CCCWC May 2020 competition results
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63 clues entered. 53 votes cast (47 competitors, 6 others).
ELDERS
Congratulations to Mr Tozer who bags his second win of the year! A seamless link to the wordplay beautifully disguising the definition in his clue. A comfortable victory.
Andy Smith takes second place, also with a neat definition that blended in well with the surface reading of the clue. First podium for a couple of years.
Tom Borland maintained his consistent run in third spot. A clue that melded together some staple elements of wordplay to produce a very convincing surface.
We have a new name back in fourth – congratulations to Peter Moore Fuller – first time on the podium with the clue that made me chuckle most.
And another new name completes the top 5. Well done to Nathan Townshend, after a handful of entries in the CCCWC competition his first podium with another hidden in reverse.
Thanks to all the old guard – onto the fresh blood next month!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 62 | John Tozer | We’re getting on train heading for Retford and Leeds | anag. incl. R; Retford is a stop on the London-Leeds line | 51.5 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 49 | Andy Smith | The Spanish reds supply body of a superior vintage | EL + REDS*; supply (adv); body = group of associated people | 38.5 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | 50 | Tom Borland | The Spanish sun pulls in the German OAPs | DER (the German) in EL (the Spanish) + S (sun); def. OAPs | 36 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | 44 | Peter Moore Fuller | Some of Sainsbury’s Red Leicester on the turn – are they past their sell-by date? | Reverse hidden (sainsbury’S RED LEicester) | 35.5 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | 23 | Nathan Townshend | Labour's red leader retires to hug trees | Hidden word backwards | 32.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 4 | Mike Adams | Churchmen led astray by leaders of extreme right-wing sect | Churchmen defn; led astray = anag ELD leaders indicates initial letters ERS | 30.5 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | 18 | Satyen Nabar | Found in retreat, gorgeous red leafy shrubs | Reverse hidden word; defn= shrubs | 27 | 3 | 5 |
| 8 | 57 | Jacob Warbrick | Those who spark a connection that's lacking with the generations above? | WELDERS (those who spark a connection) less W (with) – defn: the generations above | 25 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | 20 | Keith Williams | Having dismissed opening pair, perhaps slips are the ones bearing fruit? (6) | (FI)ELDERS; ref cricket | 23 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | 37 | Roslyn Rougvie | Restyled short dress with belt in the middle – for grannies? | dres plus el anagrammed | 23 | 3 | 1 |
| 9 | 42 | Ramki Krishnan | Seniors making runs in Leeds ground (6) | R (runs) inside LEEDS* (ground as anagram ind), def = seniors | 23 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | 2 | Bush Senior's Council of Advisors (6) | Elder + elder is elders | 22.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 13 | 16 | Folk in care homes? Atrocious leaders are found wanting | anag. less a | 20 | 3 | 4 | |
| 14 | 5 | Collection of extra-mature delicious Red Leicester sandwiches served up | Definition = collection of extra-mature. 'sandwiches'=contents indicator, 'served up'=reversal indicator (deliciouS RED LEicester) | 19.5 | 4 | 1 | |
| 15 | 36 | Presbyters are led astray by turbulent affairs in Rome | Presbyters (def); led “astray” = ELD; affairs in Rome (ie in Latin) = res, “turbulent” = ERS | 16.5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 16 | 15 | Extraordinary leaders, except a certain Bush family | Extraordinary = anagrind, leaders = fodder, except = deletion ind, a = deletion fodder, certain Bush family = def. Surface may please be viewed as someone's (not mine) subjective comment on recent US Presidents | 14.5 | 3 | ||
| 16 | 46 | The doddery isolated in sheltered development? | Comp anag and (slightly unfair) lit – THE (anag) removed from SHELTERED (anag) | 14.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 18 | 52 | These trees seen with wild reeds bordering lake. | e(L)ders…L/lake…reeds (anag) | 13.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 19 | 35 | Poorly sheltered, the ——— suffer | *SHELTERED=*THE+ELDERS; ref care homes tragedy | 12.5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 20 | 25 | Leaders? Could be these are | LEADERS = *ELDERS+A, & lit. (‘are’ = a, metric land measure) | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| 20 | 48 | The Spanish, German and principally Scottish church dignitaries | EL + DER + S(cottish) | 12 | 1 | 2 | |
| 22 | 59 | Trees seen in gorgeous red leaves from the east. | Definition: trees Reverse telescopic gorgeouS RED LEaves | 11.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 23 | 45 | The aged women coming out joining hands | wELDERS('joining hands', ie workers who join, minus w:women); def: the aged | 10.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 24 | 39 | Sambuca, a fitting libation for presbyters | Sambuca (liquor = name derived from sambucus, Latin for elder tree); presbyters (def) | 10 | 1 | 3 | |
| 24 | 58 | Those with more experience sheltered avoiding the high ground | Sheltered* – the*; anagrinds high & ground | 10 | 2 | ||
| 26 | 9 | Dirty Reds slew endless village leaders | (REDS sLEw)* | 9.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 26 | 29 | Leeds Rhinos number 1 playing for seniors | (LEEDS R)*; ref. to Leeds Rhinos Rugby League team | 9.5 | 3 | 3 | |
| 26 | 38 | Sad old remorse, no room for seniors | Direct – seniors. [old remorse – room]* deletion indicator – no; anagram indicator – sad. | 9.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 26 | 41 | Senior representatives, maybe those at fine leg and mid-off, drop both openers | fine leg & mid-off = FIELDERS minus FI | 9.5 | 1 | ||
| 30 | 8 | Definitely a couple of articles from the continent, supplied primarily for seniors | EL DER (both are definite articles) + S (Supplied primarily) | 9 | 0 | 1 | |
| 31 | 14 | Eel wriggling on angler's other rod, ends up in bushes (6) | Anagram of EEL S R D. Definition: bushes. | 8.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 32 | 31 | Part of group that beheld erstwhile members | Hidden, semi&lit | 8 | 0 | 3 | |
| 33 | 28 | Leaders of empires, lords, diplomats, envoys, royals, statesmen (6) | Acrostic &lit | 7.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 33 | 61 | Veterans return from Bayeux's red letter day | Def. – veterans. Hidden, reversed, word Bayeux'S RED LEtter day | 7.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 35 | 21 | In prime spots, Melody enforests trees | Prime number (2,3,5,7,11,13) locations in mELoDyEnfoReSts | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| 35 | 27 | Leaders maybe forgetting onset of Alzheimer's? (6) | Anagram ("maybe") of "Leaders" after removing the letter a; definition whole clue (&lit), in reference to the sense "older person in position of authority". | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| 35 | 30 | Not amateur leaders, maybe ? (6) | & lit . anagram of (LEADERS-A)*. Definition ref Chambers – as in church elders – | 6 | 1 | 1 | |
| 35 | 32 | Partners of betters see first of local derby races abandoned (6) | Elders and betters – (SEE L D R)* | 6 | 0 | 5 | |
| 35 | 43 | Seniors turned bolshie after being shunted into annexes | bolshie = red (socialist); annexes = els (building extensions); so: RED (rev.) in ELS | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
| 40 | 33 | Patriarchs – leaders without a plan | LEADERS anagram, omitting A | 5.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 41 | 60 | Under a new order honouring the onset of age, they would be leaders | [ELDERS + A(ge)] = LEADERS; &lit. | 5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 42 | 24 | Lacking the politically correct respect held otherwise for authorities (6) | respect held = anagram fodder , lacking the politically correct = remove thepc, otherwise = anagrind, + definition | 4.5 | 0 | ||
| 43 | 6 | Confused leader with no answer: one of the Pitts, perhaps? | Anag LEADER – A(nswer): historical reference. | 4 | 1 | 4 | |
| 43 | 13 | "Eastenders" gripped a woman's forefathers. | (H)eld + (h)ers (in a Cockney accent)/def. | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 43 | 40 | Senior citizens' dotty leader wants a son (6) | Senior citizens is the definition , leader is anagrammed (dotty – anagrind), 'wants a' denote A being deleted from leader, Son -s | 4 | 0 | ||
| 46 | 17 | Foolish leaders first of all ignore well-respected people | Foolish = anagrind; leaders first of all ignore = anagram fodder (leaders – a = elders); well-respected people = def. | 3.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 46 | 22 | Jewish authorities rejected in Bible's red letters | Contained backward ("rejected") in "Bible's red letters"; in some Bible editions, red letters are used for the words of Jesus, who often spoke against the Jewish elders; semi-&lit. | 3.5 | 2 | 2 | |
| 48 | 7 | Confused leaders drop initial aim to announce senior advisors. | "leaders" minus "a" rearranged to give "elders'. | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 48 | 10 | Dodgy dealers ‘lose’ article for fruit suppliers | *de(a)lers, def = fruit suppliers (elder plants provide elderberries) | 3 | 1 | ||
| 48 | 47 | The Queeen's following tips to Epsom Ladies' Day, getting those before betters | E/L/D/ER's; 'elders and betters' saying | 3 | 2 | 4 | |
| 51 | 12 | Eastender's fascinated by Bianca's bushes | 'eld by 'ers (Cockney indicated) | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 51 | 19 | Golfer Ernie gets sunburned doing a round in the trees | EL(DER)S red rev. | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 51 | 34 | Perhaps the trees are felled – zebras get noticed periodically? | Perhaps the trees (referring to ELDERS) are fElLeD – zEbRaS noticed periodically? (indicating the periodic or alternate letters noticed in 'felled – zebras') | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 51 | 54 | Those in authority are seldom seen without a medal, curiously | Those in authority = definition, (-A)(RE SELD)*(-OM) | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 55 | 11 | Doyennes from Stratford enjoyed her society (6) | Doyennes = ELDERS from Stratford enjoyed her = 'ELD 'ER society = S | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 55 | 26 | Leader's dropped a clanger, senior figures | anag of leaders minus 'a' | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 55 | 63 | Wrinklies and old dearies mix, a do I keep out. | 1 | 1 | |||
| 58 | 1 | ——— are seen as artful leaders (6) | ELDERS + A = LEADERS* [a = the metric unit are (= 0.01 hectares)], a composite anagram & lit. See http://www.andlit.org.uk/azed/slip.php?comp_no=1286 to read Azed's explanation of this clue type, also crosswordunclued.com. As in Azed, I used "———" as neither "these" (ELDERS is one word) or "this" (conflicts with "are") are grammatical | 0.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| 59 | 3 | Church office holders, they are people born earlier (6) | Double Definition/ church office holders and people born earlier | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 59 | 51 | Theo Snelders is six-a-side goalkeeper for Seniors | Theo Sn|ELDERS is 'six-a-side' goalkeeper (or keeper of the goal, ie the answer); definition = Seniors; Snelders was a goalkeeper for FC Twente, Aberdeen FC and the Dutch 1994 World Cup squad | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 59 | 53 | They healed hearts in row over couples' rights. | hE / aL / eD / hE / aR / tS / (& lit). Right sides of couples in row. (Elders = tribal counsellors.) | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| 59 | 55 | Those who have got along with corrupt leaders without a trace of anguish (6) | Def: Those who have got along. LE(-a)DERS* {corrupt …}. The deletion of "a" is indicated by "without a trace of A(-guish)." | 0 | 0 | ||
| 59 | 56 | Those who join kicked out with respect to them! | Definition: respect to them!; WELDERS -W | The "!" is integral, imperative in the definition, ironic in the clue as a whole. | 0 | 0 | 1 |