Araucaria Clueing Contest 64 asked participants to clue
an eight-letter word of their choice which begins with
A and contains letters from the set {AELINORSTU}.  The
clue was required to include two or more letters from
the set {JQXZ}.

The highest-ranking entries generally included two JQXZ
letters and let it go at that.  The rules said that additional
inclusions would work to your advantage "if the judging is
close"; but that was very difficult to achieve without doing
damage to the quality of the clue.

Here are the fourteen competing clues:

Plaintain is just plain to this quilled zoo animal! (8)
Conquering Nazi grasps cutlass, as sinister as an exterminator (8)
Quote a back talkin' executioner (8)
A leader of Liberty Trust squeezes one who is exceptionally generous (8)
Estrange Zambian in Quebec after dinner? (8)
Relinquish a judicial right executed on a note (8)
At tea, sit 'n' quizzically consume Ajax, at first (8)
Start of poker game seizes me; can't relax, needing a certain liqueur (8)
Neat mixture I place inside to make a liqueur (8)
Quiz drowned in endless tears, jinxed by professor (8)
Just a quick extra to change an entry therein to mean "Not at I/O NAND
  gate" (10)
A tile exchanged with vocalized hesitation at onset of Scrabble workshops (8)
Jumbled litanies bollixed Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (8)
Foreigner is the top Jungian forensic expert (8)

And the seven bonus clues:

During quiz, Ed swore (8)
A Quarter-pounder is to a juicy roasted rump, as laziness is to killer sex (8)
Journeymen, for example, in a star's queer production (8)
Jamaica and Cuba, for example, lit lanes bizarrely (8)
Sky jetters and zoomers expose queues (8)
Supply explanatory jottings on why girl will love gallery in Queen 
  Elizabeth's city (8)
Just an oblique hint that everyone utilizes exactly half the charge (8)





Here are all the clues, with the moderator's comments.

I'm using an underlining code for conciseness.
   Definition:        ====
   Anagram elements:  ~~~~
   Charade elements:  ----
   Signal words:      ^^^^

My own comments are set off by   ">>" .




Plaintain is just plain to this quilled zoo animal! (8)
-----------------------    =======================

pl(ANT)ain becomes plain after the ANT is eaten.

JQZ                                                    Solution: ANTEATER

>> A shot at "charade-by-example" that seems to lead to
>> "ANT EATEN"  A possible improvement is
>> "plantain becomes just plain in the presence of this
>> quilled zoo animal".  A demerit for the unfortunate
>> typo.  Neatness counts.



Conquering Nazi grasps cutlass, as sinister as an exterminator. (8)
                           (hidden)            ===============

QXZ                                                    Solution: ASSASSIN

>> The extra words, "conquering Nazi", that serve no purpose
>> in the definition or the cryptic, knock this one out of
>> contention.  Perhaps it's partly the fault of my Conditions
>> of Contest, in which I failed to stress that such extras
>> would be flaws.   I feel that "grasps" is misplaced, too,
>> since it's the phrase "cutlass as sinister" that *grasps*
>> the hidden word.




Quote a back talkin' executioner. (8)
^^^^^ -------------  ===========
QX                                                     Solution: ASSASSIN
"a sassin'" homophone

>> A fine homophone, the only one in the contest.  The surface
>> is a little otherworldly; nevertheless, honorable mention for
>> Evan Whitney <evan@scd.hp.com>.




A leader of Liberty Trust squeezes one who is exceptionally generous (8)
- ----------------- ----- ^^^^^^^^ --- =============================
A        L          TRUST           I

QXZ                                                    Solution: ALTRUIST

>> I'm sure the banker was all diplomacy and soft soap with his
>> local philanthropist, but squeezing is the plain word for it.
>> Excellent charade, only tainted a bit with the wish to make "one"
>> the first word in the definition.  Honorable mention for
>> Merlyn LeRoy <merlyn@digibd.com>.



Estrange Zambian in Quebec after dinner? (8)
======== ----------------- ------------
             ALIEN             ATE
QZ                                                     Solution: ALIENATE

>> "Zambian in Quebec" is pretty particular (and arbitrary), so it
>> seems to call for an "e.g."  "after dinner" = "ate", even with
>> the "?" warning, does not delight me either.



Relinquish a judicial right executed on a note (8)
========== - --------------             - ----
           A   LIEN                     A  TE

JQX                                                    Solution: ALIENATE

>> "executed" is intrusive to the cryptic (see "conquering Nazi"
>> above), and does not especially help the surface reading either.
>> The non-diatonic TE adds to the solver's challenge.  The "q"
>> and "j" went in very smoothly indeed.
 


 


At tea, sit 'n' quizzically consume Ajax, at first (8)
== ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ --------------
      ASTTINE                              A
JQXZ                                                   Solution: ASTATINE

  "At" is the definition  (the chemical symbol for astatine)

>> Quick, what's the Poison Control Center phone number?
>> The 'n' would sit better in a sentence containing words
>> more colloquial than "quizzically".  I love the "at"
>> definition -- its sudden aggrandizement reminds you of
>> the way the word "a" occasionally turns out to stand for "alpha".
>> Honorable mention to Kevin Wald <wald@math.uchicago.edu>.





Start of poker game seizes me; can't relax, needing a certain liqueur (8)
------------------- ^^^^^^ --  -----------          =================
     ANTE                  I       SET
QXZ                                                    Solution: ANISETTE

>> I can't feel relaxed about the charade for SET -- I keep
>> feeling I'm missing the point... sails, or traps, that are
>> not set are relaxed(?), but "can't" gets in the way.
>> Otherwise, a solid clue.



Neat mixture I place inside to make a liqueur. (8)
~~~~ ^^^^^^^ - ----- ^^^^^^         =========
             I SET

QX                                                     Solution: ANISETTE

>> Another skillful bartender, with less trouble getting SET.
>> The trouble comes in with the oxymoron "neat mixture", and
>> that "place" doesn't suggest liquids very well.





Quiz drowned in endless tears, jinxed by professor (8)
---- ^^^^^^^^^^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ^^^^^^    =========
TEST              TEAR -> ATER

JQXZ                                                   Solution: ATTESTER

>> Some jinx!  The classroom evokes Mickey Mouse doing the
>> Sorcerer's Apprentice.  I like the secondary meaning for
>> "professor".





Just a quick extra to change an entry therein to 
==================           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                      mean "Not at I/O NAND gate" (10)
                       (^.. hidden ....^)
JQX                                                    Solution: ANNOTATION

>> The extra words "gate", and, especially, "change", which
>> will unfairly mislead the solver to look for anagrams,
>> hurt this generally good clue.  I'm impressed with the
>> three premium-score letters all within the definition.
>> But how did you get nine letters into your Scrabble rack?






A tile exchanged with vocalized hesitation at onset of Scrabble workshops (8)
- ~~~~ ^^^^^^^^^      --------------------    ----------------- =========
A                           ER                        S

XZ                                                     Solution: ATELIERS

>> A little wordy, perhaps, and "exchanged" is not my favorite
>> anagram signal, but the integration of the Scrabble theme
>> is an unanticipated bonus!  The second-place award goes
>> to Todd McClary <TODDM@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>.




Jumbled litanies bollixed Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (8)
^^^^^^^ ~~~~~~~~ ^^^^^^^^ ===================

JXZ                                                    Solution: ALIENIST

>> I can't do better than the entrant's own amusing comments:
>>  Jumbled              anagram indicator
>>  litanies             anagram fodder
>>  bollixed             another anagram indicator, in case
>>               you missed the first one!
>> Dr. Laszlo Kreizler is the protagonist of Caleb Carr's fine
>>  novel, the ALIENIST




Foreigner is the top Jungian forensic expert    (8)
--------- -- ------- =======================
  ALIEN   IS   T        

JX                                                     Solution: ALIENIST

>> An unassuming but strong clue with no wasted words and no
>> strain for the "j" and "x".  The one slight flaw is the use
>> of the related word ALIEN to construct ALIENIST.   First place
>> for Kamal A. Shah <kamarif@pop.jaring.my>.


Here are the bonus clues, without comments:


During quiz, Ed swore (8)
------ ----  -- =====
  AT   TEST  ED  defn

  Q Z
(from Evan Whitney)





A Quarter-pounder is to a juicy roasted rump, as laziness is to killer sex. (8)
                                        ----  -- --------       ======
				        ass   as   sin
 J Q X Z
(from Uri Guttman)




 Journeymen, for example, in a star's queer production (8)
 =======================  ~~~~~~~~~~~ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    JQX                                              Solution: ARTISANS

 Jamaica and Cuba, for example, lit lanes bizarrely (8)
 =============================  ~~~~~~~~~ ^^^^^^^^^

    JXZ                                              Solution: ANTILLES

(Both from Brian Spollen)




Sky jetters and zoomers expose queues (8)
======================= ------ ------
                         air    lines
    J Q X Z

Supply explanatory jottings on why girl will love gallery in Queen
===========================        ----      ---- ---------------- ..
                                   ann        o     tate

                                             Elizabeth's city (8)
                                          .. ----------------
    J Q X Z

Just an oblique hint that everyone utilizes exactly half the charge
====================      -------- -------- ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ----------
                            ALL       US(es)               ION
    J Q X Z

(The last three from the fertile mind of Yap Yok Foo)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jake Bergmann                    jbergmann@bbn.com
Bolt Beranek & Newman Software Products Corporation
Cambridge MA USA                 617-873-2872
