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CCCWC January competition voters’ comments
 
Clue no. 53: "The Lion's Mane" is essentially ——— novel

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A clue to HOLMESIAN.
9 comments refer to this clue (from 8 competitors, 0 others)
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Here is the text

Comments on the clue
1.Nice way of dropping unwanted T & NE. But it reads like you're saying "The Lion's Mane" is a novel, when it's a short story.
2.An extra 'n'? Unfortunate, could have been a winner
3.Anagram requires removal of t and ne, so 'essentially' isn't the right indicator
4.anagram's not correct – too many letter n's
5.Wonderful idea, but "essentially" would suggest to me either the centre, or all but the first and last, not all but the first one and last t
6.Very clever and admirably concise.
7.My favourite of the Lion's Mane clues.
8.Admirably succinct and so nearly excellent, but sadly removing outside letters ('t' & 'e') leaves an extra 'n' in the anagram
 
Comments on the competition
1.
HOLMESIAN lends itself readily to anagrams, and it's a pity that many of them are either irrelevant or contrived, for example those relying on single letter components, or the composite anagrams. Some very vague definitions. Some excellent clues as well, for example 4 34 and 53. I'm not surprised to see so many references to Ian Hislop's Private Eye, even though I didn't think of it. I was slightly surprised by the three references to Simon Hale in 43 47 and 48 but only because I'd never heard of him.