Skip to main content

Competition #1 Winners!



Wow, guys! What a great selection of cryptic clues you've sent in, I've really enjoyed reading all of them. I hope you've all had fun writing them too, and that you've got a bit of a taste for what cryptic clue writing entails  :)


My good friend and colleague Greg Parker (he of Puzzle Wizard fame) and I have discussed all your entries, and have agreed on the following winners:

FIRST
Island weaves its charms (Len)
Christmas Island is the definition here, a really nice lateral take on the word Christmas! And the rest of the clue (weaves as the anagram indicator, and its charms as the fodder) just flows beautifully. Great job, Len.

SECOND
Noel crashed Smith's car (Golem)
Noel is the definition, with a nice bit of ambiguity as to whether Noel is a holiday or a man's name.  Crashed is the anagram indicator, and Smith's car is the fodder. Really smooth surface reading.

THIRD
March sits awkwardly as a time to celebrate (Des)
A time to celebrate is the definition. Awkwardly is the anagram indicator, and March sits is the fodder. Another good clean surface reading — good work!

Can you three please email me your postal addresses, and prize preferences (which I will try to take into account, if possible), so I can post out your prizes.

Thank you everyone who entered, you all did well. I will hold more of these clue writing competitions, as they're clearly popular, so stay tuned!

Comments

  1. Congratulations to the winners, and commiserations to the rest of us hankering for the hat ;-) Do let us know when your etsy shop is up and running. Oh, and merry new year, y'all!

    Cheers, Karin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have actually *created* the Etsy shop, now I need to put stuff up there, LOL. Slowly slowly ...

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

American vs British crosswords

American and British crosswords. Is there a difference? The short answer is HELL YES! Now for the long answer ... There are major differences between American-style and British-style crosswords (which are seen in Commonwealth countries too).  Crosswords were started by Arthur Wynne in 1913, a British man who lived in America, so both countries claim a close connection with the development of this popular puzzle. They developed in slightly different directions in each country, which has led to the varieties we see today. American-style crosswords are almost exclusively published in America, while British-style crosswords have spread through the Commonwealth — Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and other English-speaking nations tend to prefer this variety of the puzzle, as well as the United Kingdom, of course. A quick look at these grids will show you the most obvious difference between the two varieties : British-style Note th

Crosswords in other languages

The crossword was invented nearly exactly 100 years ago — yes, 2103 is its centenary! We all know that in that time it's spread throughout all English-speaking countries. But what about other countries? The answer is a resounding yes! In almost every country that I researched, they have crosswords. The forms are often a bit different from what we're used to — the grids are often non-symmetrical, 2-letter words are allowed, accented characters are often ignored, and sometimes the clues are written into the black squares. Here are some links to crossword sites from other countries, for your enjoyment. Afrikaans blokkieraaisel Part of a Chinese crossword Chinese   填字游戏 Danish  kryds og tværs Dutch  kruiswoordraadsel Finnish crosswords often include picture clues Finnish  Sanaristikko   French grids use a different numbering system French mots croises A German crossword German Kreuzworträtsel Greek  σταυρόλεξο   Part of a He

Lesson 2: Anagrams

One thing it's important to do with cryptic clues is to ignore the surface reading! The surface is the sense you get when reading a clue for the first time, the mental image it brings up. Apart from some very rare clue types, this is only going to lead you astray. What's vitally important to do is to read each clue, word by word, looking for the hidden meaning. Also, there are a few important things to note with the definition part of clues. Firstly — they will always be at the start or the end of the clue, but never in the middle (ie with bits of wordplay around them). Secondly — pinning down the definition is a major part of getting success in solving cryptic clues. And of course, once you've figured out which part is the definition, the remainder of the clue has to be the wordplay! ANAGRAMS So, on to the first of the cryptic devices that you'll find in every cryptic crossword: Anagrams! Anagrams are a very popular cryptic device, and e