CCCWC August 2020 competition results
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60 clues entered. 48 votes cast (41 competitors, 7 others).
OXHEAD
We can always rely on the voters to go for that clue with a "fnar fnar" factor, so sure enough, a comfortable victory for Mr Randall with his naughty but nice effort! Excellent stuff and Steve maintains his high level of consistency with a third victory of this year.
Dave Williams returns to the podium for the first time since 2010 – welcome back! – a simple but effective clue securing him second spot.
Bob Kellet also returns to the podium – only just over year gap though! – with a topical clue.
Nathan achieves his second podium of this (his first) year, so well done for that!
Tim Anderson completes the top 5 with his own return after a gap of some three years, with the anag. &lit that was also attempted by others.
Well done to all – good luck with Printer's Devilry!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | Steve Randall | I'm horny over ten hours each day | O + X + H + EA + D | 61 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | 11 | Dave Williams | Dope from old Times leader | O + × + HEAD; (def = dope) | 44 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 34 | Bob Kellett | No 10 has lost the initiative – the leader is a buffoon (6) | No 10 has lost the initiative = (n)O X : leader = HEAD | 30 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 8 | Nathan Townshend | By pursuing love with that man, lady's exposed as stupid | By pursuing love = OX; that man = HE; lady's exposed = AD; stupid (noun) = definition | 29.5 | 4 | 2 |
| 5 | 43 | Tim Anderson | One could easily be hoaxed | anag. & lit. | 27 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 19 | Vinod Raman | Foolish ex had admitted love for an idiot | Foolish ex had admitted love = EXHAD* around O; Def: an idiot | 25.5 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 55 | John Tozer | This here’s the pudding – soup’s the other end | i.e. oxhead vs oxtail; pudding = dimwit | 25 | 0 | |
| 8 | 5 | Anthony Nannini | "Axe nothing !" Denis Healey initially ordered. Silly Billy ! | Axe o + dh (Denis Healey initially)= anagram fodder. ordered = anagrind. + definition. Silly Billy became an impressionist's catchphrase for him. | 24.5 | 2 | |
| 9 | 60 | Jessica Merchant | Where to go for neat dope (6) | Toilet for cattle. | 21 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | 18 | Amrita Majumdar | Fool old man on a date stealing a kiss (6) | Fool -def , O (old) He (man) A D (Date) around X (kiss) | 20 | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | 31 | Might he be easily hoaxed? | 19 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 12 | 30 | 'Lummox', he admitted, encapsulates him | Hidden; him = implied definition | 16 | 3 | 1 | |
| 12 | 36 | Noodle's some way from traditional soup. | noodle=dolt(def): trad soup=oxtail: some way=distance between head and tail | 16 | 2 | 2 | |
| 14 | 22 | Idiot box, headache essentially | Hidden word | 14.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 15 | 26 | In paradox, he, a donkey | hidden &lit; ref. Buridan's ass | 14 | 1 | 2 | |
| 16 | 1 | A top university, not for admitting the fellow that's one! | he+a in Ox(for)d & lit. | 12.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 17 | 12 | Dope ring backed by union of Triads transporting ecstasy to the West (6) | Definition: Dope. Wordplay: O + HEXAD moving X to the left. In surface, Triads = Chinese criminal gangs | 12 | 0 | 2 | |
| 17 | 28 | Incompetent neatness? | def: incompetent. neat = ox. ness = head | 12 | 0 | 2 | |
| 17 | 50 | Steer needed before he'd get answer? | OX (steer) + A (answer) in HE'D; &lit. | 12 | 0 | 5 | |
| 20 | 3 | Alexander’s horse brandished a neat crown | Alexander the Great’s horse, “Bucephalus” (= Oxhead), so-named because he had an ox(neat)head brand (ished) on his thigh. A neat crown = def. | 10.5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 20 | 4 | Alexander's horse was literally an ass | The name of Alexander the Great's famous horse Bucephalus translates as oxhead (in Chambers). | 10.5 | 1 | 2 | |
| 22 | 15 | Easily hoaxed idiot | HOAXED* anagrind=easily | 9 | 2 | 1 | |
| 23 | 14 | Dumbo and what's in box he adulterated | Hidden | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| 23 | 53 | "The inspiration for the first letter's in this box," he added | Hidden clue. The shape of the first letter of Phoenician (aleph) and ultimately the Latin A is believed to derive from a representation of an ox's head | 8 | 2 | 1 | |
| 25 | 23 | Idiot ex had nothing original (6) | (EX+HAD+O)* Idiot = def, ex had nothing= EX HAD O = fodder, original = anagram indicator | 7.5 | 2 | ||
| 25 | 54 | The Minotaur was such an idiot | Double def. | 7.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 27 | 21 | Heads off to box the mad old dolt (6) | Heads off to = indicator for first-letter deletion, (-b)OX (-t)HE (-m)AD, def = old (to indicate archaic word) dolt (oxhead) | 7 | 1 | 2 | |
| 27 | 33 | Neatness exhibited by genius? Just the opposite! | Neat = ox + ness + head | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| 27 | 49 | Slow van after level crossing | Def – slow(as noun). O(level)+ X (crossing) + HEAD | 7 | 1 | 1 | |
| 30 | 13 | Dotty hoaxed dolt | (hoaxed)* | 6.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 31 | 40 | "O, kiss man!" – Alexander's dictate starts Bucephalus | O+X+HE+A+D (Bucephalus means ox-head) | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| 31 | 56 | Times leader supports love for fool | X HEAD supports O (assumes down clue); fool= definition | 6 | 3 | ||
| 31 | 57 | Twerp is neatness personified | Neatness = Oxhead | 6 | 1 | 2 | |
| 34 | 45 | Oxon. top dog, really a horse’s ass! | Ox on top dog (head) = horse’s ass (def) | 5.5 | 0 | ||
| 35 | 10 | Dope – excessive amount consumed by hospital drug academy | OD around (X H E A), DOPE def. | OD=overdose (excessive amount), consumed=container indicator, X=by (multiplication), H=hospital, E=ecstasy (drug), A=academy | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 35 | 17 | Fool! It's nothing (though Ximenes wouldn't approve) | Head of OX = O – anathema to strict Ximeneans | 5 | 2 | ||
| 35 | 52 | The cox he adored is embracing a nitwit. | The cOX HE ADored….. Def nitwit | 5 | 0 | ||
| 38 | 6 | Box the bad, initially discarded part of slaughtered cattle (6) | Def: part of slaughtered cattle. (-b)OX (-t)HE (-b)AD {… initially discarded}. | 4.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 38 | 20 | Had Picasso's latest ex redrawn his self-portrait? | Anagram of 'had + o + ex'. Picasso often portrayed his head as that of a bull. | 4.5 | 2 | ||
| 38 | 29 | Lower class symbol of cuckoldry | Lower – ref to bovine sound. Andlit. | 4.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 41 | 41 | 'Oaf' in case beginner leaves 'loaf'? | (b)OX+HEAD(loaf); def:oaf | 4 | 4 | ||
| 42 | 44 | One's first ex had strayed | (O)ne (EXHAD)*, semi&lit | 3.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 42 | 48 | Simple translation of Alexander’s. | Alexander the Great’s famous horse “Bucephalus” means “Oxhead” in Greek. A “horse” is a “translation”. A “simple” is a fool or “oxhead”. All in Chambers, including Bucephalus. &lit | 3.5 | 1 | 4 | |
| 44 | 32 | Mooncalf: Taurus’s origin? | Mooncalf=fool; Taurus=OX; origin=HEAD/source; ref Taurus moon (astrology) | 2.5 | 1 | ||
| 45 | 2 | Alec hoaxed Hector (6) | Definition is Alec (a stupid person), (hoaxed)*, anagrind is hector (as in harass) | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 45 | 7 | Bucephalus haunch a dolt | Triple definition: Bucephalus [horse of Alexander the Great, from Greek 'bous' (ox) and 'kephale' (head)], Bucephalus haunch (haunch of Bucephalus having the mark of ox' head) and a dolt (a stupid person or an oxhead) | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 45 | 9 | Dean, maybe, having mislaid his car, is a numskull. | Dean = "Oxford head" (ie head of a college) minus "Ford" = car/def. | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| 48 | 37 | Nothing wrong having got over drug stupid! (6) | O (nothing) X (wrong) +(having) HAD (got) over, container indicator, E (drug). Definition – stupid (as informal noun). | 1.5 | 0 | ||
| 48 | 59 | Upper part of lower hexad, properly arranged, needs nothing to introduce it | Upper part of lower = def.; HEXAD* after O | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 50 | 27 | In time, this idiot might be the one at the helm with a firm grip | C(oxhead)lock => Cox + headlock | 1 | 2 | ||
| 50 | 35 | No kiss for Uncle Ned, Norman Watt-Roy or Chaz Jankel? | O+X+HEAD (Uncle Ned is rhyming slang); def = blockhead (Ref = Watt-Roy and Jankel are famously members of the Blockheads, of Ian Dury fame and still touring, at least prior to COVID19). | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 50 | 38 | Numbskull Chief, not Sitting Bull | Numbskull (blockhead) = def; Chief = head; not Sitting = to be excluded; Bull = ox. Chief Bull = (head ox) = Oxhead. | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 50 | 39 | O indicated by this in clue of wife's unfaithfulness? Ximenes would not approve! | OXHEAD clued cryptically as O (but not to Ximenean standards). Definition symbol of cuckoldry. | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 50 | 42 | Old idiot box without top lead | (b)OX/HEAD [head/lead as in 'head the queue']; idiot box = TV; defn = old [archaic] idiot | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 50 | 46 | Ring ex had melted down, was really foolish. | O/ring…ex had (anag) | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 50 | 47 | Short of stock, brand leader's tip to draft worker | Short of stock brand = OXO-O; leader = HEAD; Definition = tip to draft worker | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 50 | 58 | Type of nut not eaten by vegan unless hornswoggled or otherwise hoaxed | 'Nut'to mean head. Anagram (otherwise) of hoaxed. | 1 | 2 | ||
| 58 | 16 | First off, Buffalo Bill strangles the man for dope (6) | Buffalo= FOX (in the sense of puzzle, bewilder ) – F + AD (Bill) around (strangles) HE (the man) . Def: Dope (Chambers Ref). (-f)OX(HE)AD. | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| 58 | 24 | Idiot had taken a container without lid first (6) | [b]OX h(e)ad | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 58 | 51 | Steer president towards Lyonnaise specialty. | Charade with steer for ox and president for head; tÊte de veau is apparently a Lyonnaise specialty. | 0 | 0 | 2 |