CCCWC September competition voters’ comments on Clue no. 8

CCCWC September competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 8: Brazilian photo is exotic art

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A clue to TASER (Printer’s Devilry).
3 comments refer to this clue (from 3 competitors, 0 others)
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Comments on the clue

1.	Nice use of new language, but 'sext' seems unrelated to the rest of the undevilled version.
2.	I think only slang dictionaries will include 'sext' in this context, so best avoided in the undevilled version

Comments on the competition
1.
As I see it, a PD clue should not only make good (and idiomatic) sense in both versions (and particularly in the undevilled one), but the devilled version should significantly change the meaning of the undevilled version. In the very best PD clues – of which 42 is an excellent example, much better than the rather lacklustre one routinely given in preambles to PD competitions – the undevilled version will be an unremarkable statement of the ordinary, while the devilling creates something not only contrasting, but also funny or outrageous. The other way around (eg, 2, 8) strikes me as much less satisfactory; after all, the notional context of PD is that a printer is mischievously omitting letters from an author’s text in order to produce an embarrassing or amusing alternative. Unfortunately, only one of the clues offered ticked all these boxes, and, in too many, one or other version or both made little sense or it was hard to imagine a context in which the wording might credibly be encountered.

Comments on the competition

As I see it, a PD clue should not only make good (and idiomatic) sense in both versions (and particularly in the undevilled one), but the devilled version should significantly change the meaning of the undevilled version. In the very best PD clues – of which 42 is an excellent example, much better than the rather lacklustre one routinely given in preambles to PD competitions – the undevilled version will be an unremarkable statement of the ordinary, while the devilling creates something not only contrasting, but also funny or outrageous. The other way around (eg, 2, 8) strikes me as much less satisfactory; after all, the notional context of PD is that a printer is mischievously omitting letters from an author’s text in order to produce an embarrassing or amusing alternative. Unfortunately, only one of the clues offered ticked all these boxes, and, in too many, one or other version or both made little sense or it was hard to imagine a context in which the wording might credibly be encountered.

CCCWC September competition voters’ comments Clue no. 8: Brazilian photo is exotic art

CCCWC September competition voters’ comments

Clue no. 8: Brazilian photo is exotic art