CCCWC Christmas Special competition voters’ comments
Clue no. 3: A special time in the heart of Devon eating clotted cream, perhaps, and a peach
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A clue to CRACKER / VINTAGE (Right & Left).
2 comments refer to this clue (from 2 competitors, 0 others)
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| Comments on the competition |
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| 1. |
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A vintage set of clues including several crackers, I thought. This didn't make for easy scoring, but after several changes of mind I plumped for:
First, clue 24. Not the most succinct, but an entirely plausible surface incorporating a neat &lit. 'opening last of the red' is very nice.
Second, clue 21. Again, a bit wordy but with a good and amusing surface. 'Safe opener' is excellent.
Third, clue 3. Very good surface and pleasing image, 'clotted' is a nice anagrind.
Fourth, clue 26. Admirably compact, the use of 'Raffles' in the surface may be a bit stretched but I liked the reference to the character.
Fifth, clue 17. The Coltrane and Bilk refs would have foxed me as a solver, but I can see that it all works well – although 'for which' is an obvious link.
Honourable mentions for clues 8, 11, 12 and 19. |
| 2. |
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This was a disappointing collection. Most of the clues with convincing surfaces contained serious flaws, while most of the sound clues had unconvincing or weak surfaces.
21 offers the best surface, the most interesting anagram and some ingenious wordplay, but is undone by the use of “batting” as an a.i. The word can indeed mean “fluttering”, but only as a transitive verb, which makes a nonsense of the use intended for it here; “bat” (imper.) might just have worked. 3 was also let down by it’s a.i. – “clotted” just doesn’t cut the mustard – and “cream, perhaps” for CRACKER is a bit iffy too. 23 is admirably economical and has an original and suitably misleading golfing surface, but “wedge” as a definition of CRACKER without even a “perhaps” or equivalent is, surely, not on. In 25, another concise clue with a good surface, VINTAGE simply doesn’t mean “of long standing”. In 24, otherwise a very good clue, “red” is used for R, which is not an accepted abbreviation.
My votes as follows:
4 points: 17 (I know too little of jazz to tell whether Van (??Morrison) is appropriate in the context, but this is otherwise concise and skillfully done).
3 points: 7 (spoiled by slightly iffy “Explosive” as definition of CRACKER, but an interesting and original surface and “Period” is excellent).
2 points each: 1 (a pretty weak surface, but pithy and the wordplay works); 6 (rather contorted syntax, but the clue is sound – as long as one ignores “in this case, following” in the explanation!), 29 (postulated menu hardly convincing &, personally, I like neither C = see nor the “slice of” device, though both are widely accepted).
1 point each (despite flaws): 21, 23 |
