1ACCWC - Results
1ACCWC#539 - DELICATE
Total Clues: 25 Total Voters: 28
✓ Contest Closed - Final Results
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veera Raghavan | Weak citadel crumbled at the end of battle (8) | 43 | 23 | Definition: Weak. CITADEL* (battl)E. crumbling: anind | --- |
| 2 | ALP | Weak priest caught visiting escort (8) | 34 | 15 | D(ELI+C)ATE |
- Reminded me of The Scarlet Letter :) - Brilliant spot, unique and smooth surface |
| 3 | Textrous | Fine lace tied in a knot (8) | 28 | 17 | Def: Fine, lacetied*, anagrind: in a knot |
- Best of the "lace tied" group. Simple. Perfect. 2 points only because 10 total is not enough! - (I almost went with something very similar to this—glad we didn’t end up duplicating!) |
| 4 | manish jhaveri | Elegant eatery served food without wine [8] | 21 | 14 | DELI (eatery) + CATERED (served food) - RED (without wine). Def = ELEGANT |
- Deli comes from delicatessen which has the same root as delicate - Delicatessen and Delicate come from the same root - I really like this - I just don’t think a Deli is an eatery really - sorry! It’s a food shop - Same root: DELI(catessen) comes from “delicate” |
| 5 | VMA Nair | Elegant food shop with endless supply (8) | 20 | 13 | Deli (food shop) + Cate(-r) (Endless supply) Definition = Elegant |
- Deli comes from delicatessen which has the same root as delicate - Deli and Delicate come from the same Latin root - Same root: DELI(catessen) comes from “delicate” |
| 6 | Samit Kallianpur | Fine offer to exchange dollars for pounds (8) | 18 | 12 | [De(-d+L)icate]. Offer = dedicate. To exchange = replacement ind. Dollars = D (Collins, Brit). Pounds = L. Def = Fine. |
- Exchanging D for L would make it LELICATE - Unique wordplay earns you 2 points |
| 7 | Satyen Nabar | Subtle taste of lime in fresh iced tea (8) | 15 | 12 | L(-ime) in (ICED TEA)*; def= subtle, taste of= 1st letter sel ind, in= insertion ind, fresh= anag ind |
- Ooh, I like ‘fresh’ as an anagram indicator, that’s nice! |
| 8 | Ramki Krishnan | Slice of lemon dipped in iced tea, shaken - exquisite! (8) | 15 | 10 | L inside anagram of ICEDTEA, def - exquisite |
- Best of the "iced tea" group. "Slice of lemon" gets the idiom right. 2 points only because 10 total is not enough! - Think just a tweak maybe as ‘slice’ doesn’t necessarily indicate the first letter - but that is being fussy! |
| 9 | Sowmya Ramkumar | Fine dialect peppered with English (8) | 11 | 9 | Def: Fine, DIALECT* + E |
- Best of the "dialect" entries. 2 points only because 10 total is not enough! - not convinced about "peppered" as an anagrind - Sorry, I don’t think this quite works - the wordplay says that ‘dialect’ is ‘peppered with’ E - I think that would mean I was scattering ‘E’s in ‘dialect’ - Nice surface, bur not natural. It''s usually a language that''s peppered with dialect, not the other way round. |
| 10 | @qpheevr | Not coarse dialect, not proper English (8) | 11 | 9 | (DIALECT)* + E[nglish]; ‘not proper’ = anagrind; def. ‘not coarse’ |
- Meaning? - Haha - now I would normally say ‘not proper’ isn’t really grammatically correct - but in this surface it seems so beautifully appropriate! |
| 11 | --- | Alice & Ted turned out light | 10 | 6 | Anag (turned out) of ALICE & TED - + def (light) |
- "Ted & Alice" evokes the well-known movie, suggesting a verb based on "swap" or "exchange"? - Elegant and original! - This is a lovely clue. Proper names do tend to give away an anagram, so it would be on the simpler side, but that’s not a bad thing in the right place! |
| 12 | --- | Frail girlfriend has lice, unfortunately (8) | 8 | 6 | DATE (girlfriend) around LICE*. Definition: Frail |
- Nice (?!) idea but I think ‘girlfriend’ needs a DbE indicator |
| 13 | --- | Intricate lace tied in a bad way(8) | 8 | 6 | Definition: Intricate. Anno: (LACE+TIED)*. In a bad way - Anagrind. |
- Nice surface but could have used a different definition considering intricate and delicate share cate - This is almost there but I think the anagrind grates a bit in the surface. I think there is something out there that might flow better - even ‘the wrong way’ sounds smoother I think. |
| 14 | --- | Bland iced tea is transformed with a hint of lemon | 7 | 6 | Def = bland; anag of ICED TEA + L (hint of lemon) |
- Bland doesn''t work as a synonym of delicate for me. Otherwise, an interesting construct. - Bland isn''t the same as delicate - Bland isn''t the same as delicate - Delicate is not strongly flavoured, but I’d say it’s definitely flavoured, not bland |
| 15 | --- | Unhealthy girlfriend having lice problem (8) | 7 | 5 | Unhealthy- def, girlfriend- DATE around LICE* |
- "lice problem" does not work as an anagrind". Something like "problem with lice" does. - Haha nice (?!) idea! I think ‘girlfriend’ needs a DbE indicator and I don’t think ‘problem’ quite works as an anagrind but a couple of tweaks could make this! |
| 16 | --- | Sensitive to the eastern dialect being improper(8) | 5 | 5 | Eastern (e) plus (dialect) anagram (improper) |
- "to the" is extraneous - I don’t think ‘to the’ is doing anything here - "To" looks superfluous |
| 17 | --- | A dash of lemon added to iced tea and stirred makes it exquisite (8) | 5 | 4 | (Lemon + ICED TEA)*, Stirred - Anagrind, A dash - First letter, Exquisite - Definition |
- Too many extraneous words that exist only for the surface but don''t contribute to the clue - Nice but I think you need to lose ‘makes it’ - it’s too much to be innocent linking sorry |
| 18 | --- | Fragile escort infested with lice running amok (8) | 4 | 4 | Fragile = Defn; escort = DATE; infested with = container indicator; running amok = anagrind; fodder = LICE; So, (D(LICE)*ATE) | --- |
| 19 | --- | Exquisite Blanchett behind Katz’s (8) | 3 | 2 | Def. — exquisite. (Katz’s) DELI + CATE (Blanchett). |
- surface doesn''t make sense - The clue needs Definition by Example indicators for both Blanchett and Katz''s - I think the “Katz’s” reference requires specific knowledge of NYC. Also, not sure what the surface means. - Nice idea - I don’t think ‘Katz’s’ works on it’s own - it would at least need a DbE indicator - a question mark would do that. - Same root: DELI(catessen) comes from “delicate” |
| 20 | --- | Unhappily celibate? Swap your body's odd features - be gentle! | 3 | 1 | Unhappily = anagrind; celibate = fodder; exchange B for D; gentle = def |
- What is "be" doing in the clue? It doesn''t work as a connector - Great device but the superfluous word “your” renders the clue unworkable. - Surface too convoluted, and does not make much sense IMO - "Unhappily" doesn''t suggest rearrangement of letters. "your" and "be" are extraneous. - Almost there I think - nice idea but I think ‘your’ is surplus |
| 21 | --- | Drink iced tea with a hint of lemon – it’s exquisite! (8) | 2 | 2 | Definition: Exquisite, (ICED TEA with L (a hint of lemon))* anagram indicated by Drink |
- Nice, but not sure if ''drink'' works as an anagrind. - Drink does not work as an anagrind - How is “drink” an anagrind? - "Drink" is not an anagrind, "Drunk" is - Drink doesn’t suggest anagram. You mean drunk ? - Sorry I don’t think ‘drink’ indicates anagramming - something like ‘Mix’ would be better? - Not sure I buy “drink” as an anagrind (especially when alternatives like “blend” or “mix” would fit just as well with the surface reading) |
| 22 | --- | Elegant gourmet store loses 50% of returning business | 1 | 1 | Definition: “elegant”; DELICATEssen (“gourmet store) “loses 50% of” SSENisub (“returning business”) |
- Elegant is the wrong choice of definition for the surface. It ruins an otherwise wonderful clue. Why would an elegant store lose 50% of its business? - Delicate and delicatessen have the same root which makes this somewhat less cryptic - Delicatessen and Delicate come from the same root - Same root |
| 23 | --- | Fragile pair: Bernstein's and Blanchett | 0 | 1 | Synonym ("fragile"), followed by combination of the famous Lower East Side DELI (Schmulka Bernstein's on Essex) and CATE Blanchett. I think this clue is too easy to win. |
- What is pair doing in the clue? Is it necessary? Deli from Bernstein''s is a bit of an ask for people from this part of the world. - My first entry. - The clue needs Definition by Example indicators for both Blanchett and Bernstein''s - I like the construction but the clue is definitely not easy for anyone lacking specific knowledge of NYC delis. I wouldn’t have got it as a solver - I would been stuck on Bernstein being a reference to the journalist Carl! - Not easy for me, I wouldn’t have a clue about Bernstein’s! But I don’t think ‘Bernstein’s’ works on it’s own - it would at least need a DbE indicator - Same root: DELI(catessen) comes from “delicate” |
| 24 | --- | Top of drawer lace tie can be exquisite | 0 | 0 | Exquisite - defn; d+lace+ tie - fodder; can be - anagrind |
- What does this surface mean? - The usage is "top drawer", "top of drawer" doesn''t make sense - This is almost lovely but I don’t think ‘Top of drawer’ works in the surface. Maybe something like ‘Designer’s first…’ - and probably a nicer anagrind for the surface would finish it off - like maybe ‘Designer’s first lace tie intricately exquisite’ - The surface reading would work better with “top-drawer” (which wouldn’t pass Ximenean muster, though) |
| 25 | --- | Filmy affair broken by swarming lice (8) | 0 | 0 | Def: FILMY LICE* in DATE affair |
- Do lice swarm? - date is not ''affair'' - Not sure that ‘filmy’ works to describe an affair in the surface sorry |