  ACC78:  Final results

All the clues have been received and judged.  The winning clue was:

Crack's initial encounter breaking mother's back (4)

by Tom Deneau, who has agreed to accept moderatorship of ACC79.


With a mere ten official clues entered, I'd have to gather that
my rules were too restrictive (those being that the cluer was
to use a surface which described an unlikely cause-and-effect
relationship, ala the lore that "a groundhog seeing its own
shadow on February 2 will cause six more weeks of bad weather").
Well, it lessened the burden of moderating somewhat, even if 
that wasn't my intention.

Judging was done on the basis of both the usual cryptic 
criteria (pleasing surface reading, freedom from technical
flaws) as well as adherence to the special restriction for
this contest.

The complete list of clues, (in the order that I received them, in 
case you're curious), authors' explanations, and my comments 
(prefixed with a ">") for ACC78.  Winner designated with **, 
runners-up with *.

If you wish to correspond with me regarding these results, you'd
best do so via e-mail (bcs@sc.harris.com).  I've temporarily lost
news/rec.puzzles.crosswords access.

The clues for ACC78 (without explanations):
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Turning crank, I beg and cause a street scene (5, 7)
Chicken eggs are reportedly stood on end at start of Spring, end 
   of Winter (7)
Endless crowd, a harbinger of death (4)
Queer calf hyping news? Never! (4,4,3,3)
Sadly, when this happens rodents will gamble. (I'm all at sea!) (8)
I begin cursing after stew pot never boils while 
   this is used to watch (5,5)
Crack's initial encounter breaking mother's back (4)
Minor star huddle provides major puddle? (9)
Angels clumsily roll on bowling alleys--thunder starts as high performer (7)
Chastity, in part, leads to hair loss in Rhodesians who dance (8)

Bonus clues for ACC78 (without explanations):
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott central character loses head ... loose lips sink ships (7)
Rub palms together to get strange color- though nothing's missing- and
   it lacks life. (4-5)
Reportedly when you misplace ragged underwear kitchen fixture
   transports by sea. The result is broken vessels get old.  (8)
--------------------------------------------------------------------



The clues for ACC78 (with explanation, and my comments):
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Turning crank, I beg and cause a street scene (5, 7)

  Turning          = anagram indicator
  crank, I beg and = anagram fodder
  cause            = defn. indicator
  a street scene   = defn.

BREAK DANCING

> Well, I certainly spent a few minutes trying to put together the
> cryptic elements to produce "organ grinder" which, as it turns out,
> was a red herring.  So a few extra points for flim-flamming the
> moderator.  Cryptically very sound.  Can't much fault the 
> definition.  The surface is clear, and does describe a causal
> relationship, although it's not nearly as "unlikely" as some
> of the other clues.  This clue was cranked out by Matthew
> Merzbacher.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Chicken eggs are reportedly stood on end at start of Spring, end 
of Winter (7)

      (This refers to the popular myth that eggs can be balanced on 
      end only at the Vernal Equinox. In fact, they can be balanced 
      on end at any time of the year.)

      Chicken = ROOSTER

      eggs = OO
      reportedly = homonym indicator
      are = homonym of R
      OOR "stood on end" = ROO
      start of Spring = S
      end of Winter = TER (the last half of "Winter")
      ROO "at" S + TER = ROOSTER

> I'll admit it; I'm picky.  I like my "end of" to indicate the last
> letter rather than the last half of a word, cryptically, so the
> "end of Winter" discourages me.  The rest of the cryptic is quite
> good, with no waste, despite its relative length.  The definition is 
> proper; the surface is clear and has the requisite "unlikely causality" 
> (though it took me a moment to realize; "equinox causes egg-balancing").
> Honorable mention to this cocky effort by Kevin Wald.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Endless crowd, a harbinger of death (4)

The CROW, a black bird, is considered to be bad luck in Asia where the sight
of one on top of a roof will be interpreted as an ill omen that death will
be imminent for that household.

> The cluer wrote elsewhere that this clue was too simple to win.
> Perhaps.  I think I'd have preferred it better if it had been made
> somewhat tougher to solve by using a synonym of "crowd" instead of 
> its literal presence in the clue.  I'm not sure I equate "harbinger" 
> with "cause" any more than I'd conclude that a falling barometer
> "causes" foul weather; they both indicate/predict rather than cause.
> Yap Yok Foo undertook this effort.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

CLUE: Queer calf hyping news? Never! (4,4,3,3)

ANSWER: When pigs can fly

EXPLANATION: 
	Surface: The Madison Avenue-types have been bombarding us with
	talking cow ads for a couple of years now. This is the 	first step 
	in a natural progression of them becoming talking heads delivering 
	the nightly TV news. :@)  <-- (smiling pig)

	Queer = anagram indicator
	calf hyping news = anagram fodder
	Never = definition
	The clue is a partial &lit


> The author expressed elsewhere in his submission that he suspects 
> he failed in meeting my criteria.  He's right.  Though the clue
> is quite clever in all aspects, and the clued phrase is a proverb 
> which meets the "unlikely" aspect, the surface doesn't particularly 
> outline a cause and effect.  Some barnyard humor from the pen of
> Murray Smith.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

CLUE:  
   Sadly, when this happens rodents will gamble. (I'm all at sea!) (8)

SOLUTION:= CASTAWAY
                      When the cat's away, the mice will play.
EXPLANATION:
  Sadly = anagram signal
  When this happens = Cat's Away (anagram of CASTAWAY)
   Rodents = MICE
   Will gamble = will gambol (PLAY) homophone
   We hear = homophone signal
"I'm all at sea" = CASTAWAY definition

> The author admitted that this was a nascent effort in the field
> of cluing, so I'll try to be nice.  This clue breaks a number of
> standard rules (in my book, anyway), although it does marginally
> fulfill the narrower rules of mine for this contest (although I've
> never really imagined that the rats played anything like poker or
> craps in the absence of their feline nemesis).  First of all, I
> don't feel that the first sentence, on the surface reading, has
> much to do with the (parenthetical) second.  What goes more 
> against my grain, though, is the indirectness of the cryptic
> elements:  in an anagram clue, it's best to have the letters to
> be anagrammed *explicitly* in the clue itself (something like
> "When cat's away, sadly ..." would be better); the "we hear" part
> *might* have made a positive contribution, but only if it were
> actually in the clue itself.  This clue has a germ of success
> in it, but the technical flaws overwhelm it.  A "ratty" clue
> from Paula (paula@interserve.com).
---------------------------------------------------------------------

I begin cursing after stew pot never boils while 
	this is used to watch (5,5)

	An adaptation of "A watched pot never boils"
	I = I
	begin cursing = C
	stew = anagram indicator
	stew POT = OPT
	IC after OPT = OPTIC
	boils = anagram indicator
	NEVER boils = NERVE
	this is used to watch = OPTIC NERVE

> The "watched pot never boils" is most assuredly counter to the
> laws of physics and thus meets my "unlikely" rule.  All in all, a
> good clue.  I feel somehow uncomfortable "never" amongst the present-
> tense "cursing" and "this is used".  I think "stewing" would have
> been a better choice cryptically without damaging the surface.
> Good definition and surface.  Robert Galejs "saw" fit to contribute
> this clue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

** Crack's initial encounter breaking mother's back (4)

	This comes from the children's rhyme that they should avoid
	stepping on a sidewalk crack, or it may break their mother's back.
	(although maybe in modern times, it could describe really 
	 nasty side effects of cocaine.)

	Answer: SEAM

		initial encounter = E
		mother's back  = MA'S reversed = SAM
		S(E)AM
		Crack = definition.

> A exemplar of "unlikely causality" and a tight, efficient clue to
> boot.  Try as I might --- and I did try ---  I really can't find 
> anything wrong with it.  The winner, from the seamier (:-) side of
> Tom Deneau.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
* Minor star huddle provides major puddle? (9)

Explanation.
This is based on the lore "When the stars begin to huddle,
look out for a puddle"

Minor star      => anagram letters
huddle          => anagram indicator
                   MINORSTAR => RAINSTORM
    my dictionary gives it as "heap together in a muddle"
major puddle    => allusion to a RAINSTORM          

> Can't say as I'm familiar with the lore, and I can't imagine 
> stars literally huddling, but I'll take your word on it.  Another
> compact clue, and it rhymes, too.  My only qualm is with the 
> definition:  even with the "?", it's something of a stretch.
> Not one to rain on his parade, I award Phil Rose the runner-up
> position.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Angels clumsily roll on bowling alleys--thunder starts as high performer (7)

 Answer: ACROBAT
 "Angels Clumsily Roll On Bowling Alleys Thunder" = acrostic fodder
 "starts" = acrostic indicator
 "high performer" =  definition of ACROBAT
   (Refers to the old myth that thunder is the sound of the angels
    bowling up in heaven)

> Pretty good, as acrostics go.  At least, the cryptic/acrostic part
> itself.  Good "causality" aspect; good definition.  But "high 
> performer" part personifies thunder, which is to the detriment
> of the surface; it doesn't feel quite right, somehow.  This nearly
> heavenly clue came from John Hakemian.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Chastity, in part, leads to hair loss in Rhodesians who dance (8)
========     ----           ---- ^^^^^^^ ~~~~~~~~~~ ^^^^^^^^^
              GO

Subtract HAIR from RHODESIANS : ODESNS
 "who dance": anagram signal  : ODNESS
                    Solution  : GOODNESS
  Equating "chastity" with "goodness" : a matter of opinion! 

> Verily, an unlikely event (indeed, I've heard tell that certain
> forms of unchaste behavior lead to hair *growth*); good, amusing
> surface.  "Rhodesians" would probably be considered an arbitrary
> anagramming convenience --- which I normally frown upon --- were
> it not for the nature of this particular contest (so no points 
> were lost on that account).  I am dismayed, however, by the 
> complexity of the cryptic instructions, clear though they are
> (anagram, then subtract; append to the "go"); cryptically, too, 
> I'd have preferred "dancing Rhodesians" to "Rhodesians who dance", 
> the "who" doesn't suit the cryptic function as well (or, going
> even further, "dancing Rhodesians' hair loss").  Goodness!  This
> clue came from Jake Bergmann.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

BONUS CLUES:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Clue: Scott central character loses head ... loose lips sink ships (7)
Answer: Scuttle
Explanation:
	Scott central character loses head --> change the middle letter
	in Scott from 'o' to 'u' = SCUTT

	loose lips = LE (the lips or edges of the word loose)

	Sink ships = definition = SCUTTLE

Surface: The term 'loose lips sink ships' means that indiscretions can 
have dire consequences - this could apply in many of Sir Walter Scott's 
stories. It could also be one of the reasons Robert Scott's expedition 
to the South Pole resulted in the Norwegian Amundsen beating him by a 
month. Scott's party perished from the elements after tending to the sickly 
delerium of a central figure in the group. The clue could almost be 
interpreted as an &lit if the figurative meaning of the verb 'scuttle' is 
applied to the causal relationship implied in the surface.

> While the "loose lips" proverb fits the contest criteria, coupled
> with the rest of the clue, it loses its causal potency.  The "o to
> u" transition is not a cryptic construct I'd be brave enough to try.
> From Matthew Merzbacher.
> 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rub palms together to get strange color- though nothing's missing- and
it lacks life.   ( 4-5 )

SOLUTION: COLD HEART

Warm hands; COLD HEART.

EXPLANATION:
Rub palms together = Warm hands
Strange = anagram signal
 color - though nothing's missing = COLOR minus "0"= COLR
 it lack's life = DEATH
DEATH + COLR = COLD HEART

> Unimpressive surface, special contest rules or not.  As with the
> official clue, this one rules afoul of the "indirect anagram"
> rule.  From paula@interserver.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
CLUE:
   Reportedly when you misplace ragged underwear kitchen fixture
transports by sea. The result is broken vessels get old.  (8)
SOLUTION:
   Loose lips sink ships.  The result is SABOTAGE.
EXPLANATION:
   Reportedly = homophone signal
   Misplace = lose   (LOOSE)
   Ragged underwear = slip (LIPS)
   Kitchen fixture = SINK 
   Transports by sea = SHIPS

The result = SABOTAGE 
Broken vessels (BOATS) + grow old (AGE) = SABOTAGE

> Another "loose lips" reference.  A homophone really needs to be
> exact; thus "lose slips" equals "loose lips" only if one elides.
> You'd be better off using a (British) bathroom reference to get
> "loo slips".  A cryptic clue traditionally has a cryptic element
> (charade, anagram, hidden-word, et. al.) *AND* a "straight"
> element --- this clue has two cryptic elements.  Surface meaning
> is hard to follow.  From paula@interserver.com.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Yours, in moderation,
Brian Spollen

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian C. Spollen                          | Internet:bcs@sc.harris.com
Harris Electronic Design Automation, Inc. | I express my opinions, not Harris's
Fishers, New York 14453                   | "Taste makes Waist"
