seemed exceptionally tortuous. Anagrams, for me, should have an elegance in their construction; clueing a string of letters and half words and throwing in an anagrind seems to lack this quality, unless excellent wordplay and originality underpins it. I feel likewise about compound anagrams. 15 2 points, 18, 40 and 44 got one point each.

22 gained a merit for attempting MARMITE as a definition, though the wording didn't work for me.

Of the rest I awarded 25 1 point, 52 2 points, 38 3 points, 19 4 points.
2.
Once again plenty of options for this month's definition (5) and wordplay. That said, the majority (31) opted for the meaning of place providing sexual entertainment, with a further 8 clues providing a specific location (5, 7, 10, 20, 33, 37, 49, and 51).Of these, 44in particular stood out from the rest (literally !). 5 clues opted for the historical meaning of a cooking pot (4, 5*, 20, 22 and 48), 3 chose high living (11*, 12 and 14) and another 3 used the obsolete sense of an abundance of flesh (27, 28 and 41*). Ten clues contained definitions that seemed to vague to categorise (2, 13, 21, 23, 45, 46, 47, 50 and 53), and five clues incorporated double definitions (5*, 20, 27, 28 and 45). Points awarded to the best 8 clues this month: 44, 5, 29, 52, 28, 31, 33 and 38.

Once again anagrams proved popular (33 clues), and many still employed faulty anagram indicators (12, 29, 40, 50 and 51), with just one clue missing an anagram indicator altogether (1). Given the subject matter, TOP SHELF was a very popular choice for a straight anagram, but it is a near reversal of the clueword rather than a proper jumble (as acknowledged by clues 17 and 35), and not many of these clues stood out, with clue 29 being the best of the bunch (8, 22, 23, 29, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51). Other popular choices were POLE + F/H/S/T (18, 36*, 39, 43 and 54), FELT POSH (12, 31* and 32) and HELPS + F/O/T (1, 4* and 13).

There were just four clues using some combination of initial letters (3, 16*,39 and43) and another three which incorporated a reversal of SELF (19, 27 and 33*).

There were a larger number of attempted & lit clues this month (9), with varying degrees of success (10, 16*, 18, 21, 30, 36, 50,53 and 54). Four of these (clues 10, 30, 50 and 54) serve to illustrate the subject of 'semi & lit' clues. The wordplay here should provide an enhancement of the definition, but in clue 10 the wordplay is really an & lit clue in itself, with the independent 'definition' non-specific and not really necessary to the clue. Likewise in clues 50 and 54 , the non-enhanced definitions are too vague to stand alone. By contrast, in clue 30 the wordplay gives a possible example of the much clearer definition phrase.