CCCWC August 2022 competition results
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63 clues entered. 47 votes cast (45 competitors, 2 others).
CURIOSITY
I did wonder whether anybody would be able to take advantage of what CURIOSITY did to the the cat in their clue and Don Manley executed it beautifully! Congratulations to Don, his first win since last year, well-deserved, a lovely &lit.
But it was close…just 2 1/2 points back in second was Simon Blow – his second podium in a row! – you wait for one to come along and you get two! A simple anagram but a very smooth surface did the trick.
Just a further point back in third came John Hood with his second podium of the year. A nice subtractive anagram with a cheeky surface!
Veera Raghavan took fourth spot with an almost identical clue to second place. This is Veera's debut on the podium so hearty congratulations and welcome to the upper echelons!
Final podium placing went to Satyen Nabar – second of the year – with another neat subtractive anagram and another with a very convincing surface.
Thanks to all as ever – and now on to September…
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 | Don Manley | Is it your cat's principal undoing? | anag incl c & lit., ref Curiosity killed the cat | 46 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 26 | SimonBlow | Interest in our city is misplaced | Anagram OUR CITY IS | 43.5 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 58 | John Hood | Wanton promiscuity abandoned by errant PM – this is remarkable! | (PROMISCUITY – PM)* | 42.5 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | 25 | Veera Raghavan | Interest in our city is extraordinary (9) | Anno: anagram of ‘our city is’ Def: Interest | 37.5 | 3 | |
| 5 | 27 | Satyen Nabar | Interest in Sicily tour sadly lessened by onset of lockdown | (SICILY TOUR)* – L; sadly= anag ind, lessened by= del ind, onset of lockdown= L | 31 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | 24 | Vinod Raman | In a way, it is your initiation to cognition (9) | &Lit, "In a way" is the anagram indicator, (it is your C)* | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 29 | Steve Hicks | Is Batty with City, United or one of the Rovers? | anag(IS + CITY U OR). United=U, Batty=anagrind. Def: Curiosity is one of NASA's Mars Rovers. Ref: former Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United footballer, David Batty. | 27 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | 15 | Seerat Hazir | Curry heartily passed around 10 Downing Street, I gathered, would be a novelty (9) | Def:Novelty. CU(-r)RY heartily passed/ignored, around IO, then downing/consuming ST, with I inside. | 26 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | 41 | John Appleton | Perhaps it is your constant nosiness! | (IT IS YOUR C[onstant])*; semi &lit | 24 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | 37 | Alastair Gerrard | "Knick-knack" and dog given one bone – it's the end for Paddy | Definition is Knick-Knack. CUR (dog) I (one) OS (bone – see Chambers) plus IT (has) end for Paddy =Y. Referring to "This old man" children's song | 22.5 | 1 | 4 |
| 11 | 14 | Criminal duty solicitor's told about stolen antique | anag. of DUTYSOLICITOR has anag. of TOLD removed / definition = antique | 22 | 0 | 3 | |
| 12 | 12 | Copper involved in disturbance is around Yard for questioning (9) | Copper = Cu; disturbance = RIOT; involved in disturbance is around = RIO(IS<)T; yard = Y; "questioning" = def | 21 | 0 | ||
| 13 | 13 | Copper visits city hellhole, taking one in for questioning | CU + RIO + STY, taking I in | 20.5 | 2 | 2 | |
| 14 | 38 | Mexican river flowing through bustling US city is an oddity. | Mexican river (rio); flowing through (container ind.) bustling (anag. ind for US city); an oddity (def) | 17 | 1 | ||
| 14 | 40 | Our city is out to find a cat killer (9) | Our city is = anagram fodder out = anagram indicator to find = result indicator + definition (Curiosity killed the cat) | 17 | 2 | ||
| 16 | 16 | Did you kill Kitty, Rover? | Mars rover Curiosity (killed the cat) | 16.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 17 | 10 | Constant yen, is it our instinct to probe? | is it our* inside c,y; &lit; (instinct, adj., as anag. indicator, ref Chambers) | 14 | 2 | 3 | |
| 17 | 30 | Is it your cat's onset to ruin? | [Is it your c]* & lit.; ref. C. killed the cat | 14 | 2 | ||
| 19 | 17 | Dog I knitted is toy Snoopy character | CUR (dog) + I + *IS TOY; def. Snoopy character | 13.5 | 2 | 3 | |
| 20 | 9 | Collector's item is brought back with 50% duty and interest (9) | collector's item – curio , is < 50% duty – ty , interest – def | 12.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 21 | 8 | City tours: you and me taking in city, wondering what’s what | CITY around US around RIO; def = wondering what’s what | 11 | 1 | 2 | |
| 22 | 19 | Fatal for a queen, perhaps? | CD where 'queen' is an adult female cat (Collins, Chambers) | 10 | 0 | ||
| 22 | 21 | Feline fatality?? | Riddle. Curiosity killed the cat | 10 | 0 | ||
| 22 | 46 | Rarity of port in American urban stores | Rio in US, 'stored' by city (urban) | 10 | 0 | 2 | |
| 22 | 55 | Toy dog is one strange thing found in “Ye Olde … Shoppe” | Toy + cur (= dog) + is +i (= one) strange (anag. ind.); thing found etc. (def); “Ye Olde Shoppe” (ie Curiosity Shoppe) | 10 | 0 | 1 | |
| 26 | 4 | Cat killer? | 9 | 0 | |||
| 26 | 36 | Just wondering; could it be "felicide"? | Def = Just wondering. Overall, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Felicide, by analogy with homicide, Felis = cat genus | 9 | 0 | ||
| 26 | 59 | What killed the cat, is our city sadly (8) | Definition: What killed the cat (curiosity) Fodder: is our city Anagrind: sadly | 9 | 2 | ||
| 29 | 32 | Is our criminal in urban area a cat killer? | Anagram (criminal) of IS OUR in CITY; definition references "curiosity killed the cat" saying. | 7.5 | 3 | 1 | |
| 30 | 18 | Dog is playing with toy I kept hidden (it might endanger my other pet) | CUR + [I in (IS+TOY anag)]; ref 'curiosity killing the cat' | 7 | 1 | 2 | |
| 31 | 34 | Is your cat disemboweled? Sadly, I must be arrested! | [I inside (is your c-t)*] = curiosity (killed the cat) all-in-one ext. def. | 6.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 32 | 47 | Rover: cat's killer? | Mars rover Curiosity & "Curiosity killed the cat" adage | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| 33 | 44 | Questioning American smuggling port into town (9) | US(American) around (smuggling) RIO(port) inside (into) CITY (town). C(U(RIO)S)ITY. Def: Questioning | 5 | 1 | ||
| 33 | 45 | Questioning odd characters in country house after port is sent the wrong way | C-U-T-Y around IS< after RIO | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 35 | 23 | Garfields nemesis: Rover perhaps. | Double Def. "Curiosity killed the cat" – Mars rover. | 3.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| 36 | 5 | Cat killer in Dickens's old shop | Cryptic double definition | 3 | 0 | ||
| 36 | 6 | Cat killer initially lacking acuity circling Brazilian city with heart of monster | (a)CUITY around RIO (mon)S(ter) | 3 | 0 | ||
| 36 | 7 | Cat’s demise caused by hound with phoney method of operating on it before nasty ending | CUR (hound) + IOS (operating system for phones) + IT + end letter of nastY. Reference to Curiosity killed the cat. | 3 | 0 | ||
| 36 | 35 | Is your cat's head bursting with it innately? | anag. of is your c(at) including it & lit.; down clue | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 36 | 48 | Rover has killed the cat | Double definition. | 3 | 0 | ||
| 41 | 1 | A rare item, but it might have done for Tom, perhaps? | A rare item (curiosity, def), but it might have done for (slang, killed) Tom, perhaps? (cat) [Proverb: Curiosity killed the cat] | 2.5 | 1 | ||
| 41 | 56 | Unusual South American city, surrounded by country to the North, all literally within city walls! | RIO within US, within CITY walls = C[U(RIO)S]ITY; def = Unusual | 2.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 43 | 20 | Feline assassin comes out of obscurity without opening battle with me, surprisingly | "Curiosity killed the cat". (OBSCURITY – B + I)* | 2 | 0 | ||
| 43 | 28 | Intrigue about iOS's login handler | Intrigue (def) = about IOS is CURITY (a login handler) | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 43 | 52 | Rover's posh French evening back in the smoke. | Curiosity Mars rover: U SOIR (rev) in CITY. | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 43 | 54 | Tom's downfall, apparently? | 'Curiosity killed the cat'…TOMCAT.. | 2 | 0 | ||
| 43 | 60 | Why is our city decaying? (9) | anagram of ISOURCITY | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 43 | 63 | Wonder why IOU's are torn up within city limits. | C(U)(R)(IOS)ITY Wonder why;straight clue IOUS + R (are);anagram Torn up; anagram indicator. C..ITY (limits) | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 49 | 42 | Plan B lacking obscurity? I wonder … | plan/anagram of O(B)SCURITY I; & lit | 1.5 | 1 | ||
| 50 | 2 | American city within city outside of America is something unusual | C(U(RIO)S)ITY | 1 | 0 | ||
| 50 | 3 | Bygone cities sharing river border and square city walls (9) | Bygone = def / cities sharing river border = UR and RIO with R as a shared border = URIO / and / square = S / city walls = CITY goes around the outside | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 50 | 22 | Feline killer's objet d'art | Double definition , the first being a reference to the saying ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, the second being a term for a small object of interest or ornamental novelty | 1 | 0 | ||
| 50 | 33 | Is our newly made deposit in the metropolis sure to generate interest? | C [mix of I S O U R] I T Y, defining curiosity as an item rather than an abstract noun. | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 50 | 49 | Rover metro parked outside capital in America | CURIOSITY is a Mars rover; the Rover Metro was a supermini in the UK; Metro short for metropolis or CITY; CITY outside RIO (capital) in US | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 50 | 51 | Rover took the life of another pet | Double definition. Rover = NASA Mars explorer called Curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat proverb. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 50 | 53 | This is unusual: Maybe São Paulo accepts American touring Rio | container within container: C(U(RIO)S)ITY. "maybe São Paulo"=CITY (DBE); "American"=US. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 57 | 11 | Conversation piece I blended with reduced-salt soy and citrus sauce | Conversation piece = definition Sauce = anagrind of soy & citrus, but with one "s" removed (reduced salt), and "I" added in (blended) | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 57 | 39 | Our city is destroyed by inquisitiveness ( 9 ) | Anagram: "our city is" and the definition: "inquisitiveness" | 0 | 0 | ||
| 57 | 43 | Port in windy US city is perplexing sight | Port = Rio in USCITY*, perplexing sight = definition | 0 | 0 | ||
| 57 | 50 | Rover, sniffing around potential new home, killed the cat | Rover(,) sniffing around potential new home (Mars) = CURIOSITY = (what) killed the cat | 0 | 0 | ||
| 57 | 57 | Unusual thing is half an oddity after many unusual things (9) | Unusual thing = definition; Half an oddity = [-ODD]ITY; Many unusual things = CURIOS | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 57 | 61 | Wish it killed the cat! | Double definiton | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 57 | 62 | Wonder cty outside city in America (9) | CITY around (RIO in US) | 0 | 0 |