CCCWC May 2018 competition results
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58 clues entered. 51 votes cast (43 competitors, 8 others).
IRELAND
Congratulations to Pete Milne who came out on top this month with a wonderfully topical clue! That's his second podium finish of the year.
Second place goes to Nick Smith who found a very original angle utilising the poetic name for Ireland.
In third spot was another Smith – Andy – with what would be a tricky clue to parse in a crossword but nicely slots in Ireland's nickname.
Shyam came home in 4th with what I thought was the most ingenious clue and certainly made me chuckle!
Barry Solomons grabs the final podium berth with a neat semi &lit.
Well done to all – good luck with UNION!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | Pete Milne | Idiotic hardliner wants borders here | Anag of (h)ARDLINE(r). Wants can mean lacks. Ref Brexit. &lit | 76 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 17 | Nick Smith | Daniel Radcliffe's first fancy? Erin! | DANIEL + R anag; he has been engaged to Erin Darke since March 2017 | 66.5 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | 19 | Andy Smith | Emerald Isle – fanciful name for me | (Emerald + I)* with n replacing me | 41 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 45 | Shyam | Our neighbour is flying Aer Lingus – 50% off to Germany! | flying (anagram indicator); anagram of AER+LIN and Germany (D) | 35.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 13 | Barry Solomons | Country I learn about, with the capital of Dublin? | I + learn (anag) + D(ublin) | 29 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | 2 | Steve Randall | A country flat where one's gone for style | IRONED, replacing ONE with ELAN | 26.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 58 | Satyen Nabar | Where tipsy islander wanting last drop of Guinness might be? | ISLANDER* minus S; semi-&lit. Tipsy=anag ind, wanting= deletion ind, last drop of Guinness= S (last letter of Guinness) | 26.5 | 4 | 6 |
| 8 | 24 | Peter Bennett | First signs of impala repopulating antelope country | First signs of… = I R/ eland is an antelope/ country is definition | 22 | 5 | 1 |
| 8 | 44 | Luciano Ward | One would briefly take in Larne when moving here? | would briefly = 'D'; I and D take in LARNE anag ('when moving'); def = here (ref. Larne being the ferry destination for many travelling on to Ireland) | 22 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | 11 | Tony Harker | Composing Preludes for Piano might have been purpose of him. | PRELUDESFORPIANO angram of PURPOSEOFIRELAND. Refers to John Ireland (1879-1962), composer of Preludes for Piano. | 21.5 | 2 | 5 |
| 10 | 42 | Shirley Curran | Myself, kin and country | I + REL + AND | 21.5 | 2 | |
| 12 | 41 | Led rain dancing? It's not usually necessary here! | *LED RAIN | 19 | 3 | 1 | |
| 13 | 1 | A blight here affected large acreage with dire and extreme starvation. | *l+a+dire+n; &lit | 18 | 2 | 1 | |
| 13 | 40 | Kerry's here, dancing in a red lace top | (IN A RED L)*; Kerry being an Irish county. | 18 | 2 | 1 | |
| 15 | 9 | Are high hopes for Brexit solution fading here? That could make one come down to earth again | I + re-land | 17 | 4 | 2 | |
| 16 | 50 | Republic held by billionaire landlords (7) | Ireland is a republic (so google told me!) Container clue: billionaIRE LANDlords; indicator = held by | 16 | 1 | ||
| 17 | 15 | Country where perhaps I learned no English (7) | Definition: country; Wordplay: [I learned – e (no English)]* anagram indicator perhaps | 15 | 2 | ||
| 18 | 43 | Nation of Iran led astray | IRANLED* | 14 | 2 | ||
| 19 | 3 | A Dubliner upset, not oddly, about leaving this country (7) | ADUBLINER – anagram fodder// is upset – anagrind// not oddly about leaving -> b-u (even characters of aBoUt)// leaving – deletion ind// this country = def// ADUBLINER* -BU -> IRELAND Whole clue being an extended def of Ireland | 13 | 1 | 2 | |
| 20 | 18 | Delta follows linear arrangement leading to Emerald Isle | D (delta) put after IRELAN (anag. of linear). Definition = Emerald Isle | 11 | 0 | 2 | |
| 20 | 35 | Iran led revolution to build a nation. | Iran led anag; revolution indicates changing letter order. | 11 | 2 | 1 | |
| 22 | 21 | End rail trip in the country (7) | anagram of ENDRAIL | 9 | 2 | 1 | |
| 23 | 12 | Cook ran deli in Cork's country | Cook = anagram indicator of "ran deli": Cork's country = Ireland | 8.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 23 | 22 | Erin spread around darn lie (7) | "Erin" is a name for Ireland; "spread around" indicates "darn lie" an anagram of the answer. | 8.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 25 | 6 | An idler loafing in Hibernia | Anag (loafing) of An+idler | 8 | 1 | 2 | |
| 26 | 10 | Composer’s alight with rage at first | def = composer (John Ireland); alight = land; rage at first = ire (put at the start) | 7.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 26 | 29 | He was familiar with bars having vigour and style in one small way | Definition = 'He was familiar with bars' (bars in music). 'vigour and style' = ELAN, which goes inside 'one- = I (Roman numeral) and 'small way' = RD (road shortened). | 7.5 | 1 | ||
| 28 | 47 | Paddy fields? Paddy's at home here! | ire land; paddy = rage | 7 | 0 | ||
| 29 | 36 | Irate country? (7) | Wordplay and definition (IRE + LAND) = IRELAND | 6.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 29 | 55 | The state of Paddy! Anger, lust and nervous depression, just for starters! | Def/Ire + l + a + n + d. | 6.5 | 0 | ||
| 31 | 23 | Female, out of passion, to settle in country (7) | [f]IRE+LAND | 6 | 0 | ||
| 31 | 46 | Paddy field | Paddy=rage(IRE)/irishman and field=(LAND)/country | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| 33 | 34 | Impediment retarding EU leavers' agenda? No deal initially . . . | I(mpediment) R(etarding) E(U) L(eavers) A(genda) N(o) D(eal) &lit. | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 33 | 39 | Island where religious teaching takes over society? | ISLAND, RE takes over S; &lit? | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
| 33 | 51 | Revolutionary Iran led as religious Republic | IRANLED* | 5 | 1 | ||
| 36 | 25 | Fled rain touring here, after rejecting France? | *(F)LED RAIN; &lit. (with apologies to Irish Tourist Board) | 4.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 37 | 16 | Country’s passport maybe having different real name (7) | Def – Country, ID << REAL*+N | 4 | 1 | ||
| 37 | 26 | Foolishly, to read French and here? | IREL (from LIRE or to read in French; foolishly being the anagram indicator for LIRE) + AND (and) giving IRELAND (here, indicating the place or country) | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| 37 | 33 | I'll shortly get around backing queen and country. | I'll shortly = il ; get around is containment indicator ; backing queen = re : so il gets around re to give i re l ; with and we have irel and ( country ) | 4 | 2 | ||
| 37 | 48 | Place of anger, we hear, becomes a colder, more remote island after RC conversion | "Ire"land to Iceland, cryptic clue | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| 37 | 49 | Real freedom in independent European nation | I(RELA)ND (real)* | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 42 | 30 | Heads of European island republic entreat for alternative name? | Heads of European island republic entreat = EIRE. Alternative name for Eire = Ireland. | 3.5 | 0 | ||
| 43 | 28 | He composed a pointless telegram to European city-state. | DEF He composed (john IRELAND). pointless telegram (wIRe), European E, city LA, state ND | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 43 | 31 | I rearranged Elgar lullaby for beginners with an English composer | I REL (first letters) AND (=with). Ref: composer John Ireland (d 1962) There's a lullaby by Elgar in "From the Bavarian Highlands" – worth a listen. | 3 | 3 | ||
| 43 | 38 | Island nation rejects Cnservative for Republican (7) | Def: Island. Nation is ICELAND with R (republican ) for C (Conservative) | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 43 | 56 | 'Two Nations' is forgotten name Disraeli coined | N D(IS)RAELI anag | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| 47 | 7 | Angry country? | Cryptic def | 2.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 47 | 37 | Is divided about dire article 5O ? | Is divided …? Divided island = definition. About= anagram indicator. dire + an(article)+ l (5O) = anagram fodder. | 2.5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 47 | 53 | Rocks realigned to form, e.g., this isle? (7) | anagram of (realigned) -> (e.g., Ireland), &lit – Ireland was formed by the realignment of two huge land masses about 440 million years ago | 2.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 50 | 20 | Emerald Isle formed Erin lad | IRELAND (Erin lad anag.) | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 51 | 14 | Country number penned by one lead singer finally released | number (n) penned by one(i) (lead + singe(R) finally)*, released – anag. indicator, penned by – containment indicator | 1 | 1 | ||
| 51 | 27 | Gem setter will broadcast a poetic notion of the country | Emerald – I will (I'll, broadcast = Isle) poetically Ireland | 1 | 1 | ||
| 53 | 4 | Airman pays for his whiskey, not us. | Defs: 1) 'air' man = (John) IRELAND. 2) PAYS = country (Chambers). HIS WHISKEY, thus spelt in Ireland and U(nited) S(tates). | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 53 | 5 | An idler is getting mellow — they love their crack here | (An idler)* Crack = craic = enjoyable activity and conversation, often in a pub. | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 53 | 8 | Angry neighbour? (7) | CD | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 53 | 52 | Rid violently, filled with enthusiasm for this country | rid violently, filled with enthusiasm = IR(ELAN)D; def (Collins) 2. republic comprising the S provinces of this island & three counties of Ulster province: established as a republic in 1922; the surface refers to Ireland's struggle to free itself of an unwanted oppressor and become an independent country. | 0 | 0 | ||
| 53 | 54 | Sadly board liner after Rob left – for a Tir na nOg neighbour apparently | ((BOARD LINER) – (ROB))* (Mythically Tir na nOg is off the west coast of Ireland) | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 53 | 57 | Where one might encounter lots of paddys? | IRE + LAND | 0 | 0 | 1 |