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The following are the full results of People's Clue Writing
Competition number 71.
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Overall Comments on the Contest

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I thought this was a pretty difficult word so I was
surprised at the number of entries.  At second glance,
so many of them used the hidden word device that
perhaps I should not be so surprised. In the end there were
no really bad clues and two or three really good ones, so it
was thereby a successful word.  I will try out
initialing my comments, and see how it goes. Ed Coulson
/ec/

A good word, full of cluing possibilities. I thought the idea of
making a hidden word clue with *laugh* was a bit obvious, so I
didn't mark those very highly. I (dmck) will continue to own up to
my comments (dmck)

I'd bear the moderator's children, were I female.
[Moderator's note:  though I've no wish to start a flame war,
I should remind you that the ability to use a UNIX system is
the sole qualification for being a moderator.]

This word was easy to clue.  In such a case good surface reading
can and must be attained.  I therefore marked down things like:
- attemps to depict sourpusses like Napoleon or Nixon as laughing.
- saints indulging in unsaintly behaviour
- giggling gangsters

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Yes, 16 "laugh"s out of 30 clues!  Maybe it was the word, but
originality sure suffered in this PCWC.  The seven hidden word
clues all used the same construction (..on's laugh[ter]) and
eight of the container clues octiplicated ON+S[LAUGH]T.

(From Karen Lingel:) All my comments are marked by the sign of the
penguin: -k-
A very nice group of clues.  A lot of perfect cryptics with excellent
surfaces.  It is difficult to rank them -- I'm going to have to judge
on how tickled I am by the surfaces.  There are also a lot of ties. -k-
The moderator has a nice sense of humor.  The enumeration was "so"
precise? -k-

I'm rather late voting - so comments are a bit sparse and not
too helpful though I've still tagged them [pvr]
Hidden words and anagrams and 3/4 part charades - Phil Rose

The chosen word did not give much scope for improvisation with
all but all but five of the 22 clues using 'assault' 'attack' or 'sally'.
As an occasional compiler for UK publications, I tend to go for the
clues which are not only pithy and compact but that also contain a
fluid meaningful sentence structure in themselves. Hence, IMO, clues
13 & 19 take the biscuit. I'm sure there will be some who disagree but
what the hell! My comments can be identified by NP. (Nic Pursey)



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Results of the Voting

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1st place (score 77.17%) - clue 13
By John Hakemian, sailorjohn@mindspring.com

    Attack on heart of Yugoslavia gains nothing (9)

Votes (normalized): 25 45 57 67 76 89 90 100 100 100 100

Fine clue.  Runner up to (4).  /ec/

This is about as close to perfection as you can get, I reckon. The
charade slots together beautifully. The surface makes perfect
sense. It's not important that the country no longer exists. How
did you come upon the fact that sl was the heart of Yugoslavia?
Inspired! My winner, of course (dmck)

Sound, but "heart of" is a dead give-away, 99% of the time.

Good clue.

Neat; smooth surface

Solid, straight charade.

I am not that fond of using "heart" or "ends" or whatever where the
solver has to determine how much of the middle or ends s/he needs to
keep.  -k-

I think 'heart of Yugoslavia'=SL just to keep a nice surface is a
little tenuous, but I liked this clue, nonetheless.

great surface; best charade, best in show
on = ON smoother than conspicuous running = ON in some other clues

Aught is something not nothing [pvr]

One of the best IMO - war imagery is ideal for the word NP

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2nd place (score 75.45%) - clue 4
By David McKeegan d@mckeegan.u-net.com

    Sally hugs Al (not impurely!) (9)

Votes (normalized): 35 56 58 67 71 88 90 90 100 100

A terrific clue.  Absolutely fabulous definition.  Don't mind
the exclamation point a bit.  Winner. /ec/

Mine. Looks a bit poor in this company. Al screams *fodder*, but
Sally hushes him up a bit, I think (dmck)

Why the "!"? This ain't no &lit., man.

Well hidden anagram.

Good disguising of fodder, and surface was cute. Not bad.
IMHO, "Sally" is not quite right for an onslaught.

This is a nice clue, since "hugs" could be a container indicator.
The "not impurely" also causes a double-take, and that is why I think
the exclamation point is unfair -- it seems to indicate something
tricky about the cryptic, whereas the cryptic is straightforward. -k-
Tied for third with several other clues. -k-

A nice surface, and a well-concealed anagram; the best in my view.

best of the anagrams
definition and anagram fodder well disguised
I'd omit exclamation point

Absolutely lovely clue - Use of names not obviously shrieking
but  I think I would have preferred 'improperly' to 'impurely' [pvr]

Nice double meaning for 'Sally' - short and sweet NP

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3rd place (score 69.26%) - clue 6
By Pete Mitchell <pwm@mv.mv.com>

    "Running second ...heh-heh... time for a fierce attack" (9)

Votes (normalized): 33 50 50 60 67 70 71 75 90 95 100

Not too bad.  Why the quotation marks, all of a sudden? /ec/

I really like this. But I can't resist a little whinge about heh-heh
= laugh. And the punctuation (dmck)

Good surface, but a bit too abbrev-happy for my taste.

Excellent clue - my winner.

Eight container clues used this ON, ST, LAUGH device, but this
clue stands well above the rest, for its meaningful surface and
its disguising of the word "laugh".

This is a deliciously evil surface, and a straightforward charade,
almost too many elements but in order with no trickiness, so that's
OK. -k-
I rank this clue #2, slightly behind Saint-with-a-giggle-attack.
I guess it is time for a fierce attack!  (Heh-heh.) -k-

Lovely surface; not sure about 'on' meaning 'running', though.

better LAUGH charade than most
and "second . . . time" marginally better than those tedious saints

So-so clue - no faults no shiners [pvr]

This one shows imagination, not sure about the final surface though NP

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4th place (score 53.80%) - clue 21
By Frank Heys <frankheys@acslink.net.au>

    Felon's laughter disguises assault (9)

Votes (normalized): 20 20 50 50 50 60 71 78 85

More of the same. /ec/

Sound.

All 7 hidden word clues were virtually the same. Decent surface.

Respectable hidden word clue.  Nice surface.  -k-

"implicit in" (-8) seems a less glaring hidden word flag than most in
this batch... this has best surface of the rest of the bunch, I guess

Not as good as 18 [pvr]

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5th place (score 51.69%) - clue 22
By eris@bga.com (Clay Colwell)

    Sally heard about job opening (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 15 17 25 50 60 70 85 95 100

Great definition and more than adequate homophone.  Using
Using 'about' for 'on' kept this one out of the top
two. /ec/

If I spoke like a true Scot, this would be a pretty close
homophone. But, to my shame, I speak like an Englishman. So it
isn't. I do like the definition, though ;-) (dmck)

Not bad at all. My #1 choice.

Pretty brave to offer this homophone following the discussion in
r.p.c. recently, but it's too wide of the mark for me I'm afraid.

Try as I will, I can't make SLAUGHT sound like "slot".

Homophone is not quite right to my ear, but points for originality
greatly needed in this PCWC.

Oooh, I'm glad someone found way to use the "on-slot"  homophone.
I couldn't come up with one.  This one is very nice, with all the
pieces nicely hidden. -k-
Extra credit for the homophone. -k-

People who used 'Sally' as a definition got a Brownie point because
I thought it was clever, and I would never have thought of it :)
This is a good clue (the homophone is a little stretched, though)
Second best.

nice clue; better with "job" deleted, left implicit

slot/slaught are only close homophones and as we all know
to our cost need careful signing [pvr]

Didn't get this at first glance - slot as 'job opening' is a bit tenuous NP

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6th place (score 50.58%) - clue 16
By Kevin Wald wald@math.uchicago.edu

    One almost-canonized religious figure suppresses giggle attack (9)

Votes (normalized): 15 22 33 40 50 50 57 88 100

Not bad for a nonsensical surface.  Canonized religous
figure is a long way to go for ST isn't it? /ec/

Lovely. My runner up. Surface brings to mind a cheeky Mother
Theresa. Some may argue that *canonized religious figure* is wordy
for st, but I prefer it to *saint*, or the hackneyed *holy man*
(dmck)

"Suppresses" is a bit questionable, but not a bad clue overall.

'Canonized religious figure', though a correct definition, is somewhat
laboured.

Eight container clues used this device. Very unlikely surface.

An attack of the giggles would ruin his chances to be canonized!
I love this surface and the cryptic is straightforward.  No one
else used the perfectly legal "one almost" to give "on".  -k-
I rank this clue #1, slightly ahead of "running second .. heh-heh",
so the author of this clue should beware of a fierce attack from
the author of "running second...".  -k-

Can't get over enthused with this - long winded crypt for ST

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7th place (score 48.79%) - clue 3
By Greg Brume, gbrume19@mail.idt.net

    Napoleon's laughter conveys attack (9)

Votes (normalized): 25 38 40 40 44 50 57 70 75

'Convey' is a decent enough indicator, but all of
the hidden word clues are going to suffer by repetition
/ec/

Not bad. (Since one meaning of "convey" is "carry secretly")

This clue (like 5 also) could also be solved as 'slaughter' which is nicely
 misleading.

All 7 hidden word clues were virtually the same. Decent surface.

Not as nice a surface as some other hidden word clues. -k-

Good surface [pvr]

Not sure about 'conveys' as hidden word indicator NP

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8th place (score 47.40%) - clue 12
By Joel Score <jscore@chireader.com>

    Salon disturbed by rude thug's charge (9)

Votes (normalized): 17 25 30 40 50 57 60 70 78

I have seen two part anagrams bug some judges in the
past, but they're ok with me and I like this clue./ec/

This reads very well, but I'm not overly keen on the two separate
anagrams with two separate indicators for a single word. It just
seems a bit clumsy to me. Credit must be given for the fact that
the anagrams don't intermingle, though (dmck)

Sound.

A rather heavy-handed double anagram with the (cryptically) superfluous
''s'.

I generally don't like double anagrams, but this clue is the only
anagram with decent fodder and it has a valid, and (for this
contest) original definition.

I don't mind clues with half an anagram, but I dislike clues with
two half-an-anagrams (or two half-a-whatevers) instead of just
one-whatever.  As for the surface: Did the thug make an accusation?
use his credit card?  attack? -k-

Anagram + anagram is dredging the barrel a bit [pvr]

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9th place (score 45.43%) - clue 18

    Nixon's laugh tends to disguise attack [9]

Votes (normalized): 20 22 25 43 50 50 57 67 75

I can't speak about Napoleon, but Nixon never laughed. /ec/

I hate to sock it to you like this, but "twistedly disguises attack"
might have been better (since it hints at a non-existent anagram...)
Or maybe some other word starting with T. "Disguises", at any rate,
is much better than "to disguise".
P.S. This should've been clue number 18.5... :)

All 7 hidden word clues were virtually the same. Good surface,
but since Tricky Dick is no more, shouldn't it be "tended"?

Oh that pesky Nixon.  My clue. -k-

Ha! I like this surface :-) Well put together clue, I thought.

perhaps "Nixon's laugh tries to disguise attack"
in fact it tended to give him away

Good hidden word clue [pvr]

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10th place (score 41.35%) - clue 9

    Buffoon's laugh triggered claustrophobic attack (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 10 13 20 33 67 81 90 100

I had to think a while as to whether 'claustrophobic'
was a legitimate hidden indicator.  It's not, though,
because there is no fear on the part of the word, is
there?  Is 'claustric' a word? /ec/

Claustrophobic doesn't quite cut the mustard as a hw indicator
(dmck)

I won't accept "claustrophobic" as a hidden-word indicator.

I haven't seen claustrophobic used as a hidden word indicator before - I
like it.

"Claustrophobic" means "afraid of being confined", not "confined"

All 7 hidden word clues were virtually the same. Poor surface.

I am not sure about claustrophobic as a hidden indicator.  It _is_
clever and unusual, though, so I'll allow it.  By the way, does the
buffoon have an attack of claustrophobia, or does some claustrophobic
person attack the buffoon? -k-
Tied for third with several other clues. -k-

I liked the surface here. This is the best of the 'hidden word' clues,
I think, although 'claustrophobic' as a hidden word indicator is a
little dodgy, IMHO.

Nice clue - lovely hidden word indicater [pvr]

Not sure about 'claustrophobic' as hidden word indicator NP

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11th place (score 40.25%) - clue 1

    Louts hang out for the attack (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 15 17 40 43 63 70 75

A decent anagram.  /ec/

Nice anagram which ties in well with its indicator (dmck)

Sound, but so-so surface.

I can't see the anagram indicator in 'out'.

Simple and sound

Anagram fodder is obvious, as is indicator.

Straightforward anagram with a nice topical surface.  -k-

The surface here seems poor. Personally, I don't like anagrams without
anagram indicators either, but that's a weakness of mine.

Fair anagram with better than average surface [pvr]

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12th place (score 40.08%) - clue 10

    Expressed distaste in above-board attack  (9)

Votes (normalized): 11 13 20 35 50 50 57 58 67

Abstain from my clue. /ec/

This is hard. Unfairly so, I think. *Expression of* would have been
fairer (to the detriment of the surface). And above = on is way out
(dmck)

Slat, n.: a thin, narrow strip or bar of wood or metal.
Not quite the same as a board, I'm afraid. Bonus points for the
"above-board" combo, though - nice idea. I like the "expressed"
misdirection, too.

Nice, but 'expressed distaste' slightly too general a description for
'ugh'.

Some clever stuff here. "Expressed" is spurious and unfair.

At last a container clue without a "laugh"!  I liked the "expressed
distaste" = UGH, and splitting "above" from "board" was different.
Too bad the surface couldn't have been more meaningful.

This is pretty good, I like how the "above-board" disguises the two
cryptic elements.  One quibble:  a board and a slat are not the
same to me. -k-

"Expression of distaste . . ."--UGH is not a verb

Accurate but only fair [pvr]

Nice try, though does't quite make it - once you divide a
clue (here with 'in'),  it's difficult for the person doing it
to know the latter part is also subject to "sounds like" indicator NP

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13th place (score 39.66%) - clue 17

    Loan thugs freely for attack (9)

Votes (normalized): 10 15 20 29 33 50 50 75 75

Is Don Corleone being described here? Louts, thugs,
all kinds of bad guys running around. /ec/

My favorite of the straight anagram clues. Third equal (dmck)

The surface makes little sense.

Anagram fodder is obvious, very similar to #1.

Oh, I get it.  Rented thugs.  I am not crazy about "freely" for
an anagram indicator, but it's legal. -k-

Fair to middling anagram [pvr]

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14th place (score 38.00%) - clue 5

    Aggression produced by buffoon's laughter  (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 7 30 38 44 50 57 65 89

'Aggression' falls just a bit short of 'attack' as a
straight definition. /ec/

Sound, but so-so surface. (Unless that was a "Rigoletto" ref.)

All 7 hidden word clues were virtually the same. Poor surface,
and didn't like "aggression" as the definition. Too broad.

Not as nice a surface as some other hidden word clues. -k-

Weak definition and hidden word indicator [pvr]

Competent hidden word clue

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15th place (score 37.70%) - clue 11

    Frolicking laughs... Not! (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 10 20 33 50 56 67 70 71

Doesn't quite get there, does it? /ec/

This *is* quite cute, even if the def is about a mile wide of the
mark (dmck)

Good &lit.

Oh no! Another "laugh" in an anagram clue, which is a real defect
since it appears in the solution word in exactly the same order.
Also, don't buy clue as an &lit. as the straight surface reading
doesn't work for me.

A good attempt at an &lit -- bonus points for this.  However, you are
right that the definition leaves a little to be desired. -k-
Extra credit for the attempt. -k-

Nice &lit., although I concede the cluer's point about it being a
little tenuous!

second best anagram in competition; party on!
this clue and (-2) get points for avoiding usual stilted surface
! works wonderfully here; not! necessarily an exclamation, plus &lit

No I found this not to my taste at all [pvr]

Like this one too, but I question 'frolicking' being the opposite of
onslaught NP

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16th place (score 36.88%) - clue 20

    Ugh! Talons spoil attack (9)

Votes (normalized): 15 20 22 25 30 43 50 90

'spoil' seems to point at the wrong word to use as
anagram fodder.  'Spoiled' works better, I think. /ec/

"SpoilED" would have been just fine. But, if "spoil" is to be an
anag. ind., the fodder has to follow it, not precede it.

A quite correct but quite easy clue.

Obvious fodder. Don't like "spoil" as indicator in this position.

I'd think talons would be _useful_ in an attack!  Nice surface. -k-
Tied for third with several other clues. -k-

obvious fodder, indifferent surface

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17th place (score 35.42%) - clue 14

    Army lies sleeping...now leaders turned in...should attack (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 10 10 20 33 38 38 75 80 86

Rather complicated for the payoff./ec/

Clever cryptic construction (dmck)

Solid, and a nice surface. My #2 choice.

Cryptically OK, but the surface is a bit tortured.

This kind of tortuosity is excusable only in words that are hard
to clue.

Partial acronym containers are NOT one of my favorite clue
constructions. Unlikely surface.

I like the surface very much.  But there are just too many steps in
this cryptic.  -k-

I don't like clues that build up words from initials, especially
when they then go on to manipulate those initials. Not a bad
surface, though.

second best charade; very smartly punctuated

Fair combi charade pvr]

Good imagery but a bit clumsy in the construction NP

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18th place (score 33.72%) - clue 7

    Saint hides chuckle after running violent attack (9)


Votes (normalized): 15 19 20 20 22 25 29 44 50 60 67

The surface presumably refers to Simon Templar, but
of course he was THE Saint, not Saint. /ec/

Nice image, although Saint = st is rather trite (dmck)

Sound, but so-so surface.

Good solid clue.

Eight container clues used this device. Quirky, unlikely surface.

Straightforward charade.  "Running" an "attack" is slightly awkward. -k-

I penalised people for using 'laugh' in their clues; especially
'laugh' AND 'st'. 'Laugh' is far too obvious, 'ST' is a 'standard'
cryptic word and hence also obvious. I also penalised 'attack' since
everyone used it - people who used a slightly more inventive synonym
got a bonus mark. (I used it, though, I have to admit :) Having said
this, this isn't a bad clue.

3 part charade with a very poor surface [pvr]

Do you 'run' an attack? Also, you could have diguised 'Saint' a bit more NP

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19th place (score 30.31%) - clue 2

    Sudden onset means no going back to merriment in the street (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 5 20 20 29 44 45 50 60

'Onset' is to close to the clued word to be a good
straight definition. /ec/

Good surface, but I'd quibble with merriment = laugh (dmck)

"Means" is a cryptic->def'n connector, if anything - not the other
way around. And, what's the "to" doing there?

Too long

Eight container clues used this device. Wordy, unlikely surface.

I wouldn't generally think of laugh=merriment, more an expression
of merriment, but you could say "That was a laugh" meaning merriment,
I guess.  So no deduction there.  The surface would be better if we
knew the onset of _what_? -k-

I didn't like the defn. here - sudden onset for onslaught seems a
little suspect to me. It's a little long and convoluted too.

"Sudden onset" too obviously dictionary definition
perhaps "Storm means no going back . . ."?

I don't think it's suddenness that defines an onslaught and
merriment/laugh don't match part of speech [pvr]

strictly, merriment = laughter NP

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20th place (score 28.62%) - clue 19

    Lunge at divine man stifling laugh (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 10 14 30 38 44 50 100

I don't think 'lunge' works as a definition. Ithas
more of a 'suddenness' or 'one-time' connotation
as opposed to attack, or onslaught. /ec/

at = on is not fair, though the surface is nice (dmck)

"At" = "on"?

I'm not crazy about lunge as a definition, and also there *are* some
women saints so 'divine man' is probably incorrect too (not to
mention sexist).

Eight container clues used this device. Is this an account of
an assassination attempt on His Holiness? "Lunge" doesn't seem
to really define ONSLAUGHT.

Not that crazy about "lunge" as a definition.  Surface is less polished
than clues I rated higher. -k-

Weak definition - onslaught is more continual than this [pvr]

The perfect type of clue for this word. I like anyone who has a go at
politicians NP

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21st place (score 26.47%) - clue 8

    Attack ring of Poles having giggle over cuppa (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 0 0 0 20 25 38 44 60 78

The 'cuppa' is too indirect for my taste, and anyway
the surface makes no sense to me./ec/

Lovely, mindlessly violent surface. It's a shame that I can't get
*cuppa* to mean T

Where did the "of" go? And, no dice on "cuppa = T", sorry. Surface
makes little sense.

Not sure what a 'ring of Poles' are.

In addition to the multiplicicated construction, this one suffers
from a ridiculous surface and the "cuppa" = T!

Never heard of "cuppa".  Poles = NS smacks of being insider crossword
puzzle jargon, which I dislike.  Sorry.  -k-

I'm not big on rebus code words, but well integrated here

Cuppa to T doesn't quench this Englishman's thirst. Also
surface leaves something to be desired [pvr]

Nice clue, this one - makes you think a bit NP

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22nd place (score 24.35%) - clue 15

    Attack should include the French poles first (9)

Votes (normalized): 0 5 22 25 25 29 33 40 40

Several minor glitches hurt this effort.  'include'
should be 'includes' in the cryptic rendering.
And what in the world is a French pole? /ec/

The cryptic is sound, but what are *the French poles*? (dmck)

The surface makes little sense.

Cryptically sound but what are French poles?

Just what is a French pole?

Clue seems out of order, and didn't like use of POLES.

What are French poles?  The cryptic is straightforward (although I
do not like poles=NS) but I can't get the surface. -k-

What are French poles? [pvr]

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Comments on the Bonus Clues

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Bonus clue -1

    Attack, in audience's view, ageless housing break up (9)

Virtually impossible to solve (dmck)

Bizarre surface.

ACK!  Tooooo maaaaany pieeeeeeces!  Also, I don't get the surface. -k-

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Bonus clue -2

    Gosh! Aunt Lola's head exploded--what a rush (9)

Very nice Scannerish surface. Def is fine too (dmck)

Indirect anagram. BOOOOOOO.

Slightly indirect anagram has "Scanners" movie imagery.

I just love this surface!  A head explosion only elicits a mild
exclamation.  On the other hand, I don't like "Lola's head" part
to add to the anagram fodder. -k-
I would have ranked this clue tied for third with several other clues. -k-

Great, a light-hearted clue! An exclamation mark at the end would
have finished it off --- nicely! NP

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Bonus clue -3

    Attack goons laugh, thwarting cover-up (9)

"Cover-up" would need to be placed elsewhere for me to accept it
as a valid hidden-word ind.

Oooh, nice surface.  A nice mis-direction with "thwarting" -- an
acceptable anagram indicator. -k-
Another third-place tie clue. -k-

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Bonus clue -4

    Get onto the solicitor with anything on the assault (9)

"Get onto" -> "ON"? Ugh. "Solicitor" -> "SL"? Double ugh. Etc.

Don't understand the surface, never heard of SL = solicitor-at-law
(must be British) and "aught" generally means nothing, not anything. -k-

"solicitor at law"? British, I presume
I like use of "aught" in two clues

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Bonus clue -5

    Rush is offensive (9)

The two definitions are too close to each other for this to work
well, I think (dmck)

In the cryptic reading, "rush" and "offensive" both are synonyms
of the same (and only) meaning of "onslaught". A double-def. clue
needs a pair of homonyms, you pinko commie liberal scum.

Not that bad a double def clue.

Yeah, Rush sucks, but I don't see this as a double-definition, since
it is the same definition twice. -k-

smooth surface; would rate in top ten if in competition

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Bonus clue -6

    Goth's ulna broken in fierce attack (9)

Fine, if obvious, anagram (dmck)

Not bad.

Fodder! Fodder!  (but no mudder...)

Who's Goth? -k-

obvious fodder, but surface works

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Bonus clue -7

    Offensive snicker spattered snot about (9)

Mine. Thought it was too coarse for the main comp (dmck)

Not bad at all. Nice (albeit utterly disgusting) surface.

Many chose this cryptic device. But none so charmingly tastelessly!

Oooh.  That _is_ offensive! -k-

definition well integrated; smooth if messy surface

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Bonus clue -8

    Aggression implicit in son's laughter (9)

I think this was the best of all the hidden word clues (dmck)

Sound.

All 7 hidden word clues were virtually the same, but this bonus
was the best surface of them all.

Good surface, straightforward cryptic. -k-

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