| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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| Many anagrams, particularly of the dry suet and egg variety. This meant a number of what seemed unimaginitive clues, but those clues that were good were very good. Expected a few trying "reed" as a sort of reverse clue, but none of these really worked well enough for me – such clues are easy to spot but need to be very clever to give the solver a chance. |
| 2. |
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&lit. As I understand it, the criteria that a clue has to meet to be correctly described as &lit are:
a. the definition and the subsidiary indication (s.i.) must be co-terminous;
b. every word in the clue must make a valid contribution to both definition and s.i.
34 and 49 both claim &lit, but neither meets these criteria: neither ‘for me” nor “That could be me!” play any part in the s.i. (Furthermore, for 34’s a.i. to work it should read “roll”, since it has a plural subject (whether of words or letters), and 49 has a superfluous “while”, which has no valid role in the s.i.)
The peculiarities of composite anagrams (eg, 31, 47) are such that more latitude is usually given with respect to criterion b. Thus, although in another type of clue, one might baulk at “struggle to eat differently” as part of the definition of GREEDY GUTS, in the context of a composite anagram (and given the wording of the other half of the clue), it just about passes muster. And one can just about swallow the notion that the plural of “greedy guts” is “greedy guts”, though I wonder how often the term has actually been used in the plural. However, 47 is surely seriously flawed in another way. It is true that ((THEYDHAVESTRUGGLEDTOEAT) – (th)E – (restrain)T)* = TOHALT + GREEDYGUTS, but there is nothing in the wording of the second “half” of the composite anagram, as surely there needs to be, to indicate the letters of GREEDY GUTS (such as “him”, “this chap” or even a dash). Then again, though a less serious flaw, the use of “finally” to indicate the last letter of more than one of the immediately preceding words strikes me as unsound. (Azed might also quarrel with there being an anagram indicator in both “halves” and with the lack of a natural break between the two halves, but I have never quite understood his reasons for these preferences.) Finally, where 47 is concerned, the very terse explanation leaves the judges an unnecessary amount of work to do in figuring out how the clue is actually supposed to work. How much more helpful is the explanation given for 31! |
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Once again a healthy serving of clues to feast on this month. GREEDY GUTS is one of those cluewords with a relatively tight definition, whilst at the same time being either a singular or plural noun and also offering the option to define by example. Just 4 solvers chose the latter route (Bunter, 2 and 48, Elvis 10 and Henry VIII 27) but only one of these included the essential indication that the person concerned is an example of a gluttonous individual (10). Only one clue chose to define more than one greedy guts with an ingenious &lit. (47). Popular options for the definition included 7 pigs (1, 25, 28, 32, 39, 40 and 41), 3 gluttons (15, 16 and 44), 3 scoffers, (23, 42 and 46), 2 gourmands (14 and 18), 2 fatty/fatsos (7 and 8) and 2 gorgers (21 and 22). Three greedy birds also flew in for an appearance: cormorant (3), gannet (11), raven (33). A variety of more descriptive definitions were offered in half a dozen &lit. clues (4, 12, 20, 30, 31 and 47) and slightly more semi &lit. clues (6, 13, 19, 23, 26, 34 and 49). The wordplay in the latter should provide an enhancement of the definition, but sadly in these examples the non-enhanced definitions are all rather too vague to stand alone. They were, however, preferable to no definition at all – 43.
Turning to wordplay, anagrams proved as popular as ever this month. Some of the best clues employed clever compound anagrams (4, 5, 9, 23, 25. 36, 39* and 47), whilst others slipped up with inadequate anagram indicators (8, 16, 18, 22, 26 and 35). A fair anagram indicator clearly indicates a disturbance or rearrangement of the letters or words in question. Having the correct number of anagram indicators is also essential, perennial errors including forgetting to include one at all (30), omitting the second indicator when it is necessary in a compound anagram (10) and over-complicating things with too many indicators (49). A few clues attempted to indicate the clueword cryptically with reference to the guts (contents) of GREEDY, ie REED (43, 44 and 48). However, the guts of greedy doesn't really equate to greedy guts, just as 'big bottom' isn't the same as 'bottom of big' (1). |
| 4. |
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| I commented on most of the clues but will not be offended if you ignore or reject any comments you don't like. |
| Comments on the clues |
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| 1. Big bottom deters guy – awful pig |
| 1. | Good effort. | | 2. | Nice surface but flawed: g = 'big's bottom' but 'big bottom'? No way. | | 3. | I like the &Lit use of 'awful' as part of the definition and as the anagram indicator. Of course, this would have to be a down clue! | | 4. | "Big bottom" does not equal G; this would need to be "big's bottom" or "bottom of big". | | 5. | The wordplay really requires 'Big's bottom' or 'Bottom of big' (see clue 5) and is hampered by the punctuation (see clue 14). |
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| 2. Bunter summed up with rudest eggy blow off |
| 1. | I can't find any definition of 'blow off' in Chambers which would validate its use as an anagram indicator. | | 2. | Logically needs 'e.g. Bunter' for the def by example. | | 3. | The surface reading of the wordplay doesn't really work. | | 4. | This is defining by example, so should read "Bunter, perhaps…" or similar. | | 5. | Like the surface, but definition really needs 'for example' and the link is a bit awkward,impeding the anagrind,which here should be a verb. |
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| 3. Cormorant cracked middle of egret's dusty egg. |
| 1. | Re is not middle of egret but middle of egrets. Middle of egret's as re? Not very convincing. | | 2. | Nice idea, but surface reading a bit artificial | | 3. | I like the surface picture portrayed though 'dusty' somewhat weakens it (had to be used for the wordplay). | | 4. | Interesting use of the final definition of 'cormorant' in Chambers (a glutton) |
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| 4. Crash dieter, extremely self-sacrificing guy? Not I (6,4) |
| 1. | Good construction. May be some otjer non-hyphenated word could have been tried. | | 2. | Not being a crash dieter nor extremely self-sacrificing isn't a definition for greedy guts in my opinion. | | 3. | Not keen on 'extremely' – otherwise excellent | | 4. | I would have had trouble solving this since the definition is rather specific to a single case of greediness and not really a synonym. | | 5. | Perhaps needs an exclamation mark ? |
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| 5. Daffy girl's introduction deters guy – he'll want to escape fast! |
| 1. | Innovative definition. | | 2. | Excellent misleading definition | | 3. | Very clever, I liked the way the entire clue hung together. |
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| 6. Dry suet and egg mixture? If offered I wouldn't say no |
| 1. | Definition shoul have been simpler. Not saying no to a specific dish doesn't qualify one as greedy guts. | | 2. | 'mixture' is a noun so clue doesn't work. Needs to be 'Mix of..' or '…mixed?', etc | | 3. | Quite a leap from the six-word phrase to the words it defines. Another of the numerous 'egg' and 'dry suet' clues these words engendered. | | 4. | 'Mixed' or 'Mixture of…' might be a better anagrind ? (see clues 32 and 36). |
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| 7. Fatso chewing grey stodge, acceptable substitute for love? |
| 1. | Nice effort. U for acceptable is bit too indirect. | | 2. | nice but I think 'substitute' needs to be e.g. 'substituted' | | 3. | Chambers defines 'Fatso' as (derog) a fat person. It is probably not PC to claim that condition is the result of greed. | | 4. | Perhaps 'chewed' and 'as substitute' might improve the wordplay ? |
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| 8. Fatty dry suet and egg pie |
| 1. | Very concise but definition is inadequate and doesn link with rest of clue smoothly. | | 2. | nice but flawed: 'pie' (mixture) is a noun | | 3. | Chambers defines 'Fatty' as (derog) a fat person. It is probably not PC to claim that condition is the result of greed. | | 4. | 'pie' is not really an anagrind (see clue 6). |
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| 9. For one who's never satisfied, try eggs scrambled with slivers of deep-fried unpasteurized Emmenthal |
| 1. | One of the more credible food combinations, but clue ends up rather long | | 2. | works OK but wordy, and resorts to a rel. 'easy' way to get the extra letters for the anagram | | 3. | Rather verbose! | | 4. | Sounds delicious ! |
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| 10. Gad! Sweet, sugary bar was a mistake for someone like Elvis |
| 1. | Complex construction well handled. | | 2. | I'm not keen on 'x mistake' = 'anagram of x' | | 3. | Nicely deceptive use of the noun 'bar' and the verbal sense for the omitted letters. | | 4. | A clever compound anagram, but first anagram indicator is missing and second should really be 'mistaken' or 'mistakenly'. |
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| 11. Gannet put energy into production of sturdy egg |
| 1. | Simple | | 2. | Would prefer 'puts' here | | 3. | Like the 'cormorant' clue, interesting use of the Chambers definition 'a greedy person'. | | 4. | Rather a weak anagram indicator in an otherwise sound clue. |
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| 12. Gets endless grub, ye'd fancy |
| 1. | This one is so effortlessly nice except for ye'd. | | 2. | 'Ye' needs some historical context to justify it I think | | 3. | Lovely – top marks. | | 4. | Sadly the phrase doesn't define a noun. Would work with an introductory def instead of the attempt at '& lit'. | | 5. | Rather forced but one has to admire the ingenuity. | | 6. | Without an initial "He", this defines a verb, not a noun, and "ye'd" is very contrived. | | 7. | Nice, short & sweet. But feel it needs an introduction like 'he' or similar to work correctly – the challenge of the &lit. | | 8. | Clever anagram, but the clue as a whole defines a verb not a noun. |
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| 13. Gets rude about one involved with extremes of gluttony – called him this? |
| 1. | Rather verbose but the surface reading is plausible. | | 2. | I might be missing something but can't see where 'one' fits in the wordplay. | | 3. | 'about one' seems otiose in the wordplay and the definition is rather vague. |
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| 14. Glutton basically with urges yet uncontrolled while eating – term for gourmand |
| 1. | Should be 'primarily' rather than 'basically' for G and unfortunately the punctuation interferes with the wordplay here also (see clue 1). |
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| 15. Glutton for punishment? |
| 1. | Indirect indirect. | | 2. | Too much of a logical leap. | | 3. | Succinct and clever… almost: not by any logic or grammar does GREEDY GUTS = GREEDY'S GUTS | | 4. | The compiler is expecting his solvers to make a huge leap to 'reed' as the 'guts' of 'greedy' – I don't think this can work. | | 5. | The germ of a good idea here, but, although REED = CANE & CANE = PUNISHMENT, REED does not = PUNISHMENT | | 6. | Wordplay seems to be deficient (see clue 16). | | 7. | Too many jumps. |
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| 16. Glutton for punishment gets extremely dodgy urge |
| 1. | The surface reading has led to a rather unorthodox anagram indicator. | | 2. | Clue works fine but the surface story is lacking e.g. urge to do what? | | 3. | Perhaps 'punish' doesn't adequately convey the change required from an anagram indicator ? |
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| 17. Glutton regularly aggrieved; gutlessly taunted among skittish guys |
| 1. | Too many bits and pieces. | | 2. | Unfortunately the wordplay doesn't quite work, giving GREE then TD in an anagram of GUYS. |
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| 18. Gourmand to restudy egg custard (6,4) |
| 1. | Restudy custard affects the surfave | | 2. | I'd like this if I could justify the anagram indicator, but I don't think I can | | 3. | The 'to' is essential to the surface reading but is redundant and noun anagram indicators tend to be rejected by editors. | | 4. | Nice surface story but 'custard' is a noun so the clue doesn't work. | | 5. | Unfortunately 'to' isn't really a recognised link word and 'custard' isn't really adequate as an anagram indicator. |
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| 19. Guy busy tucking into exotic dessert, giving up seconds for good? Unlikely! |
| 1. | Well made. Those with sweet tooth will totally identify with this clue! | | 2. | One of my bugbears: unlike 'A tuckED into B', 'A tuckING into B' indicates 'B in A' NOT 'A in B'! 'Getting stuck into' would've been better | | 3. | A rather indirect definition but a fine surface reading. | | 4. | Without quite being an & lit., this clue's definition relies too heavily on the wordplay. |
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| 20. Guy 'desserting' when 'bursting' – and disregarding sin? |
| 1. | Too contrived. | | 2. | Poetic licence happily granted! | | 3. | The 'and -' are possibly redundant. |
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| 21. Guy, Red, gets lost as he’s bound to gorge (6,4) |
| 1. | Rather a forced anagram. | | 2. | 'as he's' looks wrong: why not 'as one…' | | 3. | Surface reading seems rather strained and 'as' only really works in a "DEFINITION as (when) WORDPLAY" construction. |
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| 22. He gorges, yet grudges waste (6,4) |
| 1. | Very good clue, surface and wordplay | | 2. | The 'yet' jars in the surface reading – rather forced. | | 3. | I am not normally a fan of the so-called semi&lit but this is a terrific one, best this month for me. | | 4. | If using an imperative anagram indicator, this should be before the anagram fodder. | | 5. | Perhaps 'waste' doesn't adequately convey the change required from an anagram indicator ? |
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| 23. He scoffs revolting eggy strudel, endlessly. |
| 1. | Well, he might do. Needs a question mark at least. | | 2. | Concise and correct if rather a forced anagram. | | 3. | Unfortunately the definition relies just too heavily on the wordplay to be a good semi &lit. |
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| 24. He wants the lot pulverised to grey dust for example |
| 1. | Indirect anaram fodder part eg. | | 2. | Good misleading definition | | 3. | Using the 'for example' as eg in a compound anagram is verging on an indirect anagram. The definition requires a mental leap. | | 4. | Nice idea, but the "to" between the anagram indicator and anagram material makes this unfair. | | 5. | Perhaps a culinary indicator would improve the definition, and 'to' isn't necessary in the wordplay. |
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| 25. Heartless granny gestured wildly for pig |
| 1. | The surface reading doesn't really work 'gestured for pig'. | | 2. | "Heartless granny" indicates GR(an)NY, not G(rann)Y. |
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| 26. He'd degust grey slop? |
| 1. | Very forced anagram that doesn't give a satisfactory surface reading. | | 2. | The definition seems insufficient, even with the wordplay. 'Sloppy' would be OK as an anagrind but not sure about the verb acting as one. |
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| 27. Henry VIII's insatiable inner man |
| 1. | Hmm. Not sure but something is missing. | | 2. | Definition by example needs a question mark or a 'perhaps'. The component definitions are not very cryptic. | | 3. | A charade simmply defining both words is a little weak. | | 4. | This uses an example to define a concept. 'Maybe' or 'perhaps' is needed. | | 5. | Henry VIII is an example (not a def.) of G.G. so needed to be qualified by 'e.g.' or similar. | | 6. | This is defining by example, so should read "Henry VIII, perhaps…", or similar. | | 7. | Definition requires 'eg' and a good surface should convey a message. |
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| 28. How we handle a hog? |
| 1. | This could equally clue many other names for a glutton | | 2. | There is confusion of the verb 'handle' with the nounal use of the word here. | | 3. | No-one could solve that and KNOW they had the correct answer. It's just a definition (and no wordplay). | | 4. | No wordplay, 'handle' is a verb here and is 'hog' not a direct example of the clueword rather than a nickname ? |
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| 29. Inside grey walls, Oliver perhaps finds courage. "He wants MORE?" |
| 1. | Very nice idea. | | 2. | Difficult to solve! I wonder whether the 'finds' is appropriate or redundant. | | 3. | Shame for me that it wasn't 'walls of grey', but lovely idea. | | 4. | Unfortunately 'grey walls' is meaningless in the wordplay: by any sane logic it does not mean 'walls of grey'. | | 5. | The wordplay really requires 'walls of grey' – perhaps " I want more ! " would be a less hesitant definition ? |
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| 30. Lunch out with this person could be cursed with huge gluttony (10, two words) |
| 1. | Subtractive composite anagrams are tough to solve and this is no exception (but the surface reading works – ingenious!). | | 2. | Nice. Maybe sensible competition tactics not to just indicate "comp. anag. & lit." | | 3. | By what means could A be B ? There needs to be some indication of disturbance or rearrangement eg 'strangely cursed'. |
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| 31. Might he notably turn to Sage Derby gluttony? |
| 1. | Admirably succinct and a genuine &lit, but the surface does not read very naturally. | | 2. | Good wordplay but the def. reading isn't the strongest here (rather unlikely, methinks). | | 3. | 'Sage Derby' seems unnecessary to the definition unfortunately. |
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| 32. Mixed suet with dry egg for pig (6 4) |
| 1. | For pig part spoils the surface. | | 2. | Most credible of the dry egg and suet clues. | | 3. | Sound, and one of the better surface stories here. | | 4. | Perhaps 'Suet mixed with …' would be more grammatical wordplay and surface ? (see clue 36). |
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| 33. Naughtily, Rusty egged Raven |
| 1. | Concise | | 2. | Very forced and rather meaningless surface reading. Raven doesn't work as a noun definition of 'greedy guts'. | | 3. | Not a gripping surface story. | | 4. | Surface reading seems nonsensical, definition inaccurate. |
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| 34. Nothing's refused, eg dory, pig's tail and suet rolls for me! |
| 1. | Should be plural verb 'roll'! | | 2. | See general comments on &lit | | 3. | In the wordplay the 'is' in 'nothing's' doesn't read correctly, methinks. | | 4. | Only semi & lit., but definition relies too heavily on wordplay which is itself rather clunky (see also clue 49). |
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| 35. Nursing grudges, yet he's a guy with an insatiable appetite for life (6,4) |
| 1. | Well made. For life is for surface sake and doesn't go smoothly with definition. | | 2. | An unorthodox anagrind. The 'for life', added to aid the surface reading, is perhaps redundant. | | 3. | 'for life' not convincing in the def. (there's always some hope of redemption) | | 4. | 'Nursing' isn't really an anagram indicator, 'for life' seems otiose. |
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| 36. One loves to eat egg cooked with dry suet |
| 1. | Smooth and tasty. | | 2. | Another of the numerous 'egg' and 'dry suet' clues that these words engendered. | | 3. | neat enough but not stand-out | | 4. | The best of the egg/dry suet recipes ! |
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| 37. One overindulgent rugged type's quietly gone bananas. |
| 1. | Construction is sound but surface needs more appeal. | | 2. | Works, but the surface story isn't brilliant. | | 3. | Surface reading seems nonsensical |
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| 38. One taking too much ecstasy drug gets therapy finally to get sorted out |
| 1. | Good effort. Bit jarring… ecstasy drug bit. | | 2. | Shame about gets/get repetition | | 3. | Would 'consuming' have worked better? And are the words 'to get' redundant? | | 4. | 'to get' isn't really needed in the wordplay and perhaps 'consuming' would give more precision to the definition ? |
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| 39. Pig in sty buggered off — source of bacon’s gone! |
| 1. | Good construction and nice surface. | | 2. | Best of the 'pig' clues. Very amusing. | | 3. | I had to give this one a point as it was the only one that made me laugh. | | 4. | I was debating whether being too crude ruled this out of the points, but decided that it makes me laugh and works perfectly so worth 4. | | 5. | Great clue, nice story. Hope the pig lived happily ever after, you animal-eaters out there. |
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| 40. Pig messily egged yurts. (6,4) |
| 1. | Thanks for helping with a new word …. yurt. However surface is not appealing. | | 2. | An extremely odd surface reading! | | 3. | Surface reading seems nonsensical. |
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| 41. Pig's almost new sty dug out (6,4) |
| 1. | Simple but sounds a bit labored. | | 2. | Concise with a good surface reading. |
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| 42. Re. egg study: If scrambled he'll scoff at least a dozen. |
| 1. | A difficult anagram fodder to cook up a good clue with. Well tried. | | 2. | The definition requires a mental leap. | | 3. | Including 'if' seems to require a link eg 'we see'. Perhaps 'someone who'd scoff the lot' would be a more independent definition. |
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| 43. Reed? |
| 1. | Incomplete. | | 2. | Is this a ref. to Oliver Reed? A greedy guts is unlikely to be a 'reed' | | 3. | Lacks definition. It could as well lead to "Breedy Core", whatever that may mean. Compare with the other clue posted: "Reed? A Glutton!". | | 4. | This attempts the same trick as clue 29 expecting an even greater mental leap – where is the definition? | | 5. | 'G-reed-y guts' would be a great clue for 'reed' but it doesn't work the other way. | | 6. | Nice try but "greedy guts" does not logically give "reed"; "guts of greedy" does but that's not what we're cluing. | | 7. | Great clue if you already know the answer. | | 8. | No definition (see clue 44) and the wordplay is far too indirect and sadly also faulty – GREEDY's GUTS = REED. |
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| 44. Reed? A glutton! |
| 1. | Simple and nice. | | 2. | Is this a ref. to Oliver Reed? | | 3. | As with clues 29 and 43 and 48, I wonder how fair this is on the solver. | | 4. | See comment for 43: nice try but flawed | | 5. | The wordplay is far too indirect to be fair to the solver and sadly also faulty – GREEDY's GUTS = REED. |
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| 45. Rugged sty built to house Earl's pig (6,4) |
| 1. | Simple and efficient. | | 2. | Good surface and wordplay. | | 3. | Fine surface reading. | | 4. | A lovely surface with ref. to the Empress of Blandings, even if "built" sails close to the wind as an a.i. | | 5. | Clever surface, incorporating 'sty' and 'pig', but perhaps 'English' or 'European' would be more acceptable to indicate E ? |
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| 46. Scoffer holding Miliband is dull, empty and square |
| 1. | Good effort. Insertion indicator may not be taste of many. | | 2. | A good idea, but "Miliband" for ED needs a "perhaps", "for instance" or "say" | | 3. | Wordplay a little clunky perhaps, definition seems too mild (see clue 42) and surface not particularly convincing. |
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| 47. They'd struggle to eat differently, lacking the restraint finally to halt perhaps |
| 1. | Greedy guts is not a plural as gluttons. It is an anagram clue with whole clue as definition. | | 2. | This clue meets the criteria neither for &lit nor for a composite anagram. See general comments on &lit. |
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| 48. This results in cane for Billy Bunter |
| 1. | It shouldn't be so complex. Indirection to reed as cane was avoidable. | | 2. | Too indirect. Solver wouldn't stand much of a chance. | | 3. | Clever but as with clues 29 and 43 and 44, I wonder how fair this is on the solver. | | 4. | Sure the GUTS OF GREEDY is REED but we're supposed to clue GREEDY GUTS: no way is that GUTS OF GREEDY | | 5. | The definition requires 'eg' and the wordplay is far too indirect and sadly also faulty – GREEDY's GUTS = REED. |
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| 49. Urged awkwardly into messy sty while eating extremely crudely? That could be me! |
| 1. | Nice visual surface. | | 2. | Difficult to picture the surface reading. | | 3. | See general comments on &lit | | 4. | Why are 'into' and 'while' in the wordplay? And it's not an "& lit" (whole clue = definition AND whole clue = wordplay) | | 5. | Def. relies too heavily on WP to be a good semi &lit.,'into' and 'while' don't really work in the wordplay and there is 'anagrind excess'. |
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