| Comments on the competition |
|---|
| 1. |
|---|
| In 1967, returning home for Christmas, I chanced, at Paddington station, upon The Connoisseur's Crossword Book, from Penguin, edited by Alan Cash, and priced at 3/6. There I met Ximenes for the first time and was able to finish his puzzles at the front of the book, thanks to my newly acquired Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary. I still have both books. The choice of MONTGOLFIER has just triggered off a happy memory because it was the answer to 10A in the very first puzzle. I can now remember solving the clue from the subsidiary definition, verifying the definition from the dictionary, and feeling a great sense of satisfaction at the combination of decoding and learning a new word. I loved the unifying theme of the clue as well. What could I do now but see how this great clue 50 would fare in a modern blind test? I will be happy to forfeit any points! Don Manley |
| 2. |
|---|
Unsurprisingly, this month's clue word produced a plethora of anagrams, many of them incorporated into the & lit. (2, 3*, 18, 19, 26, 33, 38, 40, 43*, 52* and 56*) or semi & lit. (5, 9*, 25, 32 and 55) format. Clues which relied on a generally descriptive definition in non & lit. format (10, 11, 21, 37, 46, 48, 50, 51 and 57*) tended to be more challenging to solve than those including (hot air) balloon (1, 6, 7, 8, 23, 29, 31*, 39, 45 and 54*) or variants (47* and 58). Other references to 'hot air' appeared in 8 clues (14, 17, 20, 34, 36, 44*, 49 and 53), with 2 clues each defining by 'floater' (12 and 42) and 'air transport' (22 and 41). The remaining 9 entrants chose to define the inventor/family/pilot, rather than the invention (4, 13, 15*, 16, 24, 27, 28, 30, and 35).
The commonest anagram strategy was to combine MOORING with either LEFT (7, 8, 16, 29, 36, 38, 39 and 52*) or FELT (31* and 47*), with 6 clues using FOR LONG TIME (14, 28, 30, 32, 40 and 58) as the fodder. LIFT also featured with MEN OR GO (41 and 56*) and R GO ON ME 934). 2 clues each used GOLFER I'M NOT (10 and 49), MELTING ROOF (37 and 53) and FLOATING MORE – A (13 and 42) and there were single occurences of FROGMEN TOIL (12), GROOM LEFT IN (45), LONGER MOTIF (51) and ON ROME FLIGHT – H (55).
Surface readings with a golfing flavour were popular (10, 48, 49 and 50) with two clues featuring (Tiger) Woods in the wordplay (35 and 57). Just 3 clues included the Golf motor car in their wordplay (21, 22 and 44*), with two of these managing a topical reference to the VW emissions scandal. |
| 3. |
|---|
| Fairly good set of clues. |
| 4. |
|---|
| It is a pity that so many clues used the very tempting 'left mooring' anagram but it did work far better than some of the other anagrams. With so much good material available it seemed unnecessary to resort to frogs or Zeppelins. |
| 5. |
|---|
| The word is very & lit-able so definitions like 'hot air balloon' were a wasted opportunity in my view. |
| 6. |
|---|
| What a lot of good clues! 'Left mooring' obviously won't score as high as entrants could reasonably have hoped |
| Comments on the clues |
|---|
| 1. A hot-air balloon is tiptop in an Asian firestorm. |
| 1. | 'tiptop' isn't really tip's top and the anagram indicator should be a separate word. | | 2. | I am not too happy with T for tiptop or the unorthodox 'firestorm' anagram indication | | 3. | 'tiptop' does not give 'tip's top' so the clue is unfair (to the solver). Similarly your use of 'firestorm' is not logically sound. |
|
| 2. A light craft airmen go in for a float |
| 1. | The anagram wordplay seems a bit too convoluted to be fair to the solver. | | 2. | Don't see how the (& lit.) anagram works; how is 'A light' a part of it? | | 3. | Wordplay a bit too complex, but concisely expressed |
|
| 3. Across the channel my flier got transported (11) |
| 1. | The clue is not a nounal phrase, so can't be &lit | | 2. | Clever use of the MON that also contributes to an &Lit clue | | 3. | Nice construction but the 'got transported' of the def. isn't ideal ('up' may have been better). |
|
| 4. Airmen identified with hair extracted from the original sample |
| 1. | Airmen (pl.) would have to be Montgolfiers. | | 2. | 'sample' isn't really an anagram indicator and a second indicator's required for 'hair' – perhaps the definition should be singular ? | | 3. | Rather an irrelevant surface reading | | 4. | You should have indicated that an anagram of 'hair' (not 'h,a,i,r' in that order) is to be extracted e.g. 'matted hair'. |
|
| 5. Balloon first made by inventive foreign lot |
| 1. | A nice semi &lit, perhaps 'initially' and 'creative' would improve the wordplay ? | | 2. | Although 'first made' doesn't really prompt to M this clue works well | | 3. | "First made" isn't a fair indication for M. | | 4. | First of/to/in made = M but 'first made' is nonsensical. | | 5. | Not sure about 'first made' = m or 'inventive' as anagram indication | | 6. | Nice, but does first made = m? | | 7. | A very nice idea but 'm' should be 'first of made' and not 'first made'. But for this would have been a fiver. |
|
| 6. Balloon, flipping cat inflates in Tom and Jerry occasionally burst |
| 1. | I don't think the surface reading makes sense. | | 2. | Surface reading seems confused and wordplay is a bit too convoluted to be fair. | | 3. | I think the 'flipping cat' to get GOLF renders this clue almost unsolvable | | 4. | Is there a grammar book which could help me make sense of your sentence? |
|
| 7. Balloon left mooring in ruins. |
| 1. | Succinct and technically sound, though the surface reading left me a little deflated. | | 2. | It may be obvious but it is far less strained and contrived than lots of the others | | 3. | unfortunately one of about eight left mooring anagrams but at least it works | | 4. | Never apologise, the judges may like it! | | 5. | Unfortunately too many (good) clues with this same anagram for it to score. |
|
| 8. Balloon left mooring unexpectedly |
| 1. | 'unexpectedly' doesn't really convey the jumbling required in an anagram (see clue 16). | | 2. | Slightly more plausible than the almost identical clue | | 3. | unfortunately one of about eight left mooring anagrams | | 4. | Unfortunately too many (good) clues with this same anagram for it to score. |
|
| 9. Conveyance I get on from ground with line secured |
| 1. | Excellent..I wish I had thought of that! | | 2. | Nice semi &lit. | | 3. | Lovely plausible surface reading | | 4. | Nice anagram but def. is non-specific (could refer to e.g. the Flying Scotsman). | | 5. | A very vague definition. I think more could have been done with the good anagram material. | | 6. | Simple and elegant. |
|
| 10. Crack golfer I'm not – birdies are beyond me as I launch powerless to drift with the wind |
| 1. | Definition too long for my taste. Nice wordplay. | | 2. | Nice wordplay, however the definition seems to drift on too long. | | 3. | Nice but unnecessarily wordy | | 4. | nice anagram but def. long-winded and woolly: what a shame, this had the makings of a super clue. | | 5. | Nice wordplay, but definition overstretched |
|
| 11. Didn't fret looming over the countryside? (11) |
| 1. | 'Didn't' isn't an anagram indicator and the anagram fodder shouldn't overlap with the def. which seems to define a participle not a noun. | | 2. | What is 'didn't' doing in the clue? The def. 'looming over the countryside' isn't a noun let alone a balloon. | | 3. | Where is the anagram indicator? | | 4. | Devious. |
|
| 12. Disoriented frogmen toil to find floater |
| 1. | A unique anagram, however the definition seems far too vague. | | 2. | Rather an irrelevant surface reading | | 3. | Nice wordplay. But frogmen are scuba divers so would only toil to find something submerged, not a floater. | | 4. | Good anagram idea, definition a bit weak | | 5. | Surface story isn't wholly convincing | | 6. | Definition a bit loose. Interesting anagram, but if it's floating on the surface why do we need the frogmen? |
|
| 13. Floating more without first ascending shocked the hot-air balloon inventor family. |
| 1. | The definition is a bit long and slightly awkward. "First ascending" is not a fair indicator for A. | | 2. | Surface reading rather strained, perhaps 'initially' would improve the wordplay ? | | 3. | This clue probably gives too much away | | 4. | Over detailed definition makes wordplay almost redundant |
|
| 14. Foolish for long time and full of hot air! |
| 1. | Definition implies an adjective and is rather vague. | | 2. | M. is a noun but your definition ('full of hot air') is a def. for an adjective. | | 3. | Made me smile. |
|
| 16. French inventor left mooring in disarray(11) |
| 1. | What's the link between an inventor and a mooring? French balloonist or French airman may have given a more convincing surface. | | 2. | Perhaps 'balloonist' would improve the surface ? | | 3. | Perhaps the most effective of the clues using this anagram | | 4. | unfortunately one of about eight left mooring anagrams | | 5. | works nicely (sound clue) but surface story isn't outstanding |
|
| 17. French mount game That's right a French gasbag. |
| 1. | I don't understand the surface reading at all. | | 2. | Sound wordplay but surface very awkward and definition imprecise. | | 3. | Rather an irrelevant surface reading | | 4. | Missing punctuation? | | 5. | Why the capital T? |
|
| 18. French name going back to fragile original, flown by first of aviators |
| 1. | Definition seems a bit muddled. | | 2. | A nice idea, but too strained for me. | | 3. | "flown by" doesn't really work. Something like "first of aviators flying" would have been better. |
|
| 19. French name on the rise – flier got transported |
| 1. | Sound wordplay, definition rather less precise. |
|
| 20. Frenchman regularly bound to turn out with troubled flier in his hot-air contrivance |
| 1. | Surface reading seems unnatural, perhaps definition better without 'his' ? |
|
| 21. German car, one controlled by corrupt motormen no more, is a vehicle full of emissions? (11) |
| 1. | Topical surface reading though container indicator possibly not fair and definition very challenging ! | | 2. | Rather wordy | | 3. | Clever try at topicality but the def. is non-specific (and unconvincing: emissions?) | | 4. | I like the concept and the clever definition, but this is beaten for me by some of the more direct efforts. |
|
| 22. German car that is right on a French mountain provides air transport |
| 1. | Surface lacks a coherent meaning. |
|
| 23. Ghenghis Khan has time to fire around a balloon |
| 1. | Wordplay requires 'for example'. | | 2. | I am not convinced that it is fair to expect the solver to make the leap from GK to Mongol |
|
| 24. Go to film at sea with half of Warner Brothers |
| 1. | Definition is very vague and surface reading seems arbitrary. | | 2. | A flimsy definition | | 3. | Nice idea but 'brothers' is far too non-specific for the def. | | 4. | The def needs to be more specific than this | | 5. | Good fun, but not enough definition for me. |
|
| 25. Got small mass on fire and left ground — in this? |
| 1. | Definition relies too heavily on wordplay in which 'small' is unnecessary. |
|
| 26. He operated the first mega balloon, without, alas, the first brother |
| 1. | "First brother" isn't a fair indication for B, and I'm not convinced by the phrase "mega balloon". | | 2. | 'operated' is best placed after the anagram fodder, second anagram indicator required for subtraction, 'He' otiose in wordplay. | | 3. | Lovely clue spoilt by 'the first brother': how is that the first of brother? Not by any grammar or logic. |
|
| 27. Hesitation after moon flight without hydrogen confused aviation pioneer. |
| 1. | I think the surface reading would tell a better story if "confused" was changed to "troubled", "agitated", etc. | | 2. | Overall surface reading seems rather awkward. | | 3. | Sound clue; surface story not so convincing. |
|
| 28. High flier's time for long trips (11) |
| 1. | Wordplay requires 'tripping' or alternatively 'Time for long trips for high flier' | | 2. | Three words 'trip'. But I'm unsure of 'High flier's': is it 'High flier is' or 'has'? They'd be followed by '…tripping' to make sense. |
|
| 29. Hot air balloon left mooring, floated around |
| 1. | unfortunately one of about eight left mooring anagrams | | 2. | Perhaps 'floating' would be neater ? | | 3. | Unfortunately too many (good) clues with this same anagram for it to score. |
|
| 30. Hot-air balloon pioneer family seen working for a long time without initial approval. |
| 1. | "Initial approval" isn't a fair indication for A, and "seen" has no cryptic function. | | 2. | Perhaps 'approval initially' would be grammatically more acceptable | | 3. | 'initial approval' = A? That makes no sense so it's unfair (to the solver). As you imply in the explanation: 'initial OF approval' = A. | | 4. | This works better without 'seen', I think. | | 5. | 'Hot air balloon pioneer working for long time' might be neater (see 32 and 48). |
|
| 31. Hot-air balloon's mooring felt uncertain |
| 1. | Unfortunately too many (good) clues with this same anagram for it to score. |
|
| 32. I am up in the air for long time (11) |
| 1. | Well done for the original anagram indicator. I wasn't convinced at first, but Collins attests "agitated, excited". | | 2. | Almost very nice but the natural phrase is 'for a long time' (see 40); for high marks the def. needed to be more specific! | | 3. | The definition in this semi &lit. relies a bit too heavily on the wordplay, and even then is still a bit vague. |
|
| 33. In this thing, slipping mooring then lifting off |
| 1. | …but the 2 anags aren't logically linked, as in: "[anag. X] IS / COULD BE [Y]". A tip: seems voters give few marks even to sound comp.anags | | 2. | A nice comp anag, but beaten for me by some of the simpler efforts. | | 3. | This clue really needs a link word to convey equivalence between the two anagrams and 'this' should probably be italicised to be fair. |
|
| 34. Inflate me with hot air? Right, go on, lift me high! |
| 1. | Definition seems to imply a synonym for 'inflate' (cf 'I could be inflated with hot air'). |
|
| 35. Inventor to climb heartlessly as one enters woods |
| 1. | Unfair downcasing: "Woods" can only indicate "golfer" when capitalised (there's no "Tiger woods"). Odd surface story. | | 2. | I think you mean Woods? | | 3. | Surface lacks sensible meaning, 'as' seems redundant in wordplay and 'woods' requires a capital letter and 'for example' or 'say'(see 57). | | 4. | "woods" for "Woods" is not on, especially without a "perhaps" or equivalent |
|
| 36. It left mooring transported by hot air |
| 1. | one of about eight left mooring anagrams and I don't think the "it/by hot air" contribute to wordplay so it's neither & lit nor normal clue | | 2. | Doesn't seem to work in a logical way e.g. an anagram + def; or the whole indicating both the anagram and (lit.) the def. | | 3. | 'It' and 'by hot air' seem redundant in the wordplay, neither are they an acceptable definition at each end of the clue. |
|
| 37. Its flames rise up, accidentally melting roof |
| 1. | Nice to read a clue not about ballooning! Points. | | 2. | Nice try though the def. is a trifle non-specific. Could be my fireplace, though lets hope not. | | 3. | Surface intriguing (what's flames are rising ?) and definition rather vague. |
|
| 38. It's slipped mooring and left ground altogether? |
| 1. | Nice surface but unfortunately 'slipped' seems unnecessary in the wordplay and why the question mark ? | | 2. | unfortunately one of about eight left mooring anagrams – don't think the "it's" contributes to wordplay so it is not a clean &lit clue | | 3. | Another 'left mooring' anag. but makes unique use of it. The (lit.) def. works in the sense: 'It has (sometimes) slipped..' |
|
| 39. Left mooring insecure, resulted in balloon going up? |
| 1. | I'm not sure this is a fair definition. | | 2. | unfortunately one of about eight left mooring anagrams – and "balloon going up" definition does not seem to be a precise definition | | 3. | Too many redundant words: 'Balloon left mooring insecure' would say it all. | | 4. | Nice variation on the 'left mooring' anagram, though 'going up' seems superfluous to the definition. |
|
| 40. Lifting off first in Annonay, what could be up for a long time? |
| 1. | Ingenious &lit, though the wordplay is rather challenging (why the question mark ?) |
|
| 41. Men go or lift in air-borne contraption |
| 1. | In the surface reading, the phrase "Men go or lift" seems very unnatural. | | 2. | This needs an anagram indicator e.g. "Crazy men go or lift…". ("in airborne contraption" isn't one). | | 3. | Anagram indicator required. |
|
| 42. More confused about floating around without a floating device (11) |
| 1. | Wordplay and surface seem a bit confused, definition rather vague. |
|
| 43. My French flier got high |
| 1. | Not a fair definition of Montgolfier – this is a pest tense verb phrase, not a noun phrase (eg. "French flier who got high") | | 2. | Nice concise & lit. with its self-referential "my" for Monsieur M. though should it be "our = notre" for the brothers? | | 3. | Is this really &lit? What role does "My" play in the definition? |
|
| 44. My! In France, there's a row about a German car: there's much hot air in that! |
| 1. | Topical but redundant words could go | | 2. | Nice idea, topical. Not entirely neatly wound together (to disguise the def.) |
|
| 45. Nervous groom left in flying balloon (11) |
| 1. | Sound clue but a rather contrived surface story – why a groom in a balloon? | | 2. | Nice image. Beaten for me by some of the &lits. | | 3. | Perhaps 'nervous' isn't shaky enough as an anagram indicator ? |
|
| 46. Nice way to get around, though high inflation's customary |
| 1. | Definition too vague, wordplay incomplete and surface lacks coherent meaning. |
|
| 47. Old aerostat mooring felt shaky |
| 1. | I'm never sure of adjectival (aerostat) nouns. Why not 'Old aerostat's…'? The 's would neatly double up as 'is', or 'has'. |
|
| 48. One smoothly ascends Order of Merit on embracing golf |
| 1. | Excellently diverting surface; 'smoothly' neatly adds (some) specificity to the definition. | | 2. | 'of' seems redundant in the wordplay and 'on' rather awkward in the surface reading. |
|
| 49. Scratch golfer I'm not, but I am full of hot air! |
| 1. | Would be better without the comma and exclamation mark but (with no comma) I like it. | | 2. | Perhaps 'Scratch' doesn't really convey the jumbling required in an anagram ? |
|
| 50. St Andrews man has a row about his game — goes right up in the air and gets heated |
| 1. | Clues need precision to be fair to the solver: "goes right up (etc)" doesn't define / isn't a noun. | | 2. | A colourful surface but the definition seems to indicate a verb ? |
|
| 51. The first to take off orders longer motif |
| 1. | Rather an irrelevant surface reading | | 2. | Anagram good, definition not. | | 3. | The surface reading lacks coherent meaning and the definition seems imprecise. |
|
| 52. This might arise if you've left mooring loose ! |
| 1. | unfortunately one of about eight left mooring anagrams | | 2. | Very pleasing. (Loose exclamation mark?) | | 3. | Unfortunately too many (good) clues with this same anagram for it to score. |
|
| 53. Too much hot air here has wobbly roof melting |
| 1. | Rather an irrelevant surface reading | | 2. | I love the 'wobbly roof melting' theme but (as worded) not convinced by the (stand-alone) def. with its 'too much'. What a pity. | | 3. | Definition seems unusual – why 'too much' ? |
|
| 54. Twinkling girl of ten pops balloon |
| 1. | Rather a leap from twinkling to MO | | 2. | Twinkling=mo seems difficult but entirely fair. Nice clue, the winner for me – 5 pts. | | 3. | The most original idea in the comp | | 4. | I thought (who doesn't?) that my clue was good. Then I read this. No offence folks but this made ploughing through 56 other clues worthwhile |
|
| 55. What could crash on Rome flight after losing height? |
| 1. | Nice except that the def. is far too non-specific (and one asks why 'Rome'?). | | 2. | I like this a lot, but I'm worried about the vagueness of the definition. | | 3. | Novel wordplay though definition seems rather arbitrary – why Rome ? |
|
| 56. What might give men lift or go high |
| 1. | Neat anagram. The 'or' (as opposed to 'and') is somewhat of a weakness when read as the definition. | | 2. | A very neat & lit., well done ! |
|
| 57. Woods perhaps concealing first of ice on French mountain – seen from here by P. Fogg? |
| 1. | Rather wordy | | 2. | A clever, well worked clue. A minor point to let it down: the first ice would surely form on the bare summits, not the wooded slopes. | | 3. | Je ne voyage pas en un Montgolfiere (spécifiquement) dans le Tour du Monde. C'est une belle construction, tout ce que. | | 4. | Lots of charm, but beaten for me by some of the more direct efforts. |
|
| 58. Zeppelin performs for long tine |
| 1. | Seems a shame to introduce the rather irrelevant Zeppelin, otherwise quite clever | | 2. | Sadly, typo disqualifies. If (re. balloons) Zeppelin = Montgolfier then (re. fruit) apple = orange. | | 3. | A Zeppelin is definitely not a hot air ballon. | | 4. | In the present tense the anagram indicator needs to follow the fodder – 'performing' would be OK in front. |
|
