| Comments on the clues |
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| 1. A bit of help, essentially, at sea? |
| 1. | Neat – but a lifeboat if needed would surely be more than "a bit" of help? | | 2. | Brilliant! | | 3. | Neat idea, but the def. is too weak. A mop could be 'a bit of help'. | | 4. | Nicely done. | | 5. | Lovely surface and concise. In my top eleven. Then made it to my number four. |
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| 2. A con cut off and stole the capital funds set aside to bail out a dealer. |
| 1. | Inconsistency in relevance of indefinite and definite articles. | | 2. | Nice clue but flawed; the 'def.' is incorrect. It's an example, so needs indicating with "maybe", "e.g.", etc. | | 3. | A good surface, and 'stole' is clever. | | 4. | Surface meaningless |
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| 3. A floe bit breaks rescuer (8) |
| 1. | Is a lifeboat a rescuer, or the lifeboatman? | | 2. | Surface meaningless |
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| 4. A main source of salvation? |
| 1. | No wordplay | | 2. | Could describe LIFEBELT equally well | | 3. | Is this really cryptic to the point? The answer could be a '5 amp fuse' | | 4. | Clever clue. | | 5. | Relies too much on a very stale crossword pun (and doesn't lead to lifeboat exclusively – could be lifebuoy, for example). |
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| 5. A means of escape if a belt's twisted about centre of rod |
| 1. | What does the surface mean? | | 2. | Surface meaningless |
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| 6. A potential saviour for one that stole – this time facing a long sentence. |
| 1. | THAT and THIS are superfluous | | 2. | The surface reads nonsense – and the clue is, to say the least, contrived. | | 3. | Wordplay leads to BOATEFIL. "That" is superfluous. | | 4. | "for one", "that" and "this" superfluous (hence unfair) |
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| 7. AB I left in distress has nothing for those in peril on the sea. |
| 1. | the Def. doesn't work | | 2. | Original definition, let down by poor surface. |
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| 8. Article in bio felt radical, it goes overboard at times |
| 1. | What? | | 2. | Good misleading surface | | 3. | Surface meaningless |
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| 9. At sea, I float around to survive upset (8) |
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| 10. At sea if able to this will come to the rescue |
| 1. | Grammar issues. | | 2. | A good clue, but based on a commonly found theme. |
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| 11. Bark that we hear from Rex may make rescue possible |
| 1. | I can't make sense of this as a cryptic clue | | 2. | Nonsense. | | 3. | Pardon? | | 4. | Quite a clever reverse clue – ending's a bit limp somehow |
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| 12. Be floating with wreckage? Without me at sea, that may be no good |
| 1. | Wordplay split | | 2. | Who would say "Be floating with wreckage?" Wordplay has mangled the surface | | 3. | Don't buy "with wreckage" as anagram indicator – sorry | | 4. | Awkward surface. "With" is unnecessary. Wreckage is a noun, so not appropriate as an anagram indicator. |
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| 13. Be taken back on board when I float at sea |
| 1. | Cryptic reading spoilt by the 'when' | | 2. | WHEN is redundant | | 3. | Why would you be rescued twice? | | 4. | "When" is surplusage, and this is not an accurate & lit. | | 5. | The grammar of 'when I float at sea' doeen't work, alas, so a promising idea gets zero points — but I bet other judges will overlook this |
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| 14. Before a lot is lost, Rose leaves rescue craft |
| 1. | Doesn't indicate that subtracted letters are jumbled | | 2. | ROSE needs an anagram indicator | | 3. | Need second anagram indicator as letters of ROSE not in order in fodder | | 4. | Don't think the surface works | | 5. | Would have been better with an 'in' before the def, helping the surface |
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| 15. Being a clipper, maybe when it's hairy and wavy I can dock you |
| 1. | A clipper could come to the rescue, but it's not a lifeboat | | 2. | Not convinced by "dock" in definition | | 3. | I don't understand the 'I can dock you bit'? | | 4. | Surface does not convince, and definition a little ropy. |
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| 16. Being followed by ship – it's for rescue purposes. |
| 1. | Would have been better with a QM for the definition by example as a boat not necessarily a ship | | 2. | A ship isn't a boat. A boat can be a ship, though. | | 3. | Perfectly adequate but ship as definition of boat is not cryptic enough for me. |
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| 17. Being literal about a latter day version of Moses' snake. Salvation, maybe. |
| 1. | I'm not metallurgist but I don't see that iron is a latter day version of bronze. The Bronze Age came after the Iron Age. |
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| 18. Birkenhead women and children admitted to it first. |
| 1. | More a general knowledge question than a clue | | 2. | More like a General Knowledge clue than a cryptic one | | 3. | This isn't a cryptic clue, but a cross between a riddle and fact – something like this could have been heard on the TV show 3-2-1 | | 4. | Good crossword clue. | | 5. | Interesting historical aside but too obscure and doesn't really work as a cryptic definition for me. | | 6. | A bit heavy on the GK, but quite nice |
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| 19. Boiler aft on fire, skipper's last to leave for this? |
| 1. | Distinctive and convincing. | | 2. | Aft boiler on fire… might be better | | 3. | Great surface story | | 4. | A nice idea, slightly let down by the surface and the anagrind. | | 5. | Wondered if Aft boiler would read better? Not at all sure. In my top eleven. |
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| 20. Craft turning profitable as publicity gets out |
| 1. | Publicity does not really = PR? | | 2. | Best of the 'profitable' anagrams | | 3. | Neat, but bettered by 34 for me. | | 4. | Not the strongest definition but works |
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| 21. Derrick might lower this at sea, if able to. |
| 1. | Nice anagram but the def. suggests (any)boat, not lifeboat | | 2. | Good clue. In my top seven. | | 3. | Best of the if-able-tos. | | 4. | Best clue using "ifableto" |
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| 22. Emergency vessel made of lithium, iron, boron, oxygen, astatine. |
| 1. | Unlikely to be much use in an emergency! | | 2. | A tad obvious | | 3. | Sounds a bit poisonous to me! | | 4. | I hope not – astatine is radioactive | | 5. | Surface meaningless. |
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| 23. Empty a bottle (if rum) and it may help to save someone from drink. |
| 1. | Taking out one ninth of the letters is hardly 'emptying'. | | 2. | I like the DRINK connection, but not sure if you can 'empty' two words | | 3. | 'if rum' fails here |
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| 24. End of college scarf stuck in elevator – I may come to the rescue |
| 1. | Original idea | | 2. | Funny. Is a boa a scarf? | | 3. | Refreshing change from all the "at sea" anagrams. In my top eleven. |
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| 25. Energy drink saves lives (8) |
| 1. | How does boat = dish = drink? | | 2. | Drink? | | 3. | Alas, energy drinks don't save lives | | 4. | What is "drink" and where is "dish"? | | 5. | Eh? The explanation seems to bear little relation to the clue. | | 6. | Shame about the obvious flaw. Energy dish saves lives wouldn't work as a surface. |
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| 26. Fail to be afloat, bringing this out? |
| 1. | How does "afloat" become an anagrind? | | 2. | In my top seven. |
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| 29. Fail to be perturbed, that is useful during a rescue at sea (8) |
| 1. | Better than 26, 27 and 28. |
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| 30. Filtered all blood groups in trial and error, less red suggesting chance of survival |
| 1. | Nice idea, but anag. too indirect (and inaccurate as it ignores blood type AB) | | 2. | Not convinced by the surface and "trial and" is surplus |
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| 31. Fisherman's Friend to the rescue when under the weather! |
| 1. | A cryptic definition with no supporting wordplay is really only half a clue. People won't vote for it. A pity – "Fisherman's Friend" is good |
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| 32. Float regularly bailed at sea in rescue attempt |
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| 33. Floundering, if able to, board this ? (8) |
| 1. | Not a bad attempt but surface is a little clunky, and punctuation seems awry. |
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| 34. Help for a business that's somehow profitable but lacking public relations. |
| 1. | The best of the business clues, with an appealingly smooth surface. | | 2. | Clever – I looked at that def., but couldn't get something that worked – this does. | | 3. | Weak surface, but originality on definition. | | 4. | 20 addresses this idea in a more elegant way |
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| 35. I float after disaster, saving each beldame initially |
| 1. | I had to look up beldame – heh, doesn't work. | | 2. | Beldames and children first? | | 3. | Not a fan of nounal anagram indicators, and "each beldame" spoils the & lit. |
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| 38. I save sailors when wrecked if able to |
| 1. | Nice double use of "wrecked" and in my top eleven. Then to my number 5. |
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| 39. If Ebola outbreak reaches Ivory Coast border, escaping aboard this could be vital. |
| 1. | Main objection is Ivory Coast border for T | | 2. | But for the extraneous "Ivory" … |
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| 40. I’ll save you at sea, if able to |
| 1. | Simplest and neatest of the IFABLETO anagrams |
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| 41. In which stricken crew may have escaped after blow with ice at sea |
| 1. | The solution is rather obvious, but well crafted and gets points from me. | | 2. | Well constructed comp. anag. | | 3. | Nice surface read, but 'may' is wrong – just 'escapes' with '?' at end better? (and not keen on 'with' in middle of anag |
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| 42. It may often bail out sinking seamen in the end! (8) |
| 1. | 'It may … out' doesn't grammatically indicate an anagram | | 2. | OK the whole is the def but in the wordplay (which must also be the whole) what is 'it may'? |
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| 43. It may save you from something unpleasant in the long term and that's much appreciated when capsized (8) |
| 1. | 'Something unpleasant' for BO is a bit weak |
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| 45. Loaf I bet cunningly on Titanic's 1 of 20 |
| 1. | Surface doesn't make much sense | | 2. | Anagram rather telegraphed | | 3. | Another "what?" | | 4. | Surface meaningless |
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| 46. Once popular soap, axed you suspect on account of the ratings drop |
| 1. | Anagram too indirect – solver needs to find the soap first (always difficult) | | 2. | Great idea, but def doesn't quite work for me, and "you suspect axed" would be better in wordplay |
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| 47. One helps to not fail to be at sea. |
| 1. | Awkward double negative in surface |
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| 48. One of Hitchcock’s (initially) less-indicated films earned Bankhead outstanding actress title |
| 1. | Smooth surface but hyphen needs dropping | | 2. | Less-indicated? | | 3. | You've presented 'less-indicated' as a single hyphenated word. So the wordplay gives LFEBOAT | | 4. | Hyphen rather spoils it – something like "… less illustrious …" would have been better | | 5. | Originality but is less-indicated a word? The wordplay leads to L not L I. |
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| 50. Orange inflatable saving an angler in distress? |
| 1. | Needs a second anagram indicator | | 2. | SAVING not the same as SAVE? | | 3. | Needs second anagram indicator as letters of AN ANGLER not in order in the fodder | | 4. | Clever – 'saving' here needs to be read as 'bar'. Very good. | | 5. | clever but it doesn't indicate one of the two anagrams involved. Needs TWO indicators: anag minus anag. | | 6. | Almost excellent, but for me needs a second anagrind I'm afraid | | 7. | Really good clue. In my top eleven and bidding for number one. Made it. |
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| 51. Pair from lighthouse's courageous act to save man in this? |
| 1. | I'm one of those who dislikes 'man' or 'woman' to mean one of thousands of possible names. |
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| 52. Putting priest in the bow of this at sea could be profitable |
| 1. | This doesn't define a lifeboat specifically. | | 2. | A classic image and nice wordplay – what a lovely clue. |
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| 53. Restore – if able to – underrated Hitchcock classic (8) |
| 1. | Best of the "if able to"s | | 2. | I was not aware of the film but this is a pleasant change from so many nautical clues. In my top eleven. | | 3. | Not keen on the dash between verb and object in the cryptic reading. Otherwise an interesting clue. |
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| 54. Setting of fable with leading characters of Indian orphan and tiger |
| 1. | A distinctive and clever clue. Well done. | | 2. | Nice idea, marks for originality, but not convinced Life of Pi counts as a fable | | 3. | Full marks for originality |
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| 58. Survivors should climb aboard this, if able to, when at sea |
| 1. | My favourite of the "if able to" clues by far. | | 2. | Almost made it into my final shortlist. |
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| 59. Table of iron initially moved to a vessel (8) |
| 1. | What does the surface reading mean? | | 2. | What does this mean? |
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| 60. There's only one point when turning to a belief — a saviour! |
| 1. | Good surface. Not quite convinced by 'only one point' wordplay. 'In' would be better than 'when' | | 2. | Nice, if a rather opinionated statement! | | 3. | A refreshingly different approach which works nicely |
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| 61. This measure, developed in conjunction with PR, might make one profitable |
| 1. | ONE is superfluous | | 2. | Nice change from the nautical clues. Made it into my final eleven and then my third choice. |
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| 62. This month Italo dance vessel rescues people. (8) |
| 1. | It doesn't make sense & it's now March! |
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| 63. This would be intolerable if broken leaving wrecked liner. |
| 1. | Congrats on using the second anagram indicator | | 2. | Lifeboat is intolerable if broken? | | 3. | I don't think the lifeboat itself would be intolerable. A good idea that might have benefited from a few tweaks. |
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| 64. Unfinished movie turned out to be a vehicle for Mae West? |
| 1. | Impressive, but I'm not sure lifeboat equates to "vehicle for an inflatable life jacket" | | 2. | I like this – it took me a while, but of course, passengers in a lifeboat (should) have life jackets on too! | | 3. | Definition is a bit stretched, but a good idea. | | 4. | Clever cluing (though Mae Wests are usually carried in airoplanes?) | | 5. | clever anagram and artful definition that made it into my final eleven. Made it to second best. | | 6. | Definition seems a bit of a stretch, and a boat is not a vehicle |
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| 65. Vessel coming to the rescue of English balti cooking |
| 1. | Very good, amusing and deceptive | | 2. | I like Indian food – marked up! | | 3. | Original idea well handled | | 4. | One of the few with a different take |
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