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From: ilana@kiowa.scd.ucar.edu (Ilana Stern)
Subject: PCWC 23 results
Message-ID: <1993Dec10.184855.20924@ncar.ucar.edu>
Sender: news@ncar.ucar.edu (USENET Maintenance)
Organization: NCAR/UCAR
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1993 18:48:55 GMT
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A select group of people selected their favorite clues for the word SELECT.
The winning clue was the self-referential metaclue:

Pick winner from tortuous clues set, but don't involve us! (6)

by Dirk Laurie, wskdpl@puknet.puk.ac.za.  As neither he nor the second-place
entrant can moderate the next contest, the baton is passed to Tovah
Hollander (tovah@panix.com) who will moderate PCWC 24. 

There were 17 clues and 9 voters; maximum total 144.0

Scores:

        Clue    total    %max   rank      mean   st.dev  median
        ----    -----    ----   ----      ----   ------  ------
          1      55.5    38.5    14       6.17    4.50    4.00
          2      74.0    51.4     8       8.22    5.13    6.50
          3      51.5    35.8    15       5.72    3.52    5.50
          4      91.5    63.5     2      10.17    4.24   10.00
          5      66.0    45.8    11       7.33    6.10    4.00
          6      72.0    50.0     9       8.00    4.70    6.50
          7      87.5    60.8     5       9.72    3.19   10.00
          8      91.0    63.2     3      10.11    2.85   10.00
          9     106.0    73.6     1      11.78    3.63   12.50
         10      85.5    59.4     6       9.50    3.05   10.00
         11      69.0    47.9    10       7.67    4.12    6.50
         12      64.5    44.8    12       7.17    3.99    6.50
         13      84.5    58.7     7       9.39    4.32   10.00
         14      33.5    23.3    17       3.72    3.77    1.00
         15      63.0    43.8    13       7.00    4.01    6.50
         16      90.5    62.8     4      10.06    2.66   10.00
         17      38.5    26.7    16       4.28    3.01    4.00

The 5 runner-up votegetters:

4. Exclusive! Religious group welcomes tailless sprite (6)
	by bacz@tellurid.dr.att.com
8. Choose between these lectures (6)
	by Tovah Hollander, tovah@panix.com
16. Choice spot in class election (6)
	by Mark Laventhal, msl@cv.hp.com
7. Choose among these lectures (6)
	by Mark Brader,  msb@sq.com
10. The french within the cult are privileged! (6)
	by Clare Lundon c/o jlundon@xstacy.enet.dec.com

Vote distribution histograms:

           3 |                                 
           2 |                                 
           1 |  X  XXXX    X X         X    X  
Clue #1      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |       X                         
           1 |  X    X   X X       X   X    X X
Clue #2      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |           X                     
           1 | XX     X  X XX   X      X       
Clue #3      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |                               X 
           1 |       X   X X    X X X       XX 
Clue #4      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |  X     X                      X 
           1 |  X  X  X    X                 XX
Clue #5      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |                                 
           1 |   X   XX  X X      X X      X X 
Clue #6      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |             X                   
           1 |           X X X    X X X   XX   
Clue #7      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |             X                   
           1 |             X X  X X X X   XX   
Clue #8      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |                                 
           1 |           X X      X X  X  X XXX
Clue #9      |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |                                 
           1 |        X    X X  X XXX X     X  
Clue #10     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |       XX                   X    
           1 |       XX    X    X  X      X    
Clue #11     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |        X    X                   
           1 |       XXX   X X        X       X
Clue #12     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |           X             X       
           1 |        XX X        X    X  X   X
Clue #13     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |  X                              
           2 |  X                              
           1 |XXX     X    X    X  X           
Clue #14     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |             X                   
           1 |  X    XX    XXX         X   X   
Clue #15     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |             X      X   X        
           1 |             XX     X   XX  X    
Clue #16     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

           3 |                                 
           2 |             X                   
           1 |X XX   XX  X X      X            
Clue #17     |_________________________________
                                  1 1 1 1 1 1 1
              0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Comments:

 1. Elite cult boards train?  Just the opposite (6)

1) Reasonably clever, cryptically (use of "boards" and the reversal
1) of the inclusion instruction); a little bland, surface-wise

1) Too complicated.  Also, I'm a railfan and I still didn't see "el" for
1) "train"; normal people would hardly have a chance.

 2. Pick the Spanish insect (6)

2) I'm definitely not fond of the inclusion indicator ("in") being 
2) part of another word; otherwise okay.

2) Clever use of "insect".  Was the author thinking of Spanish fly?
2) Second place.

2) I like the use of "insect" to mean  "in sect",  but  the  surface
2) reading is unnatural.

 3. Elite, injured tennis pro loses head, returns to Connecticut

3) Good surface; cryptic part seems somewhat overly complicated;
3) "injured tennis pro" may be a little too indefinite for my taste.

3) "Elite, injured" is awkward in the surface reading, and the
3) construction is a bit complicated.

 4. Exclusive! Religious group welcomes tailless sprite (6)

4) Pretty good surface (a nice "National Enquirer" feel to it), and
4) good inclusion indicator; but the "tailless" just doesn't feel 
4) right in the surface reading.

4) One of a large group of good runner-ups.

4) Slightly odd surface reading but a solid clue.

 5. The French in the common market stand in the path of choice (6)

5) Well, your detailed description doesn't match your actual clue
5) (way? path?); if "way" was used in the clue instead of "street",
5) it would have sat better cryptically.  Isn't the Common Market
5) more properly abbreviated as EEC?  I think so.  Surface-wise,
5) it has a clear, if not entirely Francophilic, meaning.

5) Now there's a unique construction!  And the completely unrelated,
5) political surface reading is fun as well.  Unless you're French,
5) I suppose.  I hope American voters aren't so parochial as to
5) consider "EC" obscure.  Which country did this come from, anyway?
5) I was amused that "path" and "way" were confused in the explanation.
5) "Way" might be even better, but I give this first place regardless.

5) "way" is in the explanation but not the clue.   Should it  be  in
5) place of "path"?  If so, it's a pretty good clue.   As it stands,
5) "path" is a little poor as a synonym for "street" (ST).

 6. The best beginnings seem effortless, like eels' casual transit (6)

6) The last three words don't sound completely natural, but the 
6) initial-letter form is reasonably well-concealed.

6) Sigh.  Could we stamp out acronym clues, please?
6) And the construction is wrong, too; for the cryptic reading to make
6) sense, it should be "beginnings OF".

6) "Casual" and "transit" both  look  like  anagram  indicators  and
6) "The best beginnings" might  be  T & B,  which  all  add  to  the
6) difficulty by misleading.   The  definition  is  nicely  oblique;
6) a wonderful clue.

 7. Choose among these lectures (6)

7)   I thought people weren't to consult each other on developing clues :-)

7) An okay clue; ho-hum surface.

7) A solid included-word  clue,  but  I'd  prefer  "choose from"  or
7) "choose between" for better surface reading...

 8. Choose between these lectures (6)

8) ...like this clue.   A solid clue too.   It's amazing how  rarely
8) almost identical clues come up in these competitions.

8)   I thought people weren't to consult each other on developing clues :-)

8) Now here we have two clues that are difficult to choose, uh, between!

8) I wrote the "among" one, and I think it's slightly better than this
8) one because it better describes where the letters are to be found.
8) Since the silly scoring method in this contest does not allow me to
8) express the concept of "slightly better", I will include both in the
8) runner-up group.  Can we PLEASE convert to straight numeric ratings
8) as in PCWC 20, but with normalization?
  [Moderator's comment:  sure.  Write a scoring script.]

 9. Pick winner from tortuous clues set, but don't involve us! (6)

9) The "tortuous clues set" seems a little awkward, but otherwise a
9) pretty good clue.  An interesting commentary, on the surface.

9) Delightful surface reading, but the cryptic is kind of tortuous.
9) Another runner-up.

9) A lovely clue with superb (and relevant) surface reading and  yet
9) no extraneous words.  Brilliant.

10. The french within the cult are privileged! (6)

10) I see no reason for the exclamation point; an okay but not 
10) outstanding clue.

10) Another good runner-up.  Next time please capitalize French, btw.

11. Pick from that diverse lecture the most important theme? (6)

11) The "most important theme" part seems extraneous --- I don't see
11) how it's "sort of" a definition.

11) I like it.  Third place.

12. Exclusive choice (6)

12) Explanation is accurate, but both definitions are too similar to
12) each other for this to be a good double definition clue.

12) Downgraded somewhat because the two definitions are too close in meaning.

13. Choose to spell "new cat" oddly (6)

13) The only clue that I didn't get without the explanation (I suspected
13) an indirect anagram at first!); on that basis, pretty good.  However,
13) oddly doesn't exactly imply "take the odd letters of" to me, and the
13) surface reading doesn't do much for me.

13)  This clue type has stolen an idea I was going to use in a currently 
13)  running clue competition.  It is probably the best clue for a very 
13)  simple and easily clued work

13) I'm not much enamored of this construction, and still less of the
13) device of indicating it by "oddly".  It should be "odd parts of" or
13) something.  Also, "to" doesn't fit.
13) Maybe a better word to spell oddly would  be  a  single  unusual
13) word like "tercet" which can also be spelled "tiercet", and fits
13) the cryptic requirements.  It is also 6 letters  long  to  allow
13) it to be confused for an anagram.

14. A prime isle cite is blind (6)

14) The "blind" = "remove i's" is good, but I see no anagram indicator.

14) After the previous clue, I momentarily expected "prime" to mean that
14) I was to take the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 11th, and 13th letters of what
14) followed!  Amazingly, that gives SLCTBI -- note the first four letters!
14) (Note: please do not take this as an idea for future contest entries...)
14) Anyway, as to the actual clue, the "blind" for "no I's" is creative,
14) but there's no indication to anagram the result, and the surface reading
14) is gibberish.  (I wonder if the writer thought "cite" meant "site".)

14) "Cite" is only a verb as far as I know, so the  surface  reading
14) just isn't English.  I don't think it is enough  to  sound  like
14) "site", IMHO.  I like the "is blind" but would like  an  anagram
14) indicator.

15. Exclusive society commission (6)

15) Good surface, but I'm not personally fond of the "society" abbreviation,
15) and "commission" doesn't seem completely synonymous with "elect".

15) Not bad, but "s" from "society" is a bit awkward.  And you shouldn't
15) need to explain the surface meaning!

16. Choice spot in class election (6)

16) Good surface, but "election" is a word too closely related to "select"
16) to make this a really good clue.

16) Why "spot in" for the inclusion indicator?  "Spot choice in" would
16) read better, good enough for the runner-up group.

16) I like "spot in".  The best inclusion type clue IMHO.

17. Choose a heavenly cryptosystem with artificial intelligence left out (6)

17) Pretty good idea, but "cryptosystem" sounds very contrived.

17) Too obscure and too complicated.  "Cryptosystem" indeed.  Hmph.

17) I don't like clues that are so indirect.  Finding a synonym then
17) anagramming it is hard enough,  but removing  letters  as  well?
17) Strewth!  Too hard for me!

-- 
/\      "This technique probably only makes the difference between 
  \_][                serious injury and total disaster."
      \________Ilana Stern dod#009 r.b. cliff swallow ilana@ncar.ucar.edu____
