Subject:      PCWC56 Results
From:         eris@bga.com (Clayton Colwell)
Date:         1996/04/25
Message-Id:   <4lospf$ks0@news3.realtime.net>
Newsgroups:   rec.puzzles.crosswords

Congratulations to Brian Spollen for his winning clue

    Political moderates enthralled by indecent erotica (6)


He shall moderate PCWC57.


   =======================================

I'll make the full results short and sweet; it's 2 AM and I'm tired.
(Well, it was 2 days ago; since then I've had to fight with work, a
cranky mailer, and a newsreader that decided to completely reset
my .newsrc.  :-(     )




------------------------------------
***
***Comments on the word to be clued:
***
------------------------------------

Better quality clues than I've seen in recent contests.
Too late I thought of the deceptive definition "hiker".

Very expertly and efficiently moderated if I may say so.

I somehow missed the announcement for this one, but I wasn't
beating #10 (or some of the others) anyhow.
Still, I am inspired by these to create the clue:
Halfway between the Hoover and Brookings Institute
which is a nice clue (at least for an American with political knowledge.)
For those out of the know, The Hoover Institute and Brookings Institute
are two "Think Tanks", one "conservative" and the other "liberal".
Thus, halfway between them would be the (political) center, while
"institute" is borrowed from clue #15 to also mean "Center".

I think it was a bad idea to choose a word with transatlantically-varying
spelling in a contest where atlanticity-insensitivity :-) seems to be the
favored style.  The trouble is that UK clue-setters must have felt it
desirable to work into their clue the fact that CENTER is a "foreign
spelling", as was actually done in clues 15 and 18; but by doing so, they
had to risk condemning their own clue as unnecessarily awkward from the
point of view of for US voters, so they would also feel a pressure to
avoid this.  The converse, of course, would have applied if CENTRE had
been the specified word.  The situation should have been avoided.

Much more duplication than I expected. CENT + ER had 4 entries; there
were 
four words hidden with various degrees of success; three similar
homophones; 
the only two anagrams had the same fodder.  Only one charade was
something other than C + ENTER; I expected more variety from such a fertile
word. 

I have no problem with moderators coming up with words that
have a particular spelling, in this case it was the US spelling
but the cluers should take care not to be ambiguous. As most people
used C+ENTER or CENT+ER or containment this wasn't usually a problem
but I marked up those clues which indicated an American spelling
and marked down those which were ambiguous.

Didn't have enough time to comment on individual clues, but some 
overall thoughts:  (a)  There were no BAD clues, just a lot of mediocre 
ones; (b) what happened to non-mainstream cryptics?--seems like there 
was fewer of the clever ones this time; (c) next competition should 
use a British spelling so we Americans can _all_ point out to the 
Majour-versous-Labour'ers that their spelling is irregular.

In the last few PCWCs, I've had to give not-so-great clues a 6 or better
just to keep my average at 5.  This time, I find myself giving 4 or less
to perfectly adequate clues that just didn't ignite sparks like the better
ones; I've labeled such clues PIC (for "pales in comparison").  Given my
ignorance in regards to the British vernacular, I didn't deduct for ER.
Good job, guys!

The chosen word to be clued was great.  Most people like to pick
something complicated and bizarre, it is nice to see a normal word.
Too bad about the US vs UK spelling thing.

Well what a problematic word this turned out to be.
Firstly to define: Chambers gave me the options of "The American
spelling of center" or "(Shak.) n. a cincture, waist belt". What to
choose? The unpleasant or the obscure?
Next how to mark the submissions? Most defined center as being mid/
bulls eye etc., not the U.S. spelling of mid/bulls eye etc.. Should I
mark them down for an inaccurate definition? (Well I didn't)
*Please*, future moderators, no more parochially spelt words to clue,
that goes for *both* English English and American English.
Climbs off soap box and gets out marking sheet.

I marked down the cluers who went out of their way
to stress the USAism of the word CENTER.  One
should take it for granted that the word would
only appear in a US puzzle, so we must all imper-
sonate Yanks for the duration of this contest.
Also marked down those who asserted that a CENT
is a coin; not in my dictionary, at least.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
***
*** Now the clues, winners, and comments
***
-------------------------------------------------------------------

1st place (score 70.22%) - clue 14
From Brian Spollen <bcs@sc.harris.com>

    Political moderates enthralled by indecent erotica (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 14 43 51 73 80 82 92 94 96 100 100 100 100 100

Under no reading of enthralled can it be a container 
indicator.  "Overcome" or "overwhelmed" might have
worked a little better.

Not again!  Will the scandals never cease?  Nice clue

Satisfactory and homorous hidden word clue.

My second-place choice coincidentally uses the same sense of the word
as my favorite, #7.

Still don't like the political definition of CENTER 

second place.  def. is perfect.  "enthralled", while tops for the surface,
is a notch lower as a hidden ind. (thought it'd make a great container
ind!)  just be thankful you got a score so high for a hidden word clue! ;->

I don't like "enthralled by" to indicate hidden.

Pretty good clue all-around, with the possible exception
that it's often the political *extremes* that are obsessed
with porn. :-)

Not entralled by the use of "enthralled by" as a container indicator.

An admirable Hidden clue.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd place (score 66.58%) - clue 7
From Kevin Wald <wald@math.uchicago.edu>

    The politically neutral coin depicting Lincoln and the Queen (6)

Votes (normalized): 30 40 43 47 57 57 59 60 69 73 80 83 100 100 100

A nice clue, but not the top prize. 

Good surface

A lovely transatlantic clue, though I'm not sure what a "politically
neutral coin" is.  I'm also not sure that "Center" means "politically
neutral", exactly, but it's close enough for government work, so to speak.

Nice clue with an interesting definition and flowing surface.

The winner for me; nice surface, unusual definition, and the US- and
UK-specific references balance out nicely.

Cute surface, but don't like definition. 

very good clue, but there is *something* about it that keeps it out of my
top three votes.  perhaps it is because the surface suggests that other
coins promote political agendas.  also, "moderate" is more accurate than
"neutral" for the def.

Har har!  This one gets bonus points for also refering to SpellingGate.
Alas, deduction for ER = Queen.  (I'm United Statesian.)

Good clue, cleverly using "neutral" in different senses in
the surface and definition.

The best surface of all the entries.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd place (score 62.94%) - clue 4
From DW Bullock <BULLOCK@whio.lincoln.ac.nz>

    Rockefeller, for example, makes money with little hesitation (6)

Votes (normalized): 26 36 40 40 50 58 62 64 65 66 74 81 88 93 100

The winner on my ballot.   

A beautiful surface, a nice straight definition, but the cryptic
suffers.

Okay clue.  "Makes" bothers me as a connector because it sounds like
the solver's goal is to come up with CENT ER rather than CENTER.

Great surface, but the Rockefeller Center reference has to be
called parochial.  This one still gets a high score from me.

Great surface, solid construction. Scored high with me. 

the overly-used (but acceptable) "for example" blemishes the great surface,
as it tends to do in most clues, but otherwise a solid clue.
"money" => CENT isn't top-notch, but I prefer this def. of "ER" to those
queen references.  (sorry brits)

I like the definition "Rockefeller, for example", but I don't like
charade clues that much.

Good, solid clue; fooled me --- I thought of a person before
the explanation indicated a place.

Rockerfeller, e.g. is a poor definition.

Don't like this parochialism.  And there must be other things
named after a Rockefeller.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

4th place (score 53.78%) - clue 2
From David Eggleston <egglesto@cs.albany.edu>

    Copperhead to penetrate heart (6)

Votes (normalized): 20 36 39 40 44 47 50 55 57 58 67 70 71 75 76

Very nice, though the "to" is a flaw in the cryptic.

Remarkably tough.  I'm not totally comfortable with "penetrate" -> "enter".

I don't think "Copperhead = C" is a fair device.  Maintaining snake 
imagery is not crucial to the clue.

That is one long-fanged snake!

Some may complain about "copperhead" = C, but I like it. Surface is 
pretty unbelievable. 

abstain.  thought i had a good one, but it has *just* enough flaws that the
better entries should easily beat it.  but who knows -- this time around,
i pandered to the "sss" crowd.

Interesting use of copperhead.  Is it legal?

You tread risky ground by not separating "head" from what
it's operating on; otherwise, a pretty good clue in all
aspects.

An awkward infinitive.  Suggests more premeditation
than a snake would employ.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

5th place (score 53.53%) - clue 17
From Tom Deneau <Tom.Deneau@amd.com>

    Keystrokes to run C program in core (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 20 30 31 38 40 55 58 71 74 75 81 83 100 100

Darn clever.  I like it.

I don't quite buy the cryptic part, though I think it's on a good line.
I like the straight definition and the surface very much, though.

Kind of esoteric, but a clever construction with an appropriate
definition.

The play on "core", and the tricky use of "enter" (even though parochial
-- it's "return" where I come from), are so nice that I give this third
place even though C+ENTER really runs the program C, not a C program.

That C.EXE had lots of bugs! 

Just because this group is available electronically, I don't
think we should assume that computerese makes any surface
sense

wait a second... (had to check the elm program for mail)... okay.  i
thought this was a very cute and original clue (thought "core" in the
surface maybe too much for non-programmers, and a stretch for the rest of
us).  unfortunately, I found "C program", while effective and deceptive
in the surface, to be awkward in "construction mode".  too tough to solve?

Excellent!  Wonderful surface that works on double levels!
("C", "core").  Very clever. My fave.

Interesting idea, but only for certain operating systems;
what's right on unix often fails on a VAX.  Plus, a rather
parochial clue, both in its cryptic construction and its
surface.

Now I run on Windoze, so it's 'click-click' . . . 'GPF' . . . "bugger!
now how do I run this from DOS? ah yes, C, [Enter], that's better"

Would be great but for the special knowledge needed
to solve it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

6th place (score 49.60%) - clue 18
From Lee McGinty <lee@ehiltd.dircon.co.uk>

    Mid-American coin with Queen on the back (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 19 31 34 40 42 50 50 55 57 57 67 74 80 89

Ya know, Middle American sounds better than mid-American,
and ya know, middle is a straight definition, which mid
isn't, really,  even in Middle America.

This solves the transatlantic spelling problem nicely, I think.

Adequate clue.  The hyphen is awkward, but doesn't seriously detract
or augment the construction.

Last of the CENT + ER clues, and the worst. Don't like
mid-American=center. 

no deductions for the "-American" bit.  otherwise, PIC.  one question --
is "mid" a noun, or is "center" an adjective? (not being a smart-a** --
i really don't know!)

Deduction for ER.  "Mid-American" is clever though.  

Just what is "mid-American" supposed to mean?  Central 
American?  Someone from Nebraska?  I don't like it.
And, although "mid-" is a prefix indicating "center", I 
wouldn't be inclined to use it as a *definition*.

I'd rather read MID by itself as the definition and
American coin   as the charade, contrary to the
cluer's explanation.  As for the surface, a quarter
minted in Kansas City is not for that reason
"mid-American", nor does that term fit Central
America.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

7th place (score 47.01%) - clue 3
From gail.koontz@quancon.com

    Bloodhound with no nose has heart(6)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 20 21 25 33 42 50 51 60 63 63 67 79 79 100

While the nose may be the leading body part in a hound, 
cryptically the nose does not clue the leading letter.

Why does "nose" mean leading S?

My dog has no nose.  How does he smell?   Terrible!

Cute surface.  SCENTER might be a bit obscure.  "With no nose" as a 
deletion indicator may be uncommon, but I'll buy it. 

I find bloodhound=scenter a stretch, but imaginative construction! 

"no nose" as an indicator is a stretch, and it seems to have been chosen
only to create the cute surface.  i allow for crypt-def links, but "has"
isn't one i consider acceptable.  i have small problems with "bloodhound"
=> SCENTER, esp. as a cryptic element (as opposed to the def.).  seems you
need more there.

Nice relation between nose and bloodhound.

A decent clue, except that "has" isn't right as a "connector"
("is" or "makes" would be, but they, of course, are unsuited
to the surface).

Bloodhound = scenter, I'm not convinced.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

8th place (score 43.98%) - clue 13

    Carefully at first, go into the middle (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 7 14 18 30 40 44 50 50 58 59 60 67 75 88

A better version of the same clue that others tried.

Okay clue--not very evocative.

Reasonable surface with some imagery, and solid construction. 

PIC.  Perfect construction, unspectacular surface.  sorry -- too many
brilliant clues to compete with.

Surface somewhat awkward.  ("into the middle").

A technically sound clue, but the surface leaves me wanting
to know "the middle of what?"

No real problems but the lack of inspiration.  Probably
too easy for many solvers.

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9th place (score 43.63%) - clue 10

    Lincoln and Kennedy precede this highest court member? (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 5 12 25 33 34 50 50 55 70 79 86 100 100

"Lincoln and Kennedy" would be CENTER*S*.

Lovely straight definition, but minor technical flaws.  Should
be "Lincoln *or* Kennedy" and the use of "precede" is inferior.
With all its flaws, still in the top three on the strength of
the straight definition.

Spectacular.  My kind of clue.

A pair of clever definitions for a word not well suited for a double
definition clue.

Basketball is an unfamiliar world to me, but it seems most unlikely that
a team would *necessarily* play its tallest player in a particular
position.  If I'm wrong, it's still the clue's fault for depending on
such an obscure fact.  The other definition by two geographical references
is also rather parochial.  Ironically, I first assumed that this one was
another reference to the Lincoln cent coin plus ER; this fact does not
affect the score given.

Loved "highest court member" = center, but hated other definition. 

Lincoln and Kennedy can, I'm sure precede all sorts of words
and phrases. Not a good enough definition, I'm afraid.

first place for this original, unconventional clue.  the surface seems
a bit arbitrary, but otherwise this is tops.

Nice double definition!  Beats the charades.

I liked the "court member" part, but the Centers require 
some sort of "example indicator" to be a proper definition.

I'm afraid the basketball reference was lost on me.

Suggests President Johnson (Andrew 1865/Lyndon 1963) to
me.  In addition, the present tense makes it sound as
though they're still alive.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

10th place (score 41.52%) - clue 8

    Last dart flew into scenery interior, but still made a bullseye (6) 

Votes (normalized): 0 17 17 18 20 22 29 32 36 40 60 60 63 64 88 100

A bold try, but too clunky to be a top scorer.

Too wordy

A lot of work to make a clean surface, but worth it.

Have phrases like "Last dart" (as opposed to "last of dart" or "dart's
last") been accepted as initial indicators?  I don't see it.

I don't consider "last dart" an adequate clue for the letter T.
It should be "last of dart", "dart's end", or something like that--
in this case "tail of dart" might have been good.  Also, what's a
"scenery interior"?

third place, mainly for effort.  minor quibbles: "Last of dart" is preferred
for the cryptic; the extraneous "flew" serves the surface, yet it is
certainly acceptable; "but still made a" is long-winded for a crypt-def
link.  But I *love* the cryptic, and gave you extra points to offset the
negatives you'll probably receive from the many judges who give bad marks
to involved constructions.

Excellent surface, excellent but complicated and wordy cryptic.
And I still don't like charades that much.

Good but slightly long-winded surface; also, "scenery
interior scans a little awkwardly for me.

So wordy, and "interior" does not fit the surface.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

11th place (score 40.52%) - clue 11

    Cockney reportedly ordered the lady to go to the middle (6)

Votes (normalized): 10 14 17 18 20 34 42 43 43 50 50 56 58 59 60 75

Cockney clues make me crazy.

Aside from the philosophical issues of why the Cockney did this, I like
slang clues to be written in the slang, instead of directly keyed,
like this one.  For example, "Reportedly order'd the laidee t' go..." 
or something like that.  My feeling is that if this doesn't work, 
then perhaps this is the wrong cluing choice.

Satisfactory clue for regions in which Cockney homophones are 
acceptible.  

The last "to" is a bit of a cheat.

'e sent 'er where? 

the last "to" is extraneous, if not the last "the".  a decent clue that
suffers from long-windedness.

Not sure about the Cockney accent. Somewhat wordy.

The "Cockney indicator" for this word/clue doesn't seem
nearly as suited as it would to other words, for some
reason; otherwise, an okay clue.

Being a Cockney I naturally read "sent her" as "sent 'er" and in my
submission clue "sent her" as a homophone, without the Cockney bit,
as it didn't occur to me that it *would* read as "sent *H*er"
Arrh werll, wot the ell, back to me cupa rosie tiwl the nex comp.

What middle is that?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

12th place (score 38.45%) - clue 15

    U.S. institute sent her, we understand. (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 7 10 13 13 17 18 36 40 40 50 58 67 67 80 100

We understand, all right,  all too easily.

Ah, the transatlantic (or at least, trans-Lake-Erie) rift.  For a U.S. 
cluer, this is an impossible clue, since the "U.S." part makes no sense.  
For a U.K. cluer (or a Canadian), the "U.S." part is vital.

While its not a strong definition in the first place, "institute" can 
point to CENTER in the U.S.  In the clue "U.S." would be unnecessary 
for American solvers. "Understand" is not an acoustic action in every 
case which makes it a faulty homophone indicator.

I actually failed to connect the "U.S." in the clue with the spelling,
but assumed that the use of "center" for "institute" was itself being
described as US-specific.  This does not affect the score given.

Weak homoophone indicator and definition; inelegant to show homophonic 
fodder directly 

PIC.  no deductions for the "U.S." bit.  perhaps too easy to solve,
as well.

I am not sure why I don't like this one much.  It works fine.

U.S. or not, "institute" seems a weak definition, and 
"understand" a weak indicator.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

13th place (score 38.35%) - clue 9

    Bulls-eye for coin with royal approval (6)                                 

Votes (normalized): 0 5 20 20 25 29 33 36 38 42 43 50 50 50 71 100

Needs to be resurfaced.

I'm not familiar enough with Britach abbreviations to know if "royal
approval" is indicated by ER.  I don't quite understand what a 
"Bulls-eye for coin..." is supposed to mean on the surface.

"ER" just means "Queen Elizabeth"; isn't it misleading to refer tO
royal *approval" to clue that?  Maybe not, as that's the signature
she probably uses when approving something.

Similar to #7, but not as good a surface. 

PIC.  the similar clues are better, but you salvage some points for brevity.

Again, deduction for ER = royal approval.

The "approval" part is beyond my ken; I'll grant you the 
benefit of my doubt.  But I cannot fathom what "bulls-eye"
serves in the surface of the clue.

E.R. != royal approval

Unvivid.  Is Her Majesty refereeing a penny-toss game?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

14th place (score 36.24%) - clue 16

    Recent uproar involving multi-sport athlete (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 4 15 20 21 21 25 33 33 37 50 50 64 80 90

this one is mine.  Abstain.

good surface, but "uproar" not really anagram indicator

Though "center" is a position in several sports, "multi-sport athlete"
isn't an accurate clue.  It's a good thought, though, and the surface
is nice.  Also, "involving" is an extraneous word.

I follow the verb/adjective school of anagram indicators, which makes
"uproar" weak IMHO.  The definition might justify a "?"

The definition is too vague, I think.

And so is a forward, a wing, and a back. 

cryptic and surface (Deion?) are great.  "involving" is way extraneous,
and the def. seems awkward -- why not just replace the last part with
"basketball player"?  a '?' at the end would've saved you a point or two.

"Multi-sport position" might be a better way to put it.

The definition too tricky by (at least) half, in my book;
"position" might have been a better choice than "athlete"
(for the definition, if not the cryptic).  Cryptically, so 
much of the word remains intact that it's barely an
anagram.  Nice surface, though.

I'm afraid the basketball reference was lost on me.

A center is an athlete in ANY of a number of sports,
but a multi-sport athlete participates in ALL of some
set of sports, so there is some dissonance here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

15th place (score 35.54%) - clue 5

    Reflection hiding secret necessary for heart (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 10 12 14 16 17 17 20 38 40 45 63 73 75 95

Cryptic indicator runs in the wrong direction.

clever hidden clue

One of those clues where the surface looks like it means something,
but it isn't clear what.

"Reflection hiding" is a signal but not an indicator.  It tells the solver
that a device exists in the clue but it doesn't point to it.  

I don't consider "reflection hiding" an adequate cryptic indicator
for this form of clue.

One of the better hidden word clues I've seen, lacking only a solid  
surface meaning. 

the "crypt-grammar" is a bit awkward -- hidden reversals are the hardest
clues to write, IMO.  a hidden ind. and a rev. ind. stuck together just
don't do the trick.  a surface you'd only find in cryptics (or bad love
poetry.)  still, a decent clue.

Surface reading is good, but I am not sure about "reflection hiding"
to indicate hidden reversal.

A generally solid clue, but the surface isn't particularly
compelling for me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

16th place (score 35.10%) - clue 1

    Middle perfumer, I hear (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 0 20 20 33 33 38 40 42 47 82 85 87

The surface is unintelligible.

"middle perfumer" makes the surface stink, so to speak.

A "?" may be appropriate.

Nice homophone, concise construction, but surface lacks any meaning. 

PIC.  a bit obvious, and the surface needs major work.

This is the first time I have submitted a clue.  Have mercy!
Since I am new to cryptic clues, I like the simple ones where
possible.

Acceptable cryptic and definition, but the surface isn't:
what's a "middle perfumer" supposed to connote?

Ok construction, but dull surface.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

17th place (score 30.31%) - clue 12

    The tallest guy to take in, mistakenly? (6)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 7 10 10 11 25 25 29 33 40 63 63 70 100

This is an indirect clue, too unfair.

definition part too vague, cryptic part interesting

Hmmm... The surface isn't really clean, and I'm not comfortable with
the cryptic "example" without a better indicator.  Otherwise, a very
interesting approach.

Clever definitions, although the basketball reference is a bit of a
stretch (no pun intended).  As a double definition, the clue suffers
from using two senses of CENTER originating in the same root.

Basketball is an unfamiliar world to me, but it seems most unlikely that
a team would *necessarily* play its tallest player in a particular
position.  If I'm wrong, it's still the clue's fault for depending on
such an obscure fact.  The definition is excellent but it is marred by
the foregoing problem and by the lack of a surface reading.

I got wrestler = con (Andre the Giant; "take in") 

I just _love_ take in mistakenly. Shame about the dull surface.

Earlier version, Moderates to win in midwinter (6) may have been 
marginally better, in hindsight.

another brilliantly original clue, but this has problems.  the def. is
inferior (esp. since sometimes the tallest player plays PF), and the
surface is weak.  however, i admire your attempt.

Clever, but deceitful.

To be effective, the "tallest guy" should have had a more
concrete basketball tie-in (after all, centers in, say,
football, aren't particularly tall).  The second definition
isn't bad, though, particularly as the question mark is used.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

18th place (score 26.63%) - clue 6

    The cleric enters inside the middle.

Votes (normalized): 0 0 7 10 14 18 19 25 30 32 33 37 40 42 43 75

Like number (5) the indicator points in the wrong direction

I didn't understand the surface reading

This is dangerously close to ending the hidden part on a word boundary.  
Further, the surface makes no sense.  I think it'd be better with "in"
instead of "inside".

Considering the freedom one usually has with hidden word clues, this 
comes across as arbitrary and uninspired.

Weak surface; weak cryptic indicator too.

Too obvious a hiding place. 

Enter inside?

PIC.  the extraneous "the", while cryptically acceptable, is inelegant.
surface needs some work.

Inside the middle ???

A decent hidden word, particularly in avoiding the initial
soft-c sound of "center", but "inside" would have better been
placed before "cleric enters", cryptically speaking.

Why the The?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

19th place (score 0.00%) - clue 19

    Innocent error grips the heart (6)

Votes (normalized): none

Lovely clue. Both bonus clues are as good as anything
in the competition. 

This surface gripes me, too.  Very solid clue.

excellent hidden clue, though the surface seems a bit arbitrary.
it would definitely have finished in my upper-third.

Excellent, simple, straightforward surface and cryptic.  My runner-up.

This was one of my favourite clues and would have rated second place.

Evocative and without a wasted word, this would
be in my top three but for it being a Bonus.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

19th place (score 0.00%) - clue 20

    He snaps from recent disaster (6)

Votes (normalized): none

Clever.  Uses devices similar to (16)  

Another nice job.  I would have given this about 80%.

A pretty good clue with a meaningful surface, a great anagram
indicator, 
and a better definition of a sports usage of CENTER than the others. 
Too bad it wasn't a regular clue. 

This clue is ambiguous, could be for CENTER or CENTRE.

beautiful!!  surface seems a tad awkward ("due to" should replace "from"?),
but the mischievous def. alone would have placed this in my top 5.
i hope that your official submission was at least this good!!!

Good cryptic, good surface.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Clay Colwell               "Geek love is strong.  Geek love rocks!"
(aka StealthSmurf)             -- seen in a Doonesbury strip
eris@bga.com