Cryptic Contest III- results posted.

[Suspence]

Votes sent. Is there a voting deadline?
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[groza528]

Surely you could have chosen a metal for 4th. Who doesn't want the prestigious tin medal? I'd have said aluminum if I wasn't afraid of the fallout related to the spelling controversy.

[Vagrant]

[Thok]

Votes sent.

[novice]

Sent.

[Vagrant]

I should also have added that anybody can vote. Those who submitted clues must vote and give four placings - anybody else can vote and can give as many or as few placings as they like.

More votes would be good ... there's currently only 1 point separating 1st and 2nd with only two players left to vote. There's also only 1 point separating 3rd from a three-way tie for 4th.

All bar one of the published clues have bombed spectacularly.

[Elethiomel]

Sent.

[Vagrant]

Any suggestions for what I should do where one player hasn't voted? Should I just post the results anyway? Should I wait a bit and see if somebody offers to proxy vote?

[Elethiomel]

I guess you either wait or just post the results without his votes.

If he scores highly we'll have an excuse for it.

I think this is a fairly informal competition, so I'm not too fussed about the imbalance, personally.

[Vagrant]

It might alter results for individual clues but I don't think it has any chance of changing the overall results.

[Vagrant]

BEHEAD
1st – 15 - 3G 2S 2B - Elethiomel – Alas! German scrambles from beachhead to strike down with vengeance.
2nd – 10 – 2G 2S 0B – Suspence- Maybe he adjusted prisoner’s neck.
3rd – 8 – 2G 1S 0B – Thok – Before initialization code finishes, start to execute.
3rd – 8 – 1G 1S 1B – DejMar – Decapitate and stone the man in the middle.
5th – 4 – 0G 1S 2B – Jack_Ian – He gets a bead on Medusa, for fatal blow.
6th – 2 – 0G 0S 2B – novice – Added entertainment beginning to be had from guillotine.
7th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – Quailman – Decapitate guy in sweat unit.
8th – 0 – 0G 0S 0B – esme – Be CEO?!
8th – 0 – 0G 0S 0B – 3iff – Execute worker inhaling gas today.

OWNERSHIP
1st – 11 - 2G 2S 1B - esme – Crazy whisper: no right to property!
2nd – 8 – 2G 1S 0B – Suspence- Landlords have joint possession of property.
2nd – 8 – 2G 0S 2B – DejMar – Nervously whisper, “No holding.”
2nd – 8 – 1G 2S 1B – Elethiomel – Exclusive rights to scan Debbie Downer’s hippocampus.
5th – 7 – 1G 1S 2B – Thok – Criminal whores pin the deed.
6th – 2 – 0G 1S 0B – novice – Possession is nin tenths of a sniper – how confusing!
6th – 2 – 0G 1S 0B – 3iff – How sniper shot the property.
8th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – Quailman – Sniper who shot stock shares representation.
8th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – Jack_Ian – Title of homeowner’s hippy extract.

PERISH
1st – 16 - 3G 3S 1B – Elethiomel – Discover that the Reaper is here!
2nd – 12 – 3G 1S 2B – Suspence- Secretly, sharecropper is hoping to buy the farm.
3rd – 11 – 2G 2S 1B – novice – Manic hipster has no time to die.
4th – 3 – 0G 1S 1B – Quailman – Publish alternative act for “The Thought”.
5th – 2 – 0G 1S 0B – Thok – The Church says “Die!”
6th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – esme – Decline of newspaper is heartbreaking!
6th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – 3iff – Leper I shave conceals decay.
6th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – Jack_Ian – To check out sniper rifle, Henry cuts north.
9th – 0 – 0G 0S 0B – DejMar – The congregation heard “Depart.”

VOLUME
1st – 12 - 4G 0S 0B – Suspence – Remote setting for a book.
2nd – 9 – 1G 2S 2B – Thok – Mass publication.
3rd – 8 – 1G 2S 1B – Jack_Ian – Space taken on bookshelf.
4th – 7 – 1G 2S 0B – DejMar – “Book ‘em …” makes a return at the end of Five-0 script for “Honolulu’s Last Duet”.
5th – 4 – 0G 1S 2B – Elethiomel – Undeveloped ovule has minute mass.
6th – 3 – 1G 0S 0B – esme – Endless crazy love! Say you and me are content!
6th – 3 – 0G 1S 1B – 3iff – Book size!
8th – 2 – 0G 0S 2B – novice – Sound hesitation to break up playful love.
9th – 0 – 0G 0S 0B – Quailman – TV setting capacity.

WHITEBAIT
1st – 11 - 3G 0S 2B – Quailman – Small fry, spicy, with a bite.
2nd – 9 – 0G 4S 1B – Jack_Ian – Delicious fry is chewed with a bite.
3rd – 7 – 1G 1S 2B – Suspence – Fish with scrambled eggs. At first, a bit unusual.
3rd – 7 – 1G 2S 0B – Thok – What I bite? Fermented fish.
5th – 6 – 2G 0S 0B – Elethiomel – Young schoolers relaxed with a bite.
6th – 3 – 1G 0S 0B – esme – Young fish is served with a bite.
7th – 2 – 0G 0S 2B – DejMar – A small fish attacked with a bite!
7th – 2 – 0G 1S 0B – 3iff – Back a bet with one at sea catching small fish.
9th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – novice – Set dogs upon the heels of something pink, ignoring trace of red herring.

FIVE LETTER ANIMAL
1st – 13 - 3G 2S 0B – novice – Uncovered Eve’s nakedness!
2nd – 11 – 1G 3S 2B – Suspence – Beautiful bird regrets getting its wings clipped.
3rd – 8 – 2G 1S 0B – Jack_Ian – Reset alignment!
4th – 5 – 0G 2S 1B – esme – Cursory control of anonymous edit.
5th – 4 – 1G 0S 1B – Big Bird has wings correctly labelled for little wide-eyed primate.
6th – 3 – 1G 0S 0B – Quailman – Took a picture framing quadruped
7th – 2 – 0G 0S 2B – Elethiomel – Fugitive lost his head for a deadly sin.
7th – 2 – 0G 0S 2B – 3iff – Extra veneer camouflages creature.
9th – 0 – 0G 0S 0B – Thok – I horn toss!

OVERALL
1st – 61 – Suspence
2nd – 51 – Elethiomel
3rd – 33 – Thok
4th – 31 – Jack_Ian
4th – 31 – novice
6th – 29 – DejMar
7th – 23 – esme
8th – 19 – Quailman
9th – 10 – 3iff

BEST INDIVIDUAL CLUES
1st – 16 - 3G 3S 1B – Elethiomel – Discover that the Reaper is here!
2nd – 15 - 3G 2S 2B - Elethiomel – Alas! German scrambles from beachhead to strike down with vengeance.
3rd – 13 - 3G 2S 0B – novice – Uncovered Eve’s nakedness!

VOTES FOR PUBLISHED CLUES
For this one I scored gold (4), silver (3), bronze (2) and tin (1). The number in brackets is a tiebreaker score based on the 3-2-1 scoring of the other clues.
1st – 10(6) – 0-2-2-0 – DejMar
2nd – 7(4) – 1-0-1-1 – Quailman
3rd – 7(3) – 1-0-0-3 – esme

PUBLISHED CLUES

BEHEAD: Top rule?
0 – 0G 0S 0B

OWNERSHIP: New pro – he wins title.
17 – 4G 2S 1B

PERISH: Die through his carelessness
1 – 0G 0S 1B

VOLUME: How big is the book?
2 – 0G 1S 0B

WHITEBAIT: Part that hasn’t caught any rays catches a fish.
0 – 0G 0S 0B

MOOSE: Animal sounds like a cow with the tail of a horse.
3 – 0G 0S 3B

[Vagrant]

My wrap up

Love it or hate it award
12 - 4G 0S 0B – Suspence – Remote setting for a book.
Everyone who liked it gave it gold.

Most underrated clue
0 – 0G 0S 0B – Thok – I horn toss!
I would've given this gold if I'd been voting. I still can't work out what everyone disliked about it. It didn't even get a tin vote.

Most popular clues
16 - 3G 3S 1B – Elethiomel – Discover that the Reaper is here!
15 - 3G 2S 2B - Elethiomel – Alas! German scrambles from beachhead to strike down with vengeance.
The only two clues that got votes from everyone who voted.

[novice]

Good job, everyone.

Random comment:
1st – 11 - 2G 2S 1B - esme – Crazy whisper: no right to property!
2nd – 8 – 2G 0S 2B – DejMar – Nervously whisper, “No holding.”

I think DejMar's version is a lot better.

[3iff]

Well, disappointed at last place but I'm up against some class players.
If anyone cares to pick at my clues I'd appreciate another critique.

(Not sure why we get the PERISH list twice?)

For my voting, I seemed to give everyone some points, Top three were Eleth got 10, esme 8, Thok 5.

[Elethiomel]

Yay! I'm pleasantly surprised by the reception of my clue for BEHEAD, in particular.

Agreed that DejMar's version for OWNERSHIP was better. It bugs me when clues end in an exclamation mark but aren't &lits.

I also agree that "Remote setting for a book" was an excellent clue for VOLUME. (It got a gold medal from me.)

"I horn toss!" looked a bit artificial to me. If "horn toss" is an established verb phrase then that makes it much better. Perhaps I just failed to appreciate this due to my lack of fluency.

[Elethiomel]

Critique for 3iff:

BEHEAD
8th – 0 – 0G 0S 0B – 3iff – Execute worker inhaling gas today.
I actually thought I voted for this... guess it was bumped out at the last minute. I've never seen "today" as a clue for AD before, but nothing really wrong with this clue. I guess what's missing is a surface reading that makes more sense. It's a tough field, so it really takes a strong surface reading to stand out.

OWNERSHIP
6th – 2 – 0G 1S 0B – 3iff – How sniper shot the property.
Again, the clue works well enough syntactically speaking, but the surface reading is slightly nonsensical.

PERISH
6th – 1 – 0G 0S 1B – 3iff – Leper I shave conceals decay.
See above.

VOLUME
6th – 3 – 0G 1S 1B – 3iff – Book size!
I passed over this one due to the exclamation mark, which seems misplaced to me.

WHITEBAIT
7th – 2 – 0G 1S 0B – 3iff – Back a bet with one at sea catching small fish.
Slight minus here for the indirect anagram (one=I). Otherwise it might well have earned a vote from me. (I was actively looking for good clues that didn't use the "with a bite" anagram, to reward originality.)

FIVE LETTER ANIMAL
7th – 2 – 0G 0S 2B – 3iff – Extra veneer camouflages creature.
Good clue, and I considered voting for it. But there were many great clues here, so in the end yours didn't make the cut.

In summary, mostly solid clues, but they lacked that little extra to make it to the top. My advise would be to spend more time looking for idioms or puns that you can integrate into the surface reading before committing to a particular structure for the clue.

For example, you could build on the "inhaling gas" idea to make a clue for BEHEAD along the lines of :
Insect inhales hydrogen and exhales nitrogen, to kill in one fell swoop.

Another approach is to start by looking for clever definitions. They can really raise the quality of a clue. For example, I was happy with my own definition for WHITEBAIT: "Young schoolers". If I had managed to integrate that into a better surface reading, I think it could have been a great clue. "Remote setting" is another great definition from this round.

[3iff]

Thanks...

I agree that many of my clues are 'clunky' and the competition is tough.

I don't see how "Insect inhales hydrogen and exhales nitrogen, to kill in one fell swoop." breaks down. Can you explain?

[Elethiomel]

BE(H)E + AND - N

[Suspence]

Wow! I successfullly defended my CC1 title...sweet! I concentrated heavily on natural surface readings, and it seems to have paid off. None of my clues were spectacular, but I got a decent number of points for each one.

Vagrant, thanks for running this. Some of those published clues were bad

I agree with El that there were quite a few non-&lits that ended with an exclamation point. I know that some of these would've got my vote if the clue ended in a period.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[3iff]

Thanks Elethiomel...I see it now.

[Thok]

Feh, I should have changed my animal clue (and I had one that would have scored better given the crowd.) I still would have finished third however.

[Suspence]

[novice]

Are parish and perish pronounced identically, though?

parish [ˈpærɪʃ]
perish [ˈpɛrɪʃ]

Maybe those clues make sense to a native speaker, but to me they earned instant disqualification...

[Suspence]

I certainly say them the same."PAIR / ISH" for both of them.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[3iff]

Novice, I thought exactly the same. I could not see how those words might be thought to sound alike so I ruled them out of contention.

[Thok]

[Suspence]

[3iff]

I can't decode the phonetics but the closest I can do is this...

PARISH, I pronounce the PAR the same as in PARITY = PAR+ISH
(or even PARIS with an H on the end)

PERISH, PE as in PET or PEN, so PE+RISH

[Suspence]

So PARISH starts with the same sound as PAIR/PEAR/PARE, correct?

I'm still not getting how PERISH is supposed to sound. Like PER (as in "per capita"), like at the start of PERIMETER?
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[novice]

[Suspence]

[3iff]

No...I'm guessing that it's down to our accents that are causing problems.

The PA is like a PAH with a very short A sound as in AH rather that AY.
When you say PARIS, do you say it as PEARIS? (not criticising, just trying to understand). I say it as PA-RIS

PErish is said like PEH with a very short E sound.

Just saw the post from novice and he says those words the same as I do.

...and I would say PA-RA-SHOOT

[Suspence]

Yes, I say the first syllable of PARIS as PAIR/PEAR/PARE.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[3iff]

You're wrong then...

[novice]

Suspence, you need to record those words for us, now I'm intrigued.

Just to explain the phonetics I used:

parish [ˈpærɪʃ]
perish [ˈpɛrɪʃ]

The ' indicates that the stress is on the first syllable.

p = p
æ = the sound heard in the word 'cat'
ɛ = the sound heard in the word 'bed'
r = r
ɪ = i
ʃ = sh

[Vagrant]

In my part of the world ...
... the E in PERISH sounds the same as the E in BED.
... the A in PARISH sounds the same as the A in BAD.
Neither of these sound the same as BEARD or BARED.

[Suspence]

PAIR
PARIS
PARISH
PARACHUTE

http://glpics.com/suspence/pair.wma
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[3iff]

You say PARISH and I hear PERISH...which now makes me wonder how you pronounce PERISH...I'm guessing the same way.

[Elethiomel]

Yeah, I think that's what he was getting at.

[Jack_Ian]

So sorry I didn't vote in this.
Just got snowed under in work.
I'll post my votes later here today with a critique.