| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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| The overall quality is high for a friendly word, but too many quiet cats and parking Jaguars for either to earn points. |
| 2. |
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| Jaguar punctures feature in several clues and there are even more variations on quiet cats, I prefer the simpler 42 and 61 to some of the more intricate versions. A few clues stand out with a different approach and a clean surface reading, notably 7, 8 and 22. |
| 3. |
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| A word that positively screams P+OUNCE, particularly with the feline meaning of OUNCE. About half the clues chose this strategy, and it felt too unoriginal for me – exceptions being 9, 36 and to some extent, 25. |
| 4. |
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| Given that an ounce is likely to pounce, there were lots of P+ounce clues (my own included) as one would expect. Some of these weren't very good, but I chose a variety of them to give one point or two points. However, clue 9 stood out for me and was awarded the maximum. |
| 5. |
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This month's bumper field seized upon the clueword with great relish, offering clues with a splendid variety of definitions, and lits and surface readings, though relatively few anagrams. A dozen clues (*) stood out from the crowd, and it really was quite difficult to separate some of them. Definitions used in order of popularity were:
(i) Jump/leap/spring (22 clues) *****
(ii) Attack/swoop/seize (14 clues)*****
(iii) Powder (7 clues) *
(iv) Puncture/pink (6 clues) *
(v) Trace (1 clue)
The remaining 12 clues were more difficult to categorise as the definitions offered were much vaguer (7, 9, 11, 33, 34, 39, 41, 42, 59, 60, 61 and 62).
Regarding wordplay, almost a third of clues (20) used a feline indicator for OUNCE (jaguar 16 17 31* 39 40, leopard 11 25* 27 55* 59 , big cat 5* 34 54 62, cat 4 36 58, feline 42), leading to great possibilities for the surface reading and an excellent opportunity for an & lit. clue. In fact a whacking 11 clues had an & lit. structure, (11, 15, 19*, 25*, 26, 38, 45*, 47*, 59, 61, 58 (semi)), with a couple of others (4 and 42) missing out on semi & lit. status because the definition, whilst being separate from the wordplay, nethertheless relied too heavily on it to be fair to the solver. It's important that the wordplay enhances the definition in a semi & lit. clue, but that the definition part is also easily identifiable on its own.
Just over a quarter of clues employed wordplay with a monetary and/or weight element (2, 3, 12*, 13*, 21, 35, 51 and 56*).
There was a fine variety of techniques employed to indicate the preceding P, including abbreviations (power 9 11 24 39, parking 12* 16 17 31* 40 (very popular with the jaguars), penny 3 13*, soft/quietly 10 34 42 43 61 62 63), initial letters (puma 4, prey 5* 55* 58 59, panther 36, predatory 25*), middle letter (leopard 27) and final letters (jump 19*, leap 26). Not much scope for anagrams though this month, with UPON being the most popular (8, 18, 45*, 47* and 60), often combined with church for CE (also used in clues 21 and 56), and two appearances each for ONCE UP (22* and 38) and ONE CUP (32 and 48*). |
| 6. |
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| I found this extremely difficult to judge as there were so many clues of a similarly high standard. In the end I divided my marks between nine clues and could easily have selected more. |
| Comments on the clues |
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| 2. 1% of a pound on 6.25% of another? That's quite a leap! |
| 1. | Surface reading seems rather arbitrary (cf clue 13). |
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| 3. A pennyweight of powder. |
| 1. | Clues must be accurate for the solver. Pennyweight is one word. | | 2. | Clue rather short for surface to be meaningful, wordplay requires penny weight. |
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| 4. At first puma, a cat, is inclined to do this |
| 1. | Definition relies too heavily on the wordplay. |
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| 6. Bound to declare with Don's opening lost after rare dismissal |
| 1. | Having such convoluted instructions for letters that don't appear in the solution is tough on the solver. | | 2. | Wordplay implies a missing 'D', rare doesn't conventionally indicate 'r'. |
|
| 7. Claw hammer almost taking one's head off |
| 1. | Good surface, less sure about the cryptic reading. How can one word take another word's head off? | | 2. | Definition seems imprecise and wordplay a little loose. | | 3. | An original take and very neatly done. |
|
| 8. Converting upon joining the Church, maybe a big leap? |
| 1. | Wordplay really requires 'Converted'. | | 2. | Nice clue though the definite article is unnecessary, indeed it's superfluous (there are other churches / Churches) |
|
| 9. Cowardly Lion couldn't do it, needing Oz power first? |
| 1. | Nice surface, though the definition is perhaps rather vague. | | 2. | Can't beat a bit of clever surface reading! |
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| 10. Discarded Pink Panther, maybe soft in the beginning |
| 1. | Surface reading seems very awkward. |
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| 11. Display of power by snow leopard? |
| 1. | Another good attempt at the & lit clue, though the definition here is rather vague (contrast with clues 19, 25 and 26). |
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| 12. Eagerly seize parking spot |
| 1. | Good surface | | 2. | nice diversionary surface | | 3. | Superbly succinct , accurate and descriptive – well done ! |
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| 14. Edgar Allan keeps a foreign cent to swoop. |
| 1. | Surface reading feels awkward. |
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| 15. Ground cuttlebone pod could be bottled this (6) |
| 1. | Not sure what a cuttlebone 'pod' is | | 2. | What is a cuttlebone pod ? |
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| 16. Jaguar after parking no longer in use: puncture. |
| 1. | Surface seems rather disjointed (see clue 17 |
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| 17. Jaguar's parking leading to early puncture |
| 1. | 'to' seems inappropriate as a link word here. |
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| 18. Jump and crash upon church (6) |
| 1. | Surface reading seems strained. |
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| 20. Jump on leader of ultras in Puerto Rican port (6) |
| 1. | 'on' seems unnecessary in the definition. |
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| 21. Jump on money endlessly given to church. (6) |
| 1. | A bit of thought here could have achieved a more convincing surface reading. | | 2. | 'on' seems unnecessary in the definition and 'given to' seems a rather awkward linking phrase (see clue 56). |
|
| 23. Jump the river uncle Noel. |
| 1. | Noel does not yield "no L". | | 2. | Ok for a cracker joke, but not for a respectable clue in my view. | | 3. | Surface seems rather arbitrary and 'Noel' doesn't equal ' no L '. | | 4. | Ah, the old joke. Not entirely Ximenean. |
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| 24. Launch a battery/power unit laced with uranium and carbon |
| 1. | Surface reading seems awkward and wordplay rather fiddly. |
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| 25. Launch of predatory leopard? |
| 1. | One of the better & lit. clues this month, perhaps 'perhaps' rather than '?' would improve the surface reading ? | | 2. | Neat, but I'm not convinced that "launch" can soundly indicate "first letter of". |
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| 26. Leap finally taken by wild cat? (6) |
| 1. | A good attempt at the & lit., though 'taken' seems unnecessary in the wordplay. |
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| 27. Leopard follows its heart to seize prey |
| 1. | Its heart = t. | | 2. | The definition is not really accurate. |
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| 28. Made-up opulence without the French powder of cuttlebone. |
| 1. | Surface reading seems a little strained. |
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| 29. No puce fashions for spring, unexpectedly |
| 1. | Good surface but cryptic reading requires 'fashion' to be an intransitive verb, which it isn't. | | 2. | Surface seems a bit disjointed. | | 3. | Some good misdirection | | 4. | nice surface; but should be (re. the preceding TWO words) 'fashion' |
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| 30. Not even propugnacled? A sudden attack's an inevitable consequence |
| 1. | A nice find, but I don't much like the last 3 words from a cryptic viewpoint. | | 2. | If nothing else this deserves a prize for managing to find any word with p-o-u-n-c-e evenly distributed. | | 3. | Wordplay and surface seem rather strained. |
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| 32. On Ron's dismissal, declare wildcat strike? |
| 1. | Nice misleading surface. | | 2. | Excellent definition. | | 3. | Who is Ron ? | | 4. | Unfortunately, an ounce is a "wild cat", but not a "wildcat", which is a specific species. Otherwise good clue. |
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| 33. One cup's plastic mug |
| 1. | Surface reading rather too short to be particularly meaningful, definition a bit too tenuous. | | 2. | Nicely compact clue |
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| 34. Pelt from quiet big cat |
| 1. | Surface reading seems awkward, definition inaccurate. |
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| 35. pennyweight of powder |
| 1. | Clue rather short for surface to be meaningful, wordplay requires Penny weight. | | 2. | Clues must be accurate for the solver. Pennyweight is one word. |
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| 36. Pink Panther? Top Cat! |
| 1. | Surface seems to lack proper meaning, WP requires 'Panther's top' and def. perhaps requires an indication of obsolescence ? (see clue 10). |
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| 37. Pound an ounce for a fine powder? |
| 1. | Isn't "ounce" rather too much of the answer to include in the clue? Is "an" extraneous to the wordplay? | | 2. | 'P' isn't really an accepted abbreviation for 'pound' and 'ounce' should be avoided as a keyword. |
|
| 38. Powder up once |
| 1. | A good attempt at the & lit., though rather brief and 'up' does seems unnecessary for the definition. | | 2. | Neatest & lit. clue | | 3. | Pithy & lit. for the short word clued: very nice |
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| 39. Power is provided by Jaguar — when Morse, in hot pursuit, decides to? |
| 1. | Definition far too vague and surely requires 'what Morse … decides to do' ? |
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| 40. Puncture vintage Jaguar on parking |
| 1. | Best example of an idea that's a bit too popular. | | 2. | Nice surface, but 'on' for 'after' seems a stretch. | | 3. | Marginally, the most convincing surface of the Jaguar clues. |
|
| 41. Put a play of words onto a measurement of butter. |
| 1. | I can't see where the P comes from, or how butter = pounce | | 2. | Could someone please explain this "explanation"? | | 3. | Unfortunately this clue suffers from a meaningless surface, elusory definition and incomplete wordplay. |
|
| 42. Quiet feline likely to do this? |
| 1. | Rather than being enhanced by the wordplay, the definition here is totally dependent on it, and yet is still rather vague. | | 2. | Would have been very good if constructed without the (superfluous) 'likely' (see 61) |
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| 43. Quietly the animal will attack |
| 1. | 'animal' seems rather vague for 'ounce', perhaps 'will make' would improve the linkage ? |
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| 44. Return to take fresh start and jump (6) |
| 1. | Wordplay seems rather oblique and surface lacks 'oomph'. |
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| 45. Scramble upon mice – not half ! |
| 1. | Perhaps a question mark after 'mice' would better justify the inclusion of 'not half !' ? |
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| 46. Seize portmanteau containing two weights |
| 1. | The wordplay is a bit too obscure to be fair to the solver. |
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| 47. Set upon with tips of claws extended |
| 1. | One of the better & lit. clues this month, perhaps 'claws extended initially' would improve the definition ? | | 2. | My favourite of the &lit offerings |
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| 49. Spring bash cut short by church |
| 1. | Sound clue though surface lacks zing. |
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| 50. Spring camp one takes in may be attended by all. |
| 1. | Clever wordplay, yet the surface reading seems awkward. |
|
| 51. Starts to change Euros after pound dropped last spring |
| 1. | The switch of tenses makes the surface awkward | | 2. | Nice wordplay but surface seems strained with the use of two different tenses and why change Euros if they are relatively strong ? |
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| 52. Strike upon changed extremes of climate |
| 1. | Surface reading seems rather awkward. |
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| 53. Swoop down upon this in France? |
| 1. | Wordplay requires an anagram indicator, not a question mark. What is 'this' in the surface reading ? |
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| 54. Term for a bound by big cat |
| 1. | 'Term for jump' or 'Term for leap', maybe? Would have been good without that 'd'. | | 2. | Wordplay seems to give 'dounce'. | | 3. | It appears to be a clue for 'dounce'! |
|
| 57. Trace wobbly upper-case 'O' with pen |
| 1. | The definition is perhaps a little vague. |
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| 58. What a cat may do with a morsel of prey in front? |
| 1. | Wordplay requires 'in front of it, perhaps' to refer back to 'cat' in the definition. |
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| 59. What comes of a leopard finding head of prey ahead (6) |
| 1. | The definition really requires a reference to movement. |
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| 60. What mousers do upon startled mice, eliminating half |
| 1. | Surface seems a little awkward – perhaps the anagram indicator could have strengthened the definition ? (see clue 45 |
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| 61. What quiet cat might do ? |
| 1. | Nice variation on the popular & lit clue, but the definition is perhaps too vague – after all, quiet cats are most often asleep ! |
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| 62. What, softly, big cat might execute |
| 1. | Another good attempt at the & lit clue, though the definition here is also rather vague (contrast with clues 19, 25 and 26). |
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| 63. Wildcat follows quietly in order to leap upon prey. |
| 1. | Nice surface but link really requires 'in order to get'. |
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