Subject:      PCWC #50 Final Results
From:         dmonson@Direct.CA (Don Monson)
Date:         1995/12/03
Message-Id:   <49t2re$83g@grid.direct.ca>
Newsgroups:   rec.puzzles.crosswords

The results are in for the Peoples Clue Writing Competition #50.
I Want To Tell You, The Word seemed to cause you folks a lot of
Misery in The End.  This contest was not without its glitches. 
I Should Have Known Better than to ask Evan Whitney to help 
(just kidding Evan!  I know you were Here, There and Everywhere last
weekend.)  Thanks to Brian Spollen for stepping in, but Brian, when 
I send the votes From Me to You for counting, you must remember to count 
Every Little Thing! <G>   Most of you are saying to yourselves
right about now 'Im A Loser', but not Greg Lawler.   His clue

An old record in your collection (9) 

was declared the winner with an overall score of 74.41%

Congratulations to Greg, and also to first runner-up Sailor John Hakemian 
for his clue

An educational leader resigns from religious study series (9) scoring 72.45%

Greg said You Wont See Me moderating the next contest, so John will step 
into his Old Brown Shoe(s).

Now, here are your general comments, followed by the complete set of results

I gave low marks overall because most clues were flat or
predictable. <collection> or variation thereof appeared in 11
entries (44%) Others were so complicated that I doubt if even their
creators would be able to solve them. Remember, the clue should be
challenging but the solver must be given a fighting chance. I like
clues that stump the puzzler but elicit an <I should've gotten
that!> response when given the solution. 

I think the word chosen was very hard, evident by the 
numbers of convoluted, hard to solve clues.

I'm sorry I don't have time for comments. But I felt it's
worthwhile voting anyway. Come on people, vote!

A veritable anthology of clues!

I'm disappointed in this collection of clues -- in that several
of them are much better than mine!  I mean, here I was hoping that
because this was such a hard word to clue, my merely half-decent
entry would have a chance at winning.  Not any more, sigh...

This must have been a difficult clue for most of the setters. I find
after tabulating my assesments that the average score at this table is 
a dismal 51%. Very few of the clues stood out favourably to my eye.

This contest produced the largest number of convoluted, tortured
charade/container/reveral/substitution/etc. constructions I have ever
seen.  IMHO, there were only 4 or 5 surfaces that even began to be
able to be read sensibly. "Hot log"s & "hot gal"s, etc. are VERY
obvious anagram fodder unless contained in an appropriate context.

Hmmm... a lot of substitution clues this time.  Maybe
the success of the substitution clue for PCWC49,
"EXPIRE" - X + M , is fresh on everyone's mind!

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1st place (score 74.41%) - clue 14
>From jose@math.duke.edu (Greg Lawler)

    An old record in your collection (9)

Votes (normalized): 25 38 38 60 70 78 78 80 82 94 100 100 100 100

Put that old record in the round file

Very good. A word of caution with your explanation. It was so
concise that at first I misread it as an entire charade clue
as if you had clued the word ANOLOGTHY. Lucky for you I caught it.

Arbitrary abbreviation of old to O

Brevity, someone remembers brevity!  Very smooth construction.
I place this in the 4th/6th group (see under #10).

This clue is very good in all respects.

Old = O?  Maybe "old top".  Otherwise, the surface is silky smooth.

Similar to bonus clue, but did not like "O" as abbreviation for "old"

A sound clue with no wasted words.  Nice job.

Too complex.

A professional job.

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2nd place (score 72.45%) - clue 9
>From John Hakemian <SAILORJOHN@delphi.com>

    An educational leader resigns from religious study series (9)

Votes (normalized): 10 50 60 62 63 65 71 83 86 88 88 91 100 100

My only quibble here is the use of series as a definition of
anthology.  Series indicates a collection coming out at different
times while an anthology comes out at once.

Good surface and well consructed cryptic but lost marks for def.
<series>.

We have a winner. At least it is the best of the first 9 clues so far.

This would be a very good clue if only "series" was a definition of
ANTHOLOGY.  But in *this* world, it flunks.

I can't find anything to criticize with this well constructed entry.

Well, in the US, William Bennett is looking for a job...

Feasible surface and construction.

Anthology is more than just a series.

Can't accept "series"

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3rd place (score 68.59%) - clue 20
>From jbergman@oxygen.bbn.com (Jacob Bergmann)

    'One Last Love': record club selection (9)

Votes (normalized): 10 50 52 53 55 63 71 78 86 87 88 100 100

Solid although it is always kind of a cheat to take some words and
make it a title.  I personally don't know a song "One Last Love".
If this is a well known song or album, I apologize, for in this case
I might make this my top choice.

I like <love = O> but def. doesn't make the charts

I like it! Short, sweet, and solvable. Neat charade. Gets an 11.

Straightforward

Yet another good brief clue.  Downgraded somewhat for NTH as "last in
a series" (the non-mathematicians may pervert it to mean "ultimate",
but not "last in a series") and for the obscure "club" = Y.

This is a good charade clue with a great surface value given the 
Beatles reference we were provided with.

Too tough, but solid otherwise.

This one gets points for a fairly straight charade & a surface that
could actually MEAN something!

It's an economical clue, but the five part charade is a little
tedious.

Good clue.

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4th place (score 63.88%) - clue 12
>From DW Bullock <BULLOCK@whio.lincoln.ac.nz>

    Article on theology missing a note in collected works (9)

Votes (normalized): 20 38 43 48 50 56 62 64 69 75 86 89 96 100

Def. <collected works> is a sore thumb.

Better than most. Giving "theology" as a freebie perhaps makes
this clue simpler than most, as well.

Good clue.  My only qualm is the note
could be A,E or G.

Didn't quite make up for the poor definition
Joint No.1: Good surface, well constructed cryptics

Good clue.

There are several extraneous words here, and the missing note could
be G. The surface and solvability make up for these quibbles
howerver.

Nice solid clue.

Similar to #9, but surface not as good & "E" as "note" is obscure

I never like "note" indicating A,B,C,D,E,F, or G arbitrarily.  Anyway,
Clue #9 accomplishes this construction in a slicker manner.

Should be "missing note" without the "a"

The anthologist transcribed the article, but dropped a
footnote?  A bit ragged.

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5th place (score 59.91%) - clue 8
>From Mark Brader <msb@sq.com>

    Hill dweller first to go back in holy book (9)

Votes (normalized): 25 42 50 50 54 55 56 57 63 65 67 80 83 93

Passable but <hill dweller> is shopworn.

Some clever bits: I like "Hill dweller" for ANT. But the 
surface is still rather choppy.

Good, despite the poor definition: book vs anthology

My clue.  Better than quite a few here, I think, but clearly not best.

While the surface of this clue is good, the words 'first to' are
completely extraneous (despite the shell-game-like attempt to explain 
the necessity of repositioning something which is already there). 
Otherwise this is a good clue with three different elements.

Surface really doesn't make much sense, but a well constructed clue.
A sounder definition would help, too.

Another overly difficult charade/reversal/container with a
meaningless surface

Fair surface, but a sharp construction.  I don't think the "first"
is necessary.

Definition of anthology should be more descriptive than just "book"

"go back in" bothers me in the surface.  Is the hill dweller
part of the holy book's story?  Or is she only leafing
through the pages in reverse?

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6th place (score 57.96%) - clue 22
>From Clay Colwell <eris@bga.com>

    The hatless can't go back in the temple for the collection (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 25 31 38 44 56 60 64 65 73 85 86 86 100

I like the reading but I can't quite justify "the temple = holy"

Holy is wholly not a noun

You made me walk 1/4 mile to the big fat unabridged dictionary
in the library to confirm "holy" is also a noun. Do you think I
like doing that? Huh!? NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!

Not as good as the other 2 ANT+H(OG)OLY clues

Interesting: someone takes the same construction as my #8, makes it
more complicated by adding the step CANT -> ANT, and improves it.
Good score for this one, downgraded slightly for the not-quite-exact
definition "temple" -> HOLY.

This clue has a good surface. I disagree with your assertion that
'the temple' = holy. As an archaism this may have been acceptable,
but without a qualifier I don't think anyone would deduce this.

"the temple" -> "holy"?  Not in my dictionary. "for" is not a 
constructor indicator, but rather a separator.

I like this, but since when do you take collection in shul?

Yet another like #8&#16--amazing construction! This one has better
surface, however.

I really like this version of the ANT + HOL (OG) Y clues.  I'm not sure
how common the noun form of "holy" is (it sent me running to my Funk
and Wagnall) but otherwise the surface is very sleek.

Clue is too complex.

"Temple" may be a little tough to solve for "holy", but this is a great
image, and shows the reason for attaching the yarmulke with a pin.

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7th place (score 54.97%) - clue 16
>From yfyap@pop.jaring.my (Yap Yok Foo)

    Worker to go back in sacred collection of artistic works (9)

Votes (normalized): 19 20 25 25 38 48 57 57 64 73 78 81 85 100

How to you go back in artistic works?

Passable but pedestrian. The def. is overkill 

Adequate, but not very interesting.

Good work.

Could have scanned better with 'into'

The same cryptic idea as my own clue #8, but mine has a surface
reading and I don't see one here.

This is one of the better charade/container clues.

Go about the best of the holy ants. :-)

Similar charade/container/reversal to #8, but no better.

Not quite as clean as Clue #8, but an adeqauate clue.

It's hard to tell what is being "joined" and what is being "contained"
I don't think using definitions of parts of word is quite cricket

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8th place (score 53.80%) - clue 10
>From neel@wipinfo.soft.net (B. Neelakantan)

    Any hot log can damage a choice collection of writings (9).

Votes (normalized): 36 38 40 40 43 43 44 50 62 63 63 72 74 87

Awkward surface reading tells solver immediately that this is
an anagram.

Holy tango, Batman! That's the second <hot log> in this contest.

"can" filler seriously damages cryptic part of clue.

Good steady clue 

So there *is* a way to use a simple anagram for the whole word!
And it's not only a good cryptic, but a fire safety tip as well.
This is one of three clues that were almost good enough to win,
except that I liked three others even better.  I'm giving #4 the
clear win, #19 and #23 get a second-place tie well behind, and
this clue, together with #13 and #14, each score just behind the
latter two.
4th/6th group (see under #10).

This clue has a good surface value. The anagram fodder is identical
to # 2. While the definition is rather long, it is precisely accurate.
If there weren't so many similar clues to this one, I would have
given it a higher ranking.

Any hot log can scream "ANAGRAM".  And "can" is superfluous.

good anagram; "a choice" unnecessary; surface screams "anagram"

I assume "log" means "journal" in this case, but the anagram fodder
still reads queerily.  "Can" is superfluous, and interrupts the
subsidiary.

Anagram indicator cannot be separated from fodder by some
irrelevant word ("can")

"can" is in the way, and I have a problem with the placement
of "damage"; it only seems to work as an imperative verb
which makes it seem weird when the fodder comes before
the verb.  "Any hot log damaged ..." might be better.

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9th place (score 53.73%) - clue 19
>From "Lee McGinty" <lee@ehiltd.dircon.co.uk>

    Terrible agony about Middle-Eastern holiday selection (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 38 40 48 55 63 67 73 77 86 100

<terrible> is the <mot juste>

You'll have to earn your points in England, I'm afraid, because
"hol" does not show up in my (albeit abridged) colonial dictionary.
Plus I'm not sure what the surface implies, unless it is referring
to Saddam Hussein being born on Hanukkah or something.

Joint No.1: Well crafted, and I won't go to Egypt or Tunisia on
my hols either 

This terribly artistic clue gets a second-place tie, though well
behind the leader #4.  See remarks under #10.

I think I can accept 'hol' as an abbreviation of holiday. Even though
references don't show it, I'm sure I've seen it on some calendars.

Maybe if it were a "short holiday"?   Curse the Germans who make us put
our adjectives in the wrong order ("short Middle-Eastern holiday" instead 
of "Middle-Eastern short holiday").

Average clue, a little muddy in the construction.

You may go on "hols" in England, where I come from we simply
go on holidays or on vacation.

Decent construction.  I take it you're in the travel agent's offices,
in an agony of indecision.

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10th place (score 53.31%) - clue 4

    Behold -- invading Goth barbarously skewers any collection
    of literature (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 18 25 36 43 44 57 62 75 75 78 80 100

A little too wordy and the surface is a little awkward.

Full marks for imagination but def. <collection of literature> is
too obvious. (fyi: Goths tended to cleave more than skewer.)

A bit too cryptic for my tastes: a container inside an anagram
inside another container.

Again a double cryptic, otherwise good.

Delightful!  A clear winner in my (Shh! Is that Goth still around?) book.
Vigorous surface image, smooth reading, unexceptionable if a bit complicated
construction.

The Neo-Goths seem to be on the march again. Attempting to suppress
knowledge which in their ignorance they feel threatened by, these 
barbarians now merely lobby politicians to intervene on their behalf.
If it weren't for the fact that the container indicator 'THOLOG skewers
ANY' suggests that ANY should be in the middle of the answer, I would
have given this clue high marks based on the surface reading.

A nicely constructed clue, though I don't care for the anagram-charade
style.  The surface is a bit bumpy, with the cryptic/straight border
pretty well marked.

The surface is weak, and I'm not fond of "double-nested" containers.

Good clue.

"Skewers?"  Running through all those leather covers,
you'll soon have a dull blade...

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11th place (score 52.40%) - clue 6

    Correspondence, however brief, rather than a bunch of poems (9)

Votes (normalized): 10 13 31 32 44 45 48 50 61 62 67 71 100 100

A nice clue although I can't quite picture correspondence as an
opposite to poetry

There's some weak links in the encryption. At least you didn't use
<collection> but <bunch of poems> is not much better.

It took several readings before making any sense of the surface.
Not the best clue and not the worst.

I don't quite correspond analogy with...

Pretty good for a substitution clue.

The surface of this clue is structurally deficient. This clue has
some good elements to it, but it would be very hard to solve.

Very lovely clue, though perhaps unsolvable.

This one might have worked if he had just said "though brief" rather
than trying to get there indirectly with "however".

I don't like the fragmented surface.  The substitution is not air-tight,
as there are two a's in "analogy" (though I doubt too many solvers will
spend much time musing over "thonalogy.")

"analogy" is more a comparison than a correspondence

Too many steps, "however" -> "though" -> "tho" and all you
have is a substitution bit

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12th place (score 48.21%) - clue 17

    A collection of legends, one not for me  (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 11 25 26 38 45 48 57 69 86 88 89 93

Interesting idea in cryptic

This is <one not for me>.

Substitution indicator and fodder is weak, and surface leaves me
uninspired. 

I don't think MY and FOR ME are quite the same

Hon Mention: Best replacement clue

Not bad for a substitution clue.

'One not for me' is too tough using the very colloquial 'me' = MY.

Nice works, though "legends" -> "mythology" isn't quite right.

Indirect substitution produces unsolvable clue. Surface?

Not too bad a clue

"my" should be "of me"; "for me" is straining things.  Good idea, though.

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13th place (score 47.97%) - clue 5

    Though brief, register any withholding as "collection" (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 25 25 29 38 38 50 57 62 64 71 78 87

I don't quite understand the surface.  Also withholding
is a little weak in the cryptic part.

Explanation was better than the clue. Keep trying!

One of the better clues. I have some trouble deriving the
cryptic construction from your syntax, but the surface makes
up for it. Almost as good as my clue. :-)

Nice good clean clue

I like this one's spirit, but I have to downgrade it for the tricky
container indicator.  ANY is appearing with a holding of THO LOG,
but this is stated out of order in the clue, "holding" and THO LOG
being separated by "ANY with".

The surface of this clue is quite awkward, and I don't understand why
the definition has been enclosed in quotes. Also the word 'as' is
unneccesary.

Gads - did I write that?  Good thing I don't have to judge myself.

I just don't see "withholding" as a container indicator any more than
I get MORE take home pay after my tax withholding.

An okay clue.  The construction grammar is awkward, and it seems difficult
to determine how the container is put together.

Clue is too complex, too difficult to solve

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14th place (score 47.38%) - clue 11

    Powerless defense acquires extreme collection of recordings. (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 10 24 25 44 46 50 55 57 57 67 67 71 91

What is an "extreme collection of recordings"?

<defense = apology>??? Nuff said.

Didn't get it at first, then it hit me like a sledge hammer. Bravo.

Iffy defining apology as defense (sic)

While I despise as unmathematical the usage of NTH = extreme, I must
allow that it's accepted usage.  Fortunately, I can downgrade this
clue anyway, because "extreme" makes no sense in the surface reading,
and an APOLOGY (which admits fault) is quite different from a defense
(which denies it).

Deducing that 'powerless' is an instruction to remove the letter P
is far too difficult for me. I don't accept that defense and apology
are synonyms - rather, the apology comes when the defence fails.

"defense" is a poor choice of definition for "apology", and I think
you need something more than "extreme" for "nth" (maybe "extreme degree").

Same as #7...how can two minds produce this kind of plus/minus stuff?

I don't know if the construction is fair to solvers, but at least
the surface is...rather, was topical.

Fairly complex clue, too complex for me.

Unclear surface.  An apology might be one example of a
defense, but I think this is unsolvable.

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15th place (score 46.08%) - clue 21

    Collection of the study of people, except for Spanish (left out) (9)

Votes (normalized): 19 20 25 29 29 35 38 47 56 57 69 71 73 78

No way, Jose!

Not bad. I don't think the parentheses around "left out" are
necessary. Better than most, otherwise.

Except is left out

One for the collection of the study of por (sic) clues? 

Not bad, but the surface reading is shaky, and did we have to bring
Spanish into it?

Of and except (or 'left out') are extraneous. I would have preferred: 
Collection study of people except for backwards Spanish (9).

I don't like the multiple use of the same ending "OLOGY", but I
do like this construction otherwise.

Liked this anthropology-minus better than #13, but not by much.

It seems that "except" and "out" both indicate a removal, but only
one is necessary.

Clue is too complex.

Some plural/singular problem in the surface, with "collection" opposed to
"study".  "the" before "Spanish" also feels lacking in the surface.

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16th place (score 40.11%) - clue 7

    In regret, the degree ultimately mattered more than PhD's 
    first collected works (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 13 19 38 38 38 43 53 57 60 78 86

I like the surface reading a lot but the "mattered more than" does
work for me in the cryptic part

After all the fancy encryption def. is a dead give-away.

I didn'treally like NTH clued as last or ultimate

Way too complicated; too many things to solve.  And "in regret" does
not provide a smooth surface reading either.

I like the surface of this entry. I prefer the synonym for apology 
to be regrets rather than 'regret'. The nth degree is good, and
mattered more than while wordy conveys what is to be done. This
assesment is from the comfortable position of hindsight however. If 
the solver takes 'In regret' to be the definition; 'the degree' to be
O (as in the symbol for temperature); 'ultimately mattered' to be D;
more than to be N (as in the contraction for and); 'PhD's first
collected' to be THESIS ; and 'works' the anagram indicator, then 
DISHONEST emerges as the obviously correct answer.

Pretty good, though I don't like "Ph.D.'s first" [note the punctuation].

Too wordy, too convoluted, too obscure indicator(s), too regret-ful

The construction is feeble, but I appreciate the sentiment!  It
hits close to home.

Clue is too complex

One says, "with regret", not "in regret", I think.  "Degree
ultimately" is ungrammatical for "nth", which is an adjective.

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17th place (score 37.00%) - clue 13

    Compendium of amateur anthropology? (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 25 29 31 38 38 43 50 50 67 69 78

Sorry, but this violates the "rules" as I see them. To remove
pro, pro must appear in the word--not an anagram of pro.

<amateur = remove pro from anthropology>? Not enough mine shaft to
reach the ore.

I don't see the word "pro" in "anthropology." Perhaps if it had been
clued as "Compendium of wacky amateur anthropology," then I still
would have given you a 0.

Would have been good if amateur were non-rop!

"Amateur" for "delete PRO" is wonderful.  I place this in the

The word 'of' is extraneous, and it is utterly impossible to make
the connection between 'amateur' and the letters ROP in the clue.

Oooh - indirect anagram-charade-removal.  Given the lovely brevity of
the clue, I'll almost forgive this sin.  Almost.

Reading "amateur" to mean "remove PRO" is a bit of a stretch...

Clever, to a degree.

You can't remove "pro", there isn't any. There's a "rop"...

Don't like subtraction that has as much ambiguity as this
(also decodes as ANTHOOLGY, etc.)

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18th place (score 36.41%) - clue 2

    Stoke hot log in any warm reminiscent assembly. (9) 

Votes (normalized): 5 10 19 20 27 30 35 38 38 43 44 44 57 100

Solid cryptic part but "warm reminiscent assembly" is a bit
stretched both as definition and in straight reading

Acceptable cryptic but def. <warm reminiscent assembly> is at least
two words too many.

Luke warm. No surface sense.

The definition isn't too warm

I didn't get the definition

Good grief.  I didn't bother trying to solve this one, but I did note
the phrase "warm reminiscent assembly" was so ugly that it was obvious
that "assembly" was the definition and "warm reminiscent" one of those
strained phrases that find their way into cryptic parts when people
are struggling so hard they can't make a surface reading.  Now I find
that the whole three-word "phrase" is the definition.  Forget the rest;
that's enough to flunk this one.

This is very similar to clue # 10: both use the anagram of 'any hot
log' in a container format. The words 'warm' and 'reminiscent' are
extraneous here and the word reminiscent even detracts from the surface.

I don't care for indirect charades, and this surface needs work.  The
definition doesn't work for me, either, I'm afraid.

"Stoke", i.e. "stir up" is a unique & imaginative anagram indicator,
but I am confused by the definition and nonsensical surface.

Has _Penthouse_ started running a monthly cryptic?

Nothing wrong with this clue

I don't get the definition part at all; if there's 
significance to "warm reminiscent", the explanation should
have mentioned it.

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19th place (score 32.54%) - clue 23

    Try this for a poetic get-together: Gannet whoop, lion gay
    Et voila! Leap frog we play! (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 0 7 19 19 23 29 56 57 72 75 100

Points for originality, but unfortunately this doesn't quite work

I like zee clue beauccoup!

Roses are red, violets are blue. Et voila! No points for you.

A few things wrong with this clue:
- Extraneous words (Try this for a, Et Voila).
- Definition in the middle.

I hate this type of clue. I don't normally come across them
in UK crossies.

Brilliant construction!  This gets a second-place tie placing,
though well behind the leader #4.  See remarks under #10.

This clue lacks all the requirements of a properly structured
cryptic clue. There are no less than eight unneccesary words, and it
lacks the critical element of the definition being positioned at one
of the ends of the clue. It is the first anthology selection shown by
demonstration however which merits some points for ingenuity.

Try this for a judgement: T?O?O C?O?N?F?U?S?I?N?G.  Leap frog we play!

This has to be the most unreadable surface I have ever seen;
imaginative construction, however.

Oi vey!

Imaginative clue but to me it's a bit unorthodox

I can see you worked hard on this, but I think you've handicapped yourself
too much with the meter and rhyme constraints.

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20th place (score 31.60%) - clue 3

    Olio with menthol:  turn me into a confused goy (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 10 13 13 13 14 25 33 43 50 55 56 57 62

Weak surface reading.  Acceptable cryptic construction.

Confused is right! This encryption is irretrievable.

Turn me into a confused guy.

The surface is rather confusing

I did look 'olio' up - it didn't mean 'anthology'
and I don't like double cryptics

I don't care for definition-words that I have to look up, though I have
to concede that it's legitimate.  However, the construction is too
complicated -- I'll always make this complaint about clues using a
letter-substitution to construct *part* of the answer word -- and
if there's a surface reading there it's hidden behind culture-specific
references that I don't follow at all.  So low marks for this one.

I don't understand why the colon was included here, it seems to ruin
an otherwise interesting surface reading. The use of two linking
words (turn & into) is a little much for my spartan tastes.

I'll have to take your word on the definition - my dictionary isn't
that, um, comprehensive.  I like the surface, though I think this is
an unsolvable clue.

"Olio", a stew, a medley...OK, but "goy" with this surface???

Bizarre surface put aside, the clue suffers inelegance from using
two anagram indicators.

This clue is "confused" all right.

The surface is a hodgepodge, especially the "menthol" 

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21st place (score 28.04%) - clue 15

    Garland, hot gal, no? Confused, Judy lost her head. (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 0 16 26 29 29 38 44 46 47 56 64

Garland is a stetched definition.  Judy's head is "J" not "Jud".

<Judy> lost more than her head.

Cute, but Judy lost everything above the kneecaps, not just her head.

Should it be "Judy kept her tail?"

You learn something new every day. I had to look garland up
but didn't like the surface.

"Garland" is not a definition of ANTHOLOGY in my dictionary.
The surface reading does not flow across the sentence-break.
When "head" refers to part of a word, it's normally the first
letter or maybe the first half, so this is misleading.  Strike 3.

If it weren't for the fact that the directive is to remove only the
first letter in Judy's name rather that all but the last, I would
have ranked this much higher.

Well, I like the Judy Garland attempt, but it didn't work.  Judy
without her head is "udy".

I'm confused...looks like Judy lost her head, torso & most of her legs!

"Judy lost her head = Y" is patently unfair.  

I'm confused all right...

The anagram fodder kinda sticks out.

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22nd place (score 23.20%) - clue 18

    A study of songs perhaps without measure of a collection (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 1 5 13 25 29 29 30 31 44 45 50

I would object less to having anthemology as a word to clue than
to using it as part of a cryptic part.  Surface reading is not
good enough to justify this stretch.

You're right. It does piss mustard.

Wait! I've got one!  How about:
A study of pigweeds perhaps without Hindu deity returning for
collection (9)
A study of pigweeds  = AMARANTHOLOGY
without Hindu deity returning = - AMAR
It's perfect!
Sorry, I guess I'm getting punchy. This is clue #18 and there
are 7 more to go. I fear for those 7. 

Indirection based on a nonce word?  I don't think so.
And once again there's no surface reading.

Anthemology is not an acceptable word in my opinion.

I just can't favor a clue where the OLOGY ending is preserved like this.

Didn't "pass muster" with this voter.

I know that the  "find a word that resembles ANTHOLOGY and make the
necessary alterations for the subsidiary" clueing tactic is
epidemic in this competition, but ANTHEMOLOGY !??

I find use of word "anthemology" a bit far fetched.

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23rd place (score 22.61%) - clue 1

    Pocket full of poesy (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 0 4 5 14 31 33 33 38 63 71

Too obscure.  I would not know I had the "right" answer
even if I guessed it.

No fat on this one but too oblique for my liking.
Is it not <posy> in the rhyme?

I wonder if the cluer would be able to solve his/her own clue.
Good grief! There are so many things wrong here, I'm sure
others will point them out.

'poesy' does not equate to 'posy' in my mind

The writer claims that this is both an &lit and a double definition.
For this to work, "pocket full of", "poesy", and "pocket full of
poesy" would all have to define the same word; but this is nonsense,
as "pocket full of" alone cannot be a definition for a noun.  Also,
the floral part of the explanation is wrong according to the Random
House Unabridged Dictionary, "anthology" has only an etymological
connection with flowers and "poesy" has none.  (Even if these meanings
are correct by another dictionary, they're too obscure to fairly use.)
Finally, according to the way I learned it, the rhyme is misquoted.
-- Now, attempting to ignore the writer's misexplanations and actually
analyze the clue itself, what it really seems to be is a single
definition of "anthology" punning on the nursery rhyme line about
posies.  Unlike some here, I accept single punning definitions as
legitimate cryptic clues, but they do need to be tougher than this.

Abstain: this is my clue. Even though I try to sell this as having 
three elements, it is really a rather weak effort - being a straight
definition clue.

All parts of this clue seem to be indirect definitions.
Also, it isn't really an &lit (and you left off the !, even if it were).
I do like the surface reading, though.

I looked in the OED, and sure enough, "posy" can be spelled as
"poesy". Well done.

I didn't like the definition of "anthology", but thanks for the lesson
in nursery rhyme obscurata.

I don't see the &lit. aspect of this clue.  The explanation is
interesting, but the clue doesn't lean toward solvability.

I find it difficult to equate pocketful with anthology
To my knowledge the flower "posie" is spelled as shown here.
"Poesy" means poetry.

"Pocket full of" is unacceptably vague, barring E.S.P.

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24th place (score 7.79%) - clue 24

    Apology, eat the pea to the nth degree.(9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 9 13 14 15 25 29

Very simple alright! Simply not complete. No def. 

Apology accepted.

Where is the straight part?

No definition, no surface

Too many noise words and no surface reading.

Using accepted cryptic convention, 'degree' would have to be the
definition. It is not synonymous with anthology in any dictionary I
can find.

Oops - you forgot the "straight" definition, which is a shame, because
this is a reasonable (though not great) cryptic.

So "very simple" I couldn't find the definition.

I detect no definition here. 

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BONUS CLUE:  (no voting on this one)

    I found an Orbit record in your collection (9)

Votes (normalized): none

No more <collections> please!

Sorry, "Orbit and the Eye Sockets" was before my time. Now, if
you had found may lost "1910 Fruitgum Co." album, that would
have been another matter.

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