ARAUCARIA CROSSWORD COMPETITION NUMBER 72

POSTING OF RESULTS

When I devised this particular theme for this competition, I had a
vague notion  that my knowledge of the classical mythologies was
fairly good. However, after my tenth visit to the old trusty Brewers
Myth and Legend, I was sufficiently humbled. Can anyone recommended a
good and comprehensive book on the classical Greek and Roman
mythologies. I would love to go back to the days of Hercules, the
strongman  and maybe peep at Diana bathing in the river (is there a
river in the world that is still safe to bathe in ?)

The quality of the entries was very high and I had great difficulty
choosing the winning clue. Finally, I picked on one which best
captured the spirit of the times and most vividly portrayed the
incident or characteristic that the chosen hero was known for while
still retaining the accepted conventions of a cryptic clue.

In Daedalus' wake, so tragic a rush out of the sky 
                                                Helios had caused! (6)

submitted by relative newcomer, Jules E. Lafrance
(ab388@freenet.carleton.ca)
who, like 17 out of the 19 entrants, said he would be happy to
moderate. I like to think that my posting on the matter plus my gentle
persuasion through e-mail have something to do with the
higher-than-normal percentage of people expressing a willingness to
assume the honour of moderating.

First Runner-up
From: "Murray W. Smith" <msmith@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
My complex lexicon I initially produced under Sphinx (7)

Second Runner-up
From: Dirk Laurie <dirk@calvyn.puk.ac.za>
Furious one, working up a tempest, nearly (9)

All the submitted entries are listed in the order they were received:

1.  Oh, without wand, she's no pig-maker! (5)
2.  In conclusion, she beamed us a stony stare! (6
3.  Made us into stone (6)
4.  Furious one, working up a tempest, nearly (9)
5.  In Daedalus' wake, so tragic a rush out of the sky 
               Helios had caused! (6)
6.  Muse? It's part of a moderator's job (5)
7.  Paint? Dab? No, I sculpted my gal, reflexively! (9)
8.  By itself, call described kidnapped woman. (10)
9.  Greek without list for toy launched a thousand ships. (5,2,4)
10. Each ill's miserable for a man with injury-prone heels (8)
11. My complex lexicon I initially produced under Sphinx (7)
12. May avenge Roman spiritual leaders! (4)
13. A lad sued cryptic puzzle-maker (8) 
14. Overall deity inspired Norse chiefs! (4)
15. God is subtle! (4)
16. Ravished by a god (no bull), now she's incontinent. (6)
17. Pursue basis of honesty, perhaps; interestingly, I do (8)
18. Amazing king (5)
19.  In the main, men are drawn to this singing group ! 3, 6)

BONUS clue
A chicken from Spain, who directed "Chariots of Fire"? (6)

Participants, Clues, Explanation & ((Moderators Comments))

1) From: matthew@ella.mills.edu (Matthew A. Merzbacher)
Oh, without wand, she's no pig-maker! (5)
Oh = Circle minus l (an 'l' looks like a wand to me) = Circe
Circe was the sorceress who held Odysseus/Ulysses captive for a year
and would transform men into swine, but not without her magic wand.
Thus, the entire clue is a (simple) &lit.

((Prof, I will grunt, oops, grant you the &lit accolade if only I
could accept the l for a wand. The wand I grew up with had a star at
the tip. Otherwise, a beautifully crafted clue))

2) From: anthony.matthews@aero.org (Anthony Matthews)
In conclusion, she beamed us a stony stare! (6) 
And the answer, of course, my old girlfriend Medusa, lead singer with
the Gorgons, whose glance would turn the onlooker to stone.

((Good container clue but there is a fatal flaw - legend had it that
her face was so terrible that all who looked on it were turned to
stone. In other words, it was not her action of staring that turned
the victim into stone but rather the victims indiscreet action of
looking at her face))

3) From: dtk <kurtzdt@musc.edu>(David Kurtz)
Made us into stone! (6)
the entire clue is an &lit (Medusa turned men to stone with a stare)

((An even more elegant Medusa clue, however, with the identical flaw))

4) From: Dirk Laurie <dirk@calvyn.puk.ac.za>
Furious one, working up a tempest, nearly (9)
 MAD      A                      A     STOR(m)
MAD A, working up = ADAM (this is a down clue)=> ADAMASTOR
Adamastor appeared in a Portuguese epic, the Lusiad.  He was a spirit
who commanded the winds around the Cape of Storms (aka Cape of Good
Hope) to make life difficult for fifteenth century Portuguese sailor
Vasco da Gama, the first European to reach Asia by sea. 

((A good &lit clue awarded Second runner-up))

5) From: ab388@freenet.carleton.ca (Jules E. Lafrance)
In Daedalus' wake, so tragic a rush out of the sky 
                                                Helios had caused! (6)
Daedalus flew from Crete using feathers stuck to his body with wax.
His son Icarus flew likewise but, alas, too close to the sun.  The wax
melted his feathers away and he fell to his death.

((The more I read this container clue from Jules, the better I like
it. At first blush, it appears not to have followed the normal
convention of a cryptic clue but read it again and again and you must
agree with me that this clue best captures the spirit of the theme.
Worthy winner of ACC #72 from Jules who has agreed to devise and
moderate ACC#73))

6) From: bobg@cullen.demon.co.uk (Bob Gregory)
Muse? It's part of a moderator's job (5)
ERATO - The MUSE of literature & poetry

((Cute container clue and very apt, too.))

7) From: Kevin Wald <wald@math.uchicago.edu>
    Paint? Dab? No, I sculpted my gal, reflexively! (9)
       An &lit. Pygmalion was the bloke who sculpted a statue
       (Galatea), and fell in love with her/it. She/it was
       eventually brought to life by Aphrodite.
       Paint dab = P (dab = small amount)
       sculpted = anagram indicator
       my gal (anagrammed) = LAMGY
       reflexively = reversal indicator
       NO + I + LAMGY (all reversed) = YGMALION
       P + YGMALION = PYGMALION

((Kevin, the master sculptor has constructed yet another beauty;
however he lost points for solvability ))

8) From: "Ed Coulson 814-863-0625" <FYJ@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
By itself, call described kidnapped woman. (10)
By itself = PER SE (A Latin phrase)    call = PHONE
Persephone was carried off by Pluto to live in his underworld domain.

((Good solid charade ))

9)  From: yokelim@ylchew.pc.my (Chew Yoke Lim)
Greek without list for toy launched a thousand ships. (5,2,4)
Greek	= Hellenist       without 'list'	=> Helen
for toy	= anagram fodder (to make 'of Troy')
launched	= anagram indicator
Homers immortal 1st line in the Iliad was "Is this the face that
launched a thousand ships" referring to Helen, the most beautiful
woman of Greece and the indirect cause of the Trojan War. 

((A very commendable maiden clue which unfortunately suffered from a
fatal flaw. A Hellenist is to Greece as an Anglophile is to England. 
A more accurate synonym for Greek will be Hellene. 
Welcome to the Group, Yoke Lim))

10) From: bcs@sc.harris.com (Brian Spollen)
Each ill's miserable for a man with injury-prone heels (8)
      "each ills" anagrammed = "Achilles"
      "miserable" = anagram indicator
      "a man with injury-prone heels" = def. of "Achilles"

(( Lovely anagram clue but I nit-pick (I use this verb as an action of
a pedantic and punctilious man but do not seem to find it in my
Chambers) with your definition. Shouldnt  "heels"  be singular ?))
 BONUS:
 A chicken from Spain, who directed "Chariots of Fire"? (6)
          A  "chicken from Spain" = A + "pollo" => APOLLO

((Acceptable clue if you know Spanish which I dont. 
Mucho gracias, Brian))

11) From: "Murray W. Smith" <msmith@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
My complex lexicon I initially produced under Sphinx (7)
	(My) complex = definition
	(complex) lexicon = OED (Oxford English Dictionary)
		initially = acrostic indicator
	produced under Sphinx = acrostic fodder = PUS
           Thus OED+I+PUS => OEDIPUS
  Oedipus saved Thebes from the Sphinx perched above the city gates by
being the first to solve a complex riddle. The answer caused the
Sphinx to throw himself to his death on the rocks below in
humiliation. He was crowned King as a reward and given in marriage
Jocasta, the widowed Queen who was his mother. The knowledge of his
unwitting killing of his father, Laius and his incestuous relationship
with his mother drove Oedipus to madness, but not before giving the
world the term, "Oedipus complex" .

((What a beautiful &lit clue. As smooth as the way taxicabs are run in
Vancouver. First runner-up to Murray))

12) From: pvr@wg.icl.co.uk (Phil Rose)
Overall deity inspired Norse chiefs! (4)
As the chief god he would definitely inspire the Norse viking
warrior chiefs. Odin also goes by the name of Woden in English
mythology and Wotan in German as described by Wagner.

((A creditable acrostic clue. Somewhat too easy and therefore lacks
oomph))

13) From: SAILORJOHN@delphi.com
A lad sued cryptic puzzle-maker (8)
DAEDALUS, father of Icarus and who constructed the labyrinth in which
the part-bull and part-man monster, Minotaur was imprisoned

((Very good anagram clue with an appropriate anagram prompter. It is
becoming harder and harder to moderate this competition, given the
high quality of clues submitted))

14) From: galejs@ll.mit.edu (Robert Galejs)
May avenge Roman spiritual leaders! (4)=MARS
	Mars was also known as Mars Ultor or Mars the Avenger, 
	specifically the avenger of Caesar.  Caesar, as emperor,
	held the title pontifex maximus or chief priest, clearly
	a spiritual leader.  Thus making the &lit.

((Another very good acrostic clue but is there an inconsistency with
using the plural form ?))

15) From: merlyn@dgii.com (Brian Westley)
God is subtle! (4)
	LOKI, Norse trickster god
	subtle as in clever/wily, and pun on subtle as "low-key"

((Very clever but too subtle to be solvable, really))

16) From: Jack Downing <downinfo@omni.voicenet.com>
Ravished by a god (no bull), now she's incontinent. (6)
	EUROPA was admired by Zeus, who came to her in
	the guise of a bull and carried her off.
	"incontinent" = "in continent", i.e. Europe.

((Somehow, this clue did not turn me on; perhaps because I like a tidy
fresh-smelling house which an incontinent lady will foul. But why not
continent ? It will have the equivalent cryptic effect but much
much cleaner))

17) From: "Samuel E. Buttrey" <buttrey@stat.Berkeley.EDU>
Pursue basis of honesty, perhaps; interestingly, I do (8)
Basis of honesty, perhaps: GENES
Interestingly: anagram indicator
I do anagrams to DIO: DIO "pursues" GENES.
Yielding DIOGENES, who searched the world for an honest man

((I find this clue barely solvable. Perhaps I am dense and cannot
derive GENES from basis of honesty, perhaps. I am also unable to
interprete interestingly as an anagram indicator. Sorry, Sam,
statistically, you are bound to run into the one percent who are
idiots one day and your one day is today.))

18) From unak@aldiscon.ie (Una Kirby)
Amazing king (5)
Minos was the king of Crete who commissioned Daedalus  (see Clue 5 &
13) to construct the Labyrinth, a maze in which he placed Minotaur,
that monster which fed on human flesh until it was slain by  Theseus.

((This is a commendable maiden effort in every sense of the word from
Ms Una Kirby who hails from the fair city of Dublin. Welcome to the
Group))

19) From: kamarif@pop.jaring.my (KAMAL SHAH)
 In the main, men are drawn to this singing group ( 3, 6)
        I guess this is an &lit or maybe partial &lit?. Men in the
main are, of course, sailors and they are attracted by the songs of
the group of sisters, The Sirens, who lured them in to their doom on
the rocks!

((Regrettably, Dr Kamal's entry came in way after the closing date and
is therefore not considered for placing. However, this should not
prevent us from enjoying the beauty of the clue))

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Ripleys Believe It Or Not Footnote : 
Yap Yok Foo, the champion of short clues, has actually pronounced as
winner, the longest clue submitted for this competition. 
Wonders never cease !!!!!
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 YAP Yok-Foo,      Sunny Malaysia
      yfyap@pop.jaring.my
 Tel 603-7811648  Fax 603-7812108
