At long last, the judging process for CWC105 is complete. (I apologize for
having taken a week; it's Finals Week around here, and things got a bit
hectic.) A lot of great clues were submitted, and picking the winners
and Honorable Mentions was quite difficult. 


The winning clue for the second word, and the overall winning clue for
the contest, was

    Mysterious person heard hissing at informers (6)

submitted by Pete Mitchell, who has agreed to moderate CWC106.


The winning clue for the first word was

    Uncompromising, fashionable temporary has string underwear (12)
    
submitted by Robin Hosie.
    

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered.

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

And now, the complete clue list. (Winners are marked with *, Honorable 
Mentions with + .)

WORD 1
======

Cortes' historical party earning stint radically! (12)
Unlikely to yield information while moving around (12)
Unyielding speech to mesmerize a fellow (12)
* Uncompromising, fashionable temporary has string underwear (12)
+ Training nets moved for uncompromising politician (12)
Worried, I ring tenants who refuse to settle (12)
Trendy head girl put in temporary accommodation becomes stubborn (12)
Senior officer, in passing by, becomes uncompromising (12)
Stern: giant in broadcasting; stubborn man (12)
Sten training is rough and uncompromising (12)
Extremist hits target in 2 directions.
+ Uncompromising tenant rising in anger (12)
Obstinate man on the move? (12)
+ Uncompromising Saint renting accommodation.
Uncompromising note introduced in passing (12)
Bullheaded general is only briefly in -  he's either coming or going (12)

WORD 2
======

+ Desert squatter, hot at first, has to turn out cross (6)
Echo gazes stone-faced - leonine ... an enigma? (6)
Ancient riddler buries old letter with Charon's poop in banks of Styx (6)
+ Riddler nips back about an hour before ten (6)
Shake hips, point and finally climax for a secretive person (6)
Headless serpent has hawk's head in unknown Egyptian figure (6)
Ancient riddler cut Sappho's odds in ten (6)
Theban monster, evil and unknown, carries a measure of acidity (6)
She puzzled Oedipus, putting his head in whirl with the ultimate hex (6)
+ Old Riddler allowed turn (to get unknown answer) to take an hour (6)
Henry in turn kisses this noseless wonder
* Mysterious person heard hissing at informers (6)
A mythical beast, cross after a short trip, ate Henry (6)
Riddler begins slaying people here in Nubia after drink in Alexandria.
Monster spelling pointless bad luck around the start of Halloween (6)
Ancient riddler initially begins, "Seven pennies have I not, then 
   ten is added to the lot" (7)

BONUS CLUES:

e.g. "Nay bores!" she opts "his great peer!" - amid tumultuously monstrous
   body (6)
Riddler starts setting puzzles here in new Ximenes collection.

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

Solutions, explanations, and my comments follow, after about twenty
lines of blank space (all of my comments are preceded by | ):






















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

| WORD 1: INTRANSIGENT

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

Cortes' historical party earning stint radically! (12)

        Cortes' historical party = definition
        earning stint = fodder
        radically = anagram indicator
        
        Explanation: The Intransigent Party was a radical left-wing
        political faction which had representation in the 1873-74
        parliament (Cortes) of Spain. Their international reputation
        for stubbornness was such that it caused the name to enter 
        into the common lexicon. 

| Interesting bit of historical information. Anyway, this is a good,
| sound, anagram clue.

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

Unlikely to yield information while moving around (12)

      GEN = information (British informal but in Collins and AHD
                         as well as Chambers so perfectly fair!)
      IN TRANSIT = While moving
      AROUND = <container>
      UNLIKELY TO YIELD = Defn.

      Surface reading - natural

| One nice thing about these competitions is that I keep learning new
| new words -- in this case, "gen". Anyway, the surface is natural, as
| noted, and the construction is fine.

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

Unyielding speech to mesmerize a fellow (12)

  Unyielding   = defn.
  speech       = homonym indicator
  to mesmerize = entrance
  a fellow     = a gent  homonym(ENTRANCE A GENT) = INTRANSIGENT

| At first, I thought the homonym didn't quite work, since I pronounce
| the s in "intransigent" as a /z/; fortunately, I checked my dictionary,
| which also lists both /z/ and /s/ pronunciations as acceptable. Anyway,
| this one works just fine ("speech X" may seem to have slightly strained
| cryptic syntax, but it works if you consider "speech" in this context to
| be an attributive noun.)

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

Uncompromising, fashionable temporary has string underwear (12)

Uncompromising   = defn.
fashionable      = IN  (as in 'the in thing to wear') 
temporary        = TRANSIENT 
has              = container indicator  
string underwear = G (as in g-string) = IN+TRANSI(G)ENT

| Oddly, I hadn't encountered the noun "temporary" before except in the
| shortened form "temp", and had to go to my dictionary to confirm its
| existence.
|
| Anyway, this has an amusing surface, and is well-constructed. The 
| clue for "G" is somewhat whimsical, but I rather like it. The Winner. 

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

Training nets moved for uncompromising politician (12)

Type: Anagram
Training nets             = anagram fodder
moved                     = anagram indicator
for                       = definition indicator
uncompromising politician = definition
Surface: What a politician wants, a politician gets

| Amusing surface, sound construction. Honorable mention to Frank Heys. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Worried, I ring tenants who refuse to settle (12)

Anagram: indicated by 'worried', fodder is 'I ring tenants'
Definition: 'who refuse to settle' (adjectival phrase or is it clause)

| Hmm . . . can a dependent clause like "who refuse to settle" clue 
| an adjective like "intransigent"?  I'm not sure whether I buy it.  

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

Trendy head girl put in temporary accommodation becomes stubborn (12)

Trendy = in
head girl = g
temporary = transient
put in temporary accommodation = transi...g...ent
stubborn = intransigent

| "Head of girl" or "girl head" would be better cryptic syntax to indicate 
| the first letter of "girl".

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

Senior officer, in passing by, becomes uncompromising (12)

Senior officer => GEN[ERAL] - conventional abbreviation
in => container indicator
passing by => IN TRANSIT
uncompromising => definition [OED]

Thus: IN TRANSI [GEN] T

| Sound construction. The surface seems a bit strange; I'm not sure how
| merely passing by is supposed to have made someone uncompromising.

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

  Stern: giant in broadcasting; stubborn man (12)

     "stern giant in" anagrammed = "intransigent"
     "broadcasting" = anagram indicator
     "stubborn man" = def.

| The reference, for those of you unfamiliar with US radio celebrities,
| is apparently to Howard Stern, who has a very popular and somewhat 
| obnoxious radio program.
|

| A nice, topic surface. I'm not completely happy with the "X broadcasting"
| syntax for the anagram indication. "X broadcast" or "X being broadcast"
| or "broadcast X" or "broadcasting X" would work (taking "broadcast"
| in its original sense of "to scatter (seed)"); however, in the
| construction "X broadcasting", it is not X that is being broadcast
| (scattered), but rather it is X who is broadcasting something else. 

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

Sten training is rough and uncompromising (12)

Sten training=anagram fodder (a sten is a kind of gun, isn't it?)
is rough= anagram indicator
uncompromising=definition

| Good, sound, anagram clue. (And yes, a Sten is a kind of gun.)

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

Clue: Extremist hits target in 2 directions.
Solution: anagram of target in in (twice) ns (directions) meaning
extremist

| This is a mildly indirect anagram (one has to translate "directions"
| into ns and then use it as anagram fodder), and therefore forbidden.
| (Well, mildly forbidden.) I do like the idea of using 2 to indicate
| that the preceding bit must be done twice (a convention sometimes
| used in printed song lyrics).

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

Uncompromising tenant rising in anger (12)

    Uncompromising  =  definition (INTRANSIGENT)
    tenant rising   =  anagram fodder
    in anger        =  anagram indicator

| Another good, sound, anagram clue. Honorable mention to Pete Mitchell.

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

Obstinate man on the move? (12)
	Obstinate - definition of INTRANSIGENT
	man on the move? - "definition" of INTRANSI-GENT (gent in 
	transit, so there!)

| Interesting word play, though it strikes me as a *little* stretchy.
| (The only way I can imagine "Intransi-Gent" being coined is as a
| trendy company name, along the lines of Citibank or Ameritech.)

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

Uncompromising Saint renting accommodation.

    <def>      <anag fodder>  <'adjustment'>

| Another good, sound, anagram clue. Honorable Mention to Gareth Williams.

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

Uncompromising note introduced in passing (12)

Uncompromising = defn
note = G
introduced = container indic
in = IN
passing = TRANSIENT (INTRANSI[G]ENT)

| The syntax here seems a little off to me. "X introduced in(to) Y" is
| a reasonable way to clue that X is contained in Y, but "X introduced Y"
| (here, G introduced IN+TRANSIENT) doesn't seem to be. (It would be a
| reasonable way to clue that X comes *before* Y, though.) 

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

Bullheaded general is only briefly in -  he's either coming or going (12)

Bullheaded = defin.
general is only briefly = GEN (abbreviation for general)
in = placement indicator
he's either coming or going = IN TRANSIT

INTRANSI + GEN + T

| I think the "he's" here is extraneous to the cryptic reading. It makes
| for a good surface, however.

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

| WORD 2: SPHINX

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

Desert squatter, hot at first, has to turn out cross (6)

      H = Hot at first
      HAS <to turn> OUT = container
      SPIN = to turn
      X = cross
      Desert squatter = implied defn.

      Surface reading : Desert -> hot -> irritable (CROSS)

| Good surface, good construction. Honorable Mention to Bob Gregory.

_________________________________________________________________________

Echo gazes stone-faced - leonine ... an enigma? (6)

	Echo = homophone indicator
	gazes = homophone fodder = Giza's
	stone-faced - leonine = definition
	an enigma = further definition
	? = indicator something's amiss; in this case the definition
	        components are unusual

	Explanation: Echo, after being deprived of the ability to
	initiate conversation, and only able to mimic the last word 
	spoken to her became literally petrified with grief. The
	colossal staue of Giza - The Sphinx - has a woman's stone face

| (Does it? I thought the Giza sphinx was a he-sphinx -- unlike the
| Theban sphinx, which is definitely a she.)

	and the body of a lion couchant. It is a mystery - or enigma -
	how this structure (as with the adjacent Great Pyramid) was 
	constructed. The sphinx of Thebes in Greek mythology is notable
	for her posing riddles (or enigmas). Figuratively speaking, a
	person with an expressionless face (like the Sphinx of Giza) is
	referred to as a sphinx.

	The source of these explanations are: Thomas Bulfinch's *The Age
	of Fable* (vol. 1 of *Bulfinch's Mythology*) and Chambers
	Dictionary; The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary; and Webster's
	New Collegiate Dictionary.

	* note - There are myriad descriptions of most of the mythological
	characters - often contradictory.

| An evocative surface, though I'm not sure why Echo would be leonine.
| With regard to the construction, there's the slight techincal problem
| that "gazes" isn't really homophonous with "Giza's" (at least, not when I
| say them). 

________________________________________________________________________

Ancient riddler buries old letter with Charon's poop in banks of Styx (6)

  Ancient riddler = defn.
  buries          = container indicator
  old letter      = PHI (from ancient greek)
  with            = +
  Charon's poop   = N ("poop" meaning "last" as in "poop deck")
  in              = location indicator
  banks of Styx   = SX  -> S(PHI + N)X

| I hope "poop" in the surface reading is being used in the sense of
| "information"; otherwise, Cerberus would have been a more appropriate
| choice of mythological figure. :-) .
|
| Anyway, reasonable surface, and sound construction.

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

Riddler nips back about an hour before ten (6)

Riddler = definition
nips back about an hour = SP...H...IN
before ten = finishes with X

| Good construction and surface. Honorable mention to Tim J. Downie.

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

Shake hips, point and finally climax for a secretive person (6)

Shake     = anagram indicator
hips      = fodder (SPHI)
point     = N
finally   = last letter indicator
climaX    = fodder (X)
secretive person = defn.
          = SPHI+N+X

| Good construction. I'm not sure I'm quite understanding the surface,
| though. (One is doing all that *for* a secretive person? Wouldn't
| most people, no matter how secretive, prefer to do their *own* 
| climaxing? :-) )

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

Headless serpent has hawk's head in unknown Egyptian figure (6)

Type: Charade
Headless serpent = ASP - A = SP
has              = placement indicator
hawk's head      = H
in               = IN
unknown          = X
Egyptian figure  = definition (SPHINX)
Surface: Description of a newly discovered figurine

| Presumably the serpent is merely holding the hawk's head; if it is
| wearing it, it isn't a headless serpent. Anyway, a good surface, with
| an okay construction. (To me, "has" is more obviously an inclusion
| indicator than an "appending indicator", but I think it can work as
| the latter.)

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

Ancient riddler cut Sappho's odds in ten (6)

Rather a mixed clue. 
Definition: 'Ancient riddler'
'cut Sappho's odds' => SaPpHo -> SPH
in ten => IN X (Yes I know the surface is Greek!)

| If you cut Sappho's odds, doesn't that leave you with APO (Sappho's
| evens?). Also, I'm not sure whether "cut in ten" quite works in the 
| surface; can it really mean "reduce by a factor of ten" in the same
| way "cut in half" can mean "reduce by a factor of two"?

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

Theban monster, evil and unknown, carries a measure of acidity (6)

Theban monster => definition [OED]
evil => SIN
unknown => X
carries => container indicator 
measure of acidity => PH

Thus: S [PH] IN X

| Not only evil and unknown, but also sharp-tongued! 
|
| Anyway, a sound construction, with a reasonable surface.

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

She puzzled Oedipus, putting his head in whirl with the ultimate hex (6)

     "She puzzled Oedipus" = def.
     "putting ... in" = inclusion indicator
     "his head" = "h"
     "whirl" = "spin" (noun form)
     "the ultimate hex" = "x"

| I'm not entirely happy with "The ultimate hex" as a clue for X; 
| "The ultimate in hex" or "hex ultimate" would have better cryptic
| syntax.

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

Old Riddler allowed turn (to get unknown answer) to take an hour (6)

Old Riddler=definition of SPHINX
turn=SPIN
to get=connector
unknown answer=X => SPINX
to take=container indicator
an hour=H  =>  SP(H)INX

| Good surface, sound construction. Honorable Mention to Ed Coulson.

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

Clue: Henry in turn kisses this noseless wonder

Solution: h in spin (turn) kisses (x) gives the sphinx - the one at
Xeops (spelling) has no nose after Napoleons troups used it for target
practice (one of the wonders of the world).

| I like this one's surface (I imagine a crossover in the comic strips,
| with Henry kissing Cathy), and the construction is sound, except
| that X, to my mind, is only one kiss, not kisses. (Note that by 
| putting "Henry" at the start, the cluer has avoided the difficulty
| that the henry, like all metric units, is uncapitalized when written
| out in full.)
|
| By the way -- a couple of pedantic points that have nothing to do with
| the quality of the clue:
| 
| 1) The Sphinx is certainly a wonder, but it's not one of the Seven 
| Wonders (its neighbor, the Great Pyramid of Cheops, is).
|
| 2) In the 15th century, the historian al-Maqrizi (I'm told) was already 
| explaining why the Sphinx has no nose; the Napoleon story is therefore
| apparently just a story.

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

Mysterious person heard hissing at informers (6)

    Mysterious person = definition (SPHINX)
    heard             = homophone indicator
    hissing at        = "Ssss!"
    informers         = "Finks!"

| A very nice variant of the homophone clue type. The Winner. 

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

A mythical beast, cross after a short trip, ate Henry (6)

	A mythical beast, - definition of SPHINX
	cross - X
	after - after
	a short trip - SPIN
	ate - container indicator
	Henry - H
		so:  SP(H)IN-X
Moral:  never underestimate either the temper or the appetite of mythical 
beasts.

| Amusing surface. This "Henry" clue doesn't overcome the capitalization
| difficulty as well as the previous "Henry" clue; however, I tend to
| regard capitalization problems more as inelegancies than as technical
| flaws.

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

Riddler begins slaying people here in Nubia after drink in Alexandria.

<def>  <initials>  S     P     H   I   N   ;   X (after 'ale' in
[Ale]X[andria] )
Nubia =3D Africa makes this tantalisingly close to an &lit!

| Well, except that the deadly riddle-teller was the Theban sphinx,
| not the stone Gizan sphinx.
|
| I like the novel (to me) way of cluing X. The partial-acrostic 
| construction strikes me as less elegant than a complete-acrostic
| construction would be. (Of course, it's hard to find a useful
| word starting with X, unless you bring in Xena: Warrior Princess. :-) ) 

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

Monster spelling pointless bad luck around the start of Halloween (6)

Monster = defn
spelling = SP
pointless = beheader indic
bad luck = jinx = (J)INX
around = container indic
start of Halloween = H (SP[H]INX)

| "Pointless" seems to me to be a little iffy as a beheadment indicator
| (as opposed to a "remove N, S, W, or E" indicator). The surface is 
| okay, though I'm not sure what is meant by "pointless bad luck"
| (as opposed to the kind of bad luck that serves a useful purpose?).

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

Ancient riddler initially begins, "Seven pennies have I not, then 
ten is added to the lot" (7)

| That should be (6), of course.

Ancient riddler = defin.
initially = acrostic indicator
begins = placement indicator
Seven pennies have I not = (S)even (P)ennies (H)ave (I) (N)ot
then ten is added to the lot = add "X" (Roman numeral)

Yeah,  it's _way_ too long.  Whatcha expect with a blankety-blank 
word like "SPHINX"?  :-)
At least it sorta sounds like the start of an ancient riddle.

| Seven pennies have I not,
| Then ten is added to the lot.
| Four-and-twenty pence arrive,
| Then five, and five, and fifty-five;
| Thirteen more bring up the rear.
| How many pennies have I here?
|
| (Okay, it's no "four legs in the morning, etc.", but it does have a
| real, intended solution.)
|
| I really like the surface, despite its length; it seems marvelously
| appropriate, in a cryptic-clueing contest about a mythic riddle-spinner,
| to have a fragment of an ostensible conundrum put in an appearence. 
| (There's still the slight inelegancy of a partial-acrostic construction,
| however.)

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

BONUS CLUE:

e.g. "Nay bores!" she opts "his great peer!" - amid tumultuously monstrous
body (6)

        e.g. = indication that following is definition by example
	"Nay bores!" she opts "his great peer" - amid = fodder
		= Neighbours Cheops' Great Pyramid
	tumultuously = homophone indicator
	monstrous body = definition

	Explanation: The Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Cheops are 
	situated near one another at Giza Egypt.

	Surface: Lady Thatcher in a noisy House of Lords perhaps. :)

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

BONUS CLUE:

Riddler starts setting puzzles here in new Ximenes collection.

 <def>  <inits>    S    P       H   I   N    X      <assembly>
I am not sure whether Ximenes is famous in the US but ought to be to
followers of this newsgroup!

| Well, I've certainly heard the name before.    

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

Kevin Wald
wald@math.uchicago.edu