Subject:      PCWC44 Full Results
From:         crimmer@liverpool.ac.uk (Mr C. Rimmer)
Date:         1995/07/11
Message-Id:   <DBKBDz.4Bs@liverpool.ac.uk>
Newsgroups:   rec.puzzles.crosswords

Here are the full results of PCWC44.  Thanks to everyone who entered!
There were 21 entries and 12 ballots, which is not that many, but par 
for the course, I think.  The winner was Clay Colwell with the clue

    Sorted a disc's file! (10)

and a score of 76.41%.  He has agreed to moderate PCWC45, so watch 
out for that!  Anyway, it was a tight race, with several other clues 
coming up just behind.  

Here are the general comments on the competition, followed by the 
clues, votes and comments:
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The chosen word to be clued was great, and the moderator is
a truly wonderful and gifted person.

Thank you for moderating. Just want you to know we do appreciate it!
I think a number of of the clues could have been improved by brutal
excising and tweaking here and there. I see it as a creative and learning
exercise to presume to improve on the clues.(IMHO, at times I have succeeded)
So the comments are like sharing my exercise with all of you.

Lots of possibilities with the choice of word; I expected more
double definitions, and was very surprised by the LASS in DEIFIC
clues. Lots and lots of angrams or C + angrams. Almost all of
the clues fine clues, but few really stood out as exceptional.

I didn't care for "advertisement" alone as a definition, as I
don't believe it's specific enough.  I prefer "newpaper ad"
instead.
Not much originality amongst the solvers, this time.

Perhaps the word is easy to clue, or perhaps cluers are now more mindful of 
the need for brevity and elegance after the posting on the newsgroup of Yap 
Yok Foo's article; but the end result is a set of entries which are short and
easily understood (without having to read the explanation) .

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1st place (score 76.41%) - clue 9
From Clay Colwell (eris@bga.com)

    Sorted a disc's file! (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 41 71 71 78 85 89 89 92 100 100 100

Close to perfect. Short and sweet. "Disc" need not be a misspelling.
The clue could be talking about a file on a CD.

the last three words are irrelevant to the definition-reading

Have always wondered why CD is "compact disc" but HDD is "high-density
disk" even in British computer magazines.As he expected, the clue-er
lost points.

I don't like these partial &lits

Lose points for 'disc' (well, you did ask for it), but win points
for the &lit.  I like "sorted" as a definition.

Ingenious!  It's only a partial &lit really, since the sort of "sorting"
that one does on a disk file (or even a disc's file) isn't really
"classifying".  But "sorted" stands nicely as a definition.  This one
ties with #20 for my top score.

Excellent; in my books, doing double duty leads to greater elegance.

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2nd place (score 73.12%) - clue 15
From msb@sq.com

    What CIA's files encrypted by head of department are (10)

Votes (normalized): 22 57 57 59 67 69 79 80 93 94 100 100

It looks good on the surface but it's unsolvable at the end of the day.
Without the kind benefit of an explanation 
of the definition, we'd have to be mind readers to solve it!.

Would it better if this was "For example, CIA's files encrypted by
department head"

Very polished surface reading.  Not the tightest definition, as
the cluer noted.

This departmental head (better, yes?) doesn't know how to delegate!
This thinker thinks that " CIA's files encrypted by departmental head
are secret" would have worked better.

At last a _real_ &lit. No extra words. All parts used twice.
Good clue and original in a sea of average, well formed
clues.

Very nice.  If you could only have worked the "What" into the
cryptic part, it would be perfect!
Good clue and I even learned a new word, concatenate

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3rd place (score 71.58%) - clue 21
From Lee McGinty (lee@ehiltd.dircon.co.uk)

  The Soviet leader is in fiscal trouble and that's definitely top secret. (10)

Votes (normalized): 38 47 51 56 67 72 80 86 94 97 100

Excellent.  Your "that's" for "i.e." is a nice new invention.

"Soviet leader in fiscal trouble? That's definitely top secret!"  (10)
Howzat?

Too long-winded.  For one thing, you could lose "The" and "is" without
any decrease in readability, but it would still be way too long.

Complicated, but makes up for it with a very smooth surface and a
nice breezy tone.  "That's" -> IE is downright cheeky.  A high score.

Too many extraneous words.

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4th place (score 66.88%) - clue 17
From Peter Kewley ( pk@barnlib.demon.co.uk )

    Disc files a formatted secret (10)

Votes (normalized): 30 49 56 62 65 68 71 71 72 75 86 100

Short and to the point!

Shouldn't this be "A disc's file format is secret" .
Disc = Disk is a given! :-)

Surface reading doesn't make much sense to me, so I dread to
think what a non-computer person would make of it.

There are those darned "disc files" again.  This is my favorite of the
'disc file' clues.

No surface.  A formatted secret?

Can't be true if CD can be copied so easily in the PROC

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5th place (score 66.17%) - clue 19
From Rosie Krzymuski <Rosie@radvan.demon.co.uk>

    Top secret as Fidel C. is overthrown (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 38 41 56 57 62 71 83 85 100 100 100

Nice anagram but surface not perfect!

Great effect, top marks, surface a little short of perfection.

Hi, Fidel C.! This is Kamal S.

Another obvious anagram.

Well it screams "ANAGRAM!" but I like it a great deal.

I give this one good marks despite the inelegant initial;
the smooth surface and the elegant anagram indicator compensate.

Can't be true. CNN will be there.

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6th place (score 63.82%) - clue 6
From Sastry Nanduri (nvs@pluto.njcc.com)

    Encrypt disc file as the contents are sensitive (10)

Votes (normalized): 30 43 46 55 56 59 66 72 76 86 88 89

Don't want to be pedantic but wouldn't a definition like 'top secret' be
better than 'sensitive'?  Otherwise, it reads very well.

I like it. Should it be "its contents are sensitive?"

Have always wondered why CD is "compact disc" but HDD is "high-density
disk" even in British computer magazines.

Almost there, but somehow, it's not quite the usual way you would
say it. Sorry if that's overly harsh but so many of the clues are
similar.

Elegant use of "Encrypt" to make the surface smoother.  I don't care
for "disc file", as that's not a term that anybody would ever use
(would they?)

What is "the contents" doing in there?

very good surface but "the contents are" is obstuctive

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7th place (score 60.49%) - clue 14
From Kamal A. Shah (kamarif@pop.jaring.my) 

    Categorised as secret!    (10)

Votes (normalized): 14 30 47 57 57 59 71 75 76 78 100

What a thinker this guy is! :-) Pass. Next clue, please.

Better of the double definitions.

See clue #2 - a nice straight double-definition.  Too straight
for me.

This is a *single* definition.  How did you *think* "classified"
came to mean "secret"?

Short, simple and sweet

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8th place (score 60.46%) - clue 13
From EnigmaGB@aol.com

    My students, if I had heard that secret...(10)

Votes (normalized): 0 14 33 50 60 65 67 79 85 86 93 94

The only homophone element is the I'D for IED; would be stronger
if the whole word were homophonized (yes, this is the CWC 78
moderator speaking)

A pity really! But "my students" is not "Class". My class, maybe. But not
class. Would have been nice if simply: Class,if I'd heard that secret....
Had the makings of a nice lead-in clue to the next clue.....Pity!!

Almost perfect, but extraneous that ruins it.

I'm a sucker for homophones.

This concortion does not work for me

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9th place (score 60.30%) - clue 1
From Evan Whitney (evan@scd.hp.com)

    "100 flies," said misspelled advertisement  (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 29 50 51 59 66 69 71 71 83 86 89

'Advertisement' on its own does not  =  'Classified'?

I don't like the definition. Isn't a "classified" a kind of ad?

Misuse of the singular form.  You never read "a
classified", you read "the classifieds".

Nice clue! Wonder if those are .zip files!

The surface just does something for me. Construction is no worse
and no better than other anagrams

One tough clue, as it's a combination charade/anagram.
As to the surface:  I'm afraid... I'm very afraid!

Not bad, but the Roman numeral is rather cliche.

good anagram clue  

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10th place (score 58.50%) - clue 20

    "Secret of the Gods" is back, little girl is captivated (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 31 43 47 50 57 67 68 71 80 88 100

This little girl probably likes The X Files too.

I think I missed this Eric von Daniken's documentary! Got the point
but surface reading ain't so hot. Needs some tweaking, I think.

The best of the DEIFIC LASS clues.

By far the best of the DEIFIC/LASS clues, with a charming surface
reading and an ingenious twist on the containment indicator.
This gets my top score, along with #9.

Doesn't make much sense

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11th place (score 56.55%) - clue 4

    Panic, lass, if I edit contents of newspaper section (10)

Votes (normalized): 30 33 38 43 47 51 57 68 71 76 78 85

Not so great surface reading

Surface is very unnatural

Doesn't read well, threat or no threat!

I never thought anyone would try such a clue; good effort, but
the surface was always going to be stilted

Surface is pretty choppy and doesn't make much sense.

but it doesn't make much sense

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12th place (score 51.35%) - clue 11

    One hundred sides fail; miserably organized. (10)

Votes (normalized): 14 30 34 43 54 56 57 59 65 67 68 70

Technically sound but the surface is iffy.

Incomprehensible; the "one hundred" is not well worked in,
for one thing.

I think,the semi-colon used is not apt. Can't help thinking ( I do think
a lot!) a better reading could have been achieved if:
Organised miserably, a hundred sides fail   (10)
What do you think?

What does it all mean?  Also, that semi-colon should be a comma or a
hyphen (yes, it's pendantic punctuation time).

Well devised anagram clue

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13th place (score 50.36%) - clue 2

    Secret advertisement (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 14 35 53 57 59 71 80 83 100

Again, shouldn't 'advertisement' be preceded by 'classified' in the first
place to make it a 'classified advertisement', 
which means this isn't really a double definition but a half-baked one !!??

Same quibble as for 1

Very nice! Wonder if the clue-er sees the oxymoron he has created.
A re-read definitely brings it out and one gets the "Aha" effect
plus a smile to the lips.

Both valid definitions. But the oxymoron ruins it for me, rather
than being something worth shouting about.

A straight up-the-middle double definition, where neither word
is being used in any unusual way.

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14th place (score 49.62%) - clue 8

    Godly, uplifting  holding girl in secret (10)

Votes (normalized): 14 30 33 47 53 53 54 57 66 67 71

Sounds like a new type of Wonderbra!

Doesn't do it for me.

A credo of a sex cult, maybe?

Crikey another deific one.

It's my clue, and I hate it, but I won't judge it.

No surface reading.

Doesn't make sense

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15th place (score 47.62%) - clue 3

    Hiding girl provided Scotland Yard with imprisoned 
    exleader's secret (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 8 33 51 57 59 67 70 85 94

Nice surface, but I'm not sure that it's solvable.- the pointers are. rather 
vague, especially the 'provided' for 'if'.  It's 
a bit misleading??

Too wordy without a great surface reading

That repeated container scheme seems over-
complicated.  Overall, however, very good, especially
the "provided".

Wordy. This clue was doomed at gestation and further doomed when
it followed the 2 clever clues above.

I'm not sure about Scotland Yard = CID, and the whole surface is 
awkward.

A very nice surface, but a heck of a long-winded clue.

Rather complicated, but Scotland Yard -> CID is interesting.

too convoluted for such a simple word

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16th place (score 46.99%) - clue 7

    Top secret girl returned in the form of a goddess reincarnate (10)

Votes (normalized): 23 29 30 35 43 43 44 51 53 56 57 100

the double reversal may be clever but it's not very solvable!

Yikes! Mata Hari as a goddess? Good image. But too convoluted.

That's not what deific means

I think it is clever (the rare "double reversals",folks!)but the clue
just doen't read well.

Why's the girl top secret? Top marks for effort though.

Kind of a long way to go for the payoff.  Also, "classified" is much
less than "top secret"; "secret" would have done.

Ingenious, but inelegant.  And just because "come back" and
"reincarnate" are more or less synonymous in one sense, I don't
think that makes the latter word a suitable reversal indicator.
And what's a top secret girl, anyway?

the double somersault doesn't turn me on

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17th place (score 45.59%) - clue 18

    Fie, sis! -- entangled in clothed secret.(10)

Votes (normalized): 0 29 31 43 47 49 51 56 57 59 60 67

Fie, Brutus. Et tu ? Yes, definitely would have been improved with
a question mark.

Anagram is too obvious amongst many well hidden ones.

I'm not a big fan of anagrams in charades, unless they flow
incredibly smoothly.

No surface.

Fie, sis! How common.

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18th place (score 42.02%) - clue 16

    Young girl involved in deific controversy; available to authorized 
    persons only. (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 30 33 34 43 43 47 47 50 54 57 66

No indication that 'deific' should be reversed.  A reversal is different
from an anagram.

Much longer than necessary.

Wordy! Too "difficult" for this lazy thinker.

Whoa - I don't even want to think about the ramifications of
that clue.  The cryptic and straight parts aren't melded too
well, and I'd use a reverse indicator instead of the anagram
'controversy'.

Too verbose

Are we resurrecting the practice of virgins being sacrificed to lecherous
priests at the altar ? This might solve the problem of the dwindling number
of people applying for the ministry.

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19th place (score 39.84%) - clue 10

    For example, Single White Female in idolatrous write-up! (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 17 35 40 41 44 46 83 86 86

Clever, very clever! A few rough edges though.

Where to begin?  A write-up is a report, not an ad.  "White" is
unnecessary (and racist) in the definition of "lass".

No way SWF, aged 32(for example) is a lass! No, I did not just come back
from lunch!

Not really a fair &lit, as the straight definition is mighty crooked.
Also "Single White Female" for "lass" is pretty far-fetched.

Tortured definition and no surface.

"For example, Single White Female" = lass is stretching it a bit 

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20th place (score 37.60%) - clue 5

    Hundred said files are all restricted (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 20 29 29 31 33 34 40 47 57 59 73

No anagram indicator

Who are the hundred?

I just cannot accept "all" as an anagram indicator!

Fine construction. Just slightly less smooth surface than some.

Where's the anagram indicator?  Also, the surface makes no sense
whatsoever, the US Congress notwithstanding.

Awkward surface.

another 'hundred said files' anagram that does not read smoothly

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21st place (score 0.00%) - clue 12

    Seal of disproval (10)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

No, I am not suffering from post-prandial dyspepsia here.
Gets my "Seal of Disapproval"

This one is too clever for me - please explain more thoroughly.

Disproval is the noun form of disprove; I don't get it

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B O N U S   C L U E S
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Clue 22

    On the outside clad; on the inside ossified; so it is categorized. (10)

Started of well, but clue-er got lazy and did not pursue taxonomic
exercise ! Ends up like a "stinky" fossilized dinosaur's egg.:-)

On the offside vague; on the onside different; so it is vaporised.

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Clue 23

    Secret kind of advertisement? (10)

Nice. Wonder if Clue-er of No. 2 decided to go for the "lean and mean"
look and threw this in the bonus basket.Wonder too ( this thinker
wonders a lot) if No. 2 would have worked better with a question
mark.Or would it have drawn too much attention to the oxymoron? I don't 
know.

Ironic that this is basically someone's main clue.

Excellent, deserves an A. Delete the "kind of" and you get A+

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Clue 24

    Secret group I supplied with initial intelligence (10) 

Better than most of the official entries

Passable

'with initial intelligence' ?

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Clue 25

    As if sliced bananas could be described (10)

"Described" is weak.  How about,
"As if sliced bananas could be distinguished by appearance (10)"  ??

Does it need further description? Sliced bananas are sliced bananas are
sliced bananas! Maybe alliteratively, bobbitted bananas? ;-)

I'll go with banana's as an anagram indicator. As in mad.
So this would have got top marks for originality
compared to the other anagrams.

Whimsical.  I like it.

This clue sort of leaves you hanging......

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Clue 26

    Described or invented a story about a fool, if following Cheever's lead (10)

I vote to bobbit this clue. Any seconder?

too convoluted

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