PVPCWC 15 Ballot
Pete Maclean
I said I would introduce a new twist to this competition by divulging
the identity of the professional at this point. Since nobody has
objected, I shall do so. It is Cincinnus of the Financial Times.
**********
INSTRUCTIONS
To vote, read through the clues and their explanations, and evaluate
the clues on whatever linear scale you choose. Votes will be
normalized to a scale from 0 to 100 -- that is, the lowest score that
you assign, whatever it is, will become 0 and will be taken as meaning
the worst clue, and similarly the clue you rate highest will score
100. You don't need to vote on every clue. For any clue that you
skip, its score will be determined by those people who do vote on it.
Please note that with some of the clues I took the liberty of writing
the expanded explanations, based on supplied summaries.
The format for ballots is described below. If you don't adhere
strictly to the format, it will create extra work for the moderator.
Please be sure to include "PVPCWC" in the subject and
e-mail your ballots to:
The moderator: Pete Maclean <pe...@maclean.com>
by : 5th April at 11:59 pm, your time
I'll post the results on or about 7th April.
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BALLOT FORMAT
There are two types of lines, which can appear in any order.
The first type of line is for ratings. The format is:
clue# = rating
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N.B. the space on either side of the equal sign is mandatory
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Put each clue/rating on a separate line. The lines don't have to be
in numerical order, and as noted above, you don't have to rate every
clue. The rating can be any decimal number. The final score for each
clue will be the average (mean) of all the ratings that it receives,
after normalization.
The second type of line is for comments. The format is
clue#) commentary
clue#) commentary
***N.B. the space after the right parenthesis is mandatory
EVERY LINE of comments must be preceded by the clue number. Comments
will be reported in the PVPCWC results, anonymously unless you choose
to identify yourself within them. You don't need to comment at all if
you don't want to, but most clue writers do appreciate comments.
Clues that are actual contest entries have positive numbers, from 1
up. Bonus clues have negative numbers, from -1 down -- comment on them
if you wish, but there is no voting. Finally, you can comment on the
contest as a whole by putting 0 for the clue number; these remarks
will appear at the top of the results posting.
Blank lines are ignored.
***N.B. The dash separators around your ballot are mandatory.
This is a sample ballot:
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1 = 9.99
1) This was a great clue, made greater by the capitalization of
1) the first word.
2 = 9.99
3 = 3.14
3) I didn't like this clue because it didn't capitalize the
3) the first word.
-1) This bonus clue also capitalized the first word.
0) The moderator picked a great word, because it was easy
0) to write clues that capitalized the first word in the clue.
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HERE ARE THE ALL THE CLUES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
1) A short time after May 5, Her Majesty will confirm Mr Bloom's literary
position (9)
2) Avon lady calling...can Veronica's source beat Sears? (9)
3) Confused savers can get interest rates checked by him (9)
4) He seeks support, the fool, stuck in mysterious cavern (9)
5) Heads of state easily recognised after picture is seen in viewfinder (9)
6) Here's a stumper: may savers waste? (9)
7) One who goes from door to door and carves an S badly (9)
8) One who scrutinizes a painter? (9)
9) One who solicits opinions about a fool is awfully craven (9)
10) One who surveys volume retained by California reservoir (9)
11) Painter, painting first Scottish Queen (9)
12) Party promoter may start to specialize in organized raves (9)
13) Solicitor's right with and without French amendment (9)
14) Victory in a couple of seats starts to excite and reinvigorate campaign
worker (9)
BONUS CLUE(s)
-1) Craven-ass misfit who goes door to door soliciting (9)
HERE THEY ARE AGAIN WITH ONE-LINE SUMMARIES
1) A short time after May 5, Her Majesty will confirm Mr Bloom's literary
position (9)
A+S+S after CAN+V, ER; Bloom's job in _Ulysses_
2) Avon lady calling...can Veronica's source beat Sears? (9)
CAN+V+ASSER Sears*
3) Confused savers can get interest rates checked by him (9)
SAVERS CAN anag
4) He seeks support, the fool, stuck in mysterious cavern (9)
ASS in {CAVERN}
5) Heads of state easily recognised after picture is seen in viewfinder (9)
CANVAS+S+E+R
6) Here's a stumper: may savers waste? (9)
CAN+VASSER (savers anag.)
7) One who goes from door to door and carves an S badly (9)
CARVES AN S anagram
8) One who scrutinizes a painter? (9)
Pun
9) One who solicits opinions about a fool is awfully craven (9)
CRAVEN* about ASS
10) One who surveys volume retained by California reservoir (9)
V retained by (CA + NASSER)
11) Painter, painting first Scottish Queen (9)
CANVAS + S + ER
12) Party promoter may start to specialize in organized raves (9)
CAN + S in RAVES anag
13) Solicitor's right with and without French amendment (9)
"Solicitor" definition; R, AVEC, SANS "amendment" anagram indicator
14) Victory in a couple of seats starts to excite and reinvigorate campaign
worker (9)
CAN(V)ASS+E+R
BONUS CLUE(s)
-1) Craven-ass misfit who goes door to door soliciting (9)
CRAVEN ASS anagram
HERE THEY ARE AGAIN WITH EXPLANATIONS
--------------------------------
1) A short time after May 5, Her Majesty will confirm Mr Bloom's literary
position (9)
A = A
short = S
time = S(econd)
after: the above goes after the following two:
May = CAN
5 = V
Her Majesty = ER
will confirm: link (the cryptic part can confirm that one has the
correct answer to the definition)
Mr Bloom's literary position: Definition, Leopold Bloom's job in
_Ulysses_ was as an ad canvasser for a newspaper
--------------------------------
2) Avon lady calling...can Veronica's source beat Sears? (9)
Avon lady calling = definition
can = en clair fodder
Veronica's source = V 1st letter
beat = anagram indicator
Sears = anagram of asser
--------------------------------
3) Confused savers can get interest rates checked by him (9)
'savers can' anagram
'get' is a link word
'interest rates checked by him' is the def - a canvasser
checks the rate of interest in a political party among
the electorate, for example.
--------------------------------
4) He seeks support, the fool, stuck in mysterious cavern (9)
He seeks support = definition;
the fool = ASS;
stuck in = insertion indicator;
mysterious = anag. indicator;
mysterious cavern ---> CANVER
--------------------------------
5) Heads of state easily recognised after picture is seen in viewfinder (9)
Heads of state easily recognised = S E R
Picture = CANVAS
Is seen in = link
Viewfinder = (slightly cryptic) definition
--------------------------------
6) Here's a stumper: may savers waste? (9)
Here's a stumper = canvasser in its meaning as a campaigning politician
(stumper in the surface reading is an American idiom for a baffling
question)
may = can
savers = anag. fodder
waste = anag. indicator
--------------------------------
7) One who goes from door to door and carves an S badly (9)
One who goes from door to door = CANVASSER
and = link
carves an S = anagram fodder
badly = anagram indicator
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8) One who scrutinizes a painter? (9)
One def of "canvass" is "to scrutinize" (to examine thoroughly)
A painter is someone who applies paint to a canvass.
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9) One who solicits opinions about a fool is awfully craven (9)
One who solicits opinions = def
about A is B = B in A
a fool = ASS
awfully = anag ind, thus awfully craven = CANV ER
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10) One who surveys volume retained by California reservoir (9)
one who surveys = CANVASSER
volume = V
California = CA
reservoir = NASSER (man-made lake in Egypt)
V retained by (CA + NASSER) = CANVASSER
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11) Painter, painting first Scottish Queen (9)
Painter = def. = CANVASSER
Painting = CANVAS
First (S)cottish = S
Queen = ER
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12) Party promoter may start to specialize in organized raves (9)
'Party promoter' is the definition
'may' is CAN
'start to specialize' is S
'organized raves' is VASER
--------------------------------
13) Solicitor's right with and without French amendment (9)
"Solicitor" definition
R, AVEC, SANS = anagram fodder
"amendment" anagram indicator
--------------------------------
14) Victory in a couple of seats starts to excite and reinvigorate campaign
worker (9)
Victory = V
a couple of seats (anatomical) = CAN and ASS
starts to excite and reinvigorate = E + R
CAN(V)ASS+E+R = campaign worker
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BONUS CLUE(S)
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-1) Craven-ass misfit who goes door to door soliciting (9)
Craven-ass - fodder
misfit - anag. indicator
who goes door to door soliciting - defines CANVASSER