Cryptic Voting - HYDRANT posted

[Suspence]

We'll use this thread as an ongoing cryptic writing competition. Here's how it will work:

1) The assigned word will be posted in this thread
2) You submit cryptic clues for that word in this thread. Please post them in spoiler tags. Honor system applies, please don't peruse other clues before writing your own.
3) Once we get 5 entries, we'll post the clues in a poll
4) People vote on the best clue. You may not vote for your own clue. If you posted a clue, it would be appreciated if you also cast a vote.
5) Once the voting seems to have stagnated, we'll declare a winner
6) The winner will pick a new word, and we'll start all over. If the winner would like to generate a random word, they may find this site helpful - http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/randomword/randomwordplus.aspx

Current Word:
...

Previous Winners:
COPPICE - Copulation ends prematurely - epic failure in the bushes. (Elethiomel)
OSPREY - Yes, pro wrestling is a feather in the cap. (Elethiomel)
FECUNDITY - Fertility god loses left eye after engaging cheer leaders in merry-making. (Zag)
CELIBATE - Cold reflux of alkaline fluid eroded continent. (novice)
COLLAPSE - Rise out of solar eclipse, carelessly fall down. (Amb)
TRIVIAL PURSUIT - Six getting into trouble following a board game. (Suspence) <<< BEST-SO-FAR WINNER FOR FIRST 10 CRYPTICS
TORNADO - Vacillating stir of activity! (Dej Mar)
SAND - Smooth tan. (Thok)
CHAMPION - Promote the winner (3iff)
UNIVERSAL - They make movies everywhere! (Amb)
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NUDISTS - Bananas conceal fake IDs for naked men. (Elethiomel)
HUSBAND - Help! A plug is stuck inside the wife's better half. (Elethiomel)
SAKE - Reason for odd sparkle. (Thok)
TWILIGHT - Close embraces will cut short the evening. (DejMar)
RADICAL = Extremist, branching out, hangs on to Communist beginnings (Zag)
Standings:
4 Wins
Elethiomel
2 Wins
Amb
Thok
Dej Mar
Zag
1 Win
novice
Suspence
3iff
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Current word (chosen by Elethiomel) is COPPICE.

[Suspence]

Lawman takes the final chop to kill the forest. (7)
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Elethiomel]

Many thanks for hosting this, Suspence!

[Suspence]

No problem. After hosting a full-on competition, this format seemed like a breeze.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[3iff]

My entry: Policeman with a torn picture of an English wood

Disclaimer: I did see the Elethiomel entry prior to this thread being set up...then realised just how far behind I am...so seeing it in advance did not give me any sort of advantage!

[Suspence]

[Vagrant]

Stand and manage to take snapshot.

It's only 48 seconds old and I already want to amend it.

Manage to acquire small picture stand

[Vagrant]

I kind of had the impression that we were gonna be critiquing/commenting/criticizing/praising as we go and that several amendments would probably happen to each clue prior to the poll.

Have I got that wrong? And if I haven't, why are we spoilering?

[Suspence]

I'm open to whatever format the group thinks is best, but what I had in mind was submitting clues without discussion, voting on them, then discussing. Spoilering would be to ensure that someone else's clue doesn't influence your clue writing.

Again, I'm not saying this is the right way, it's just what I had in mind (based on how the Backronyms thread works). I'm happy to do this in whatever way produces the most fun.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Vagrant]

It's highly likely I've got it wrong. I get lots of things wrong. Just look at the clues I liked in the other contests.

[3iff]

Yeah, submit clues in isolation, vote, then critique. Seems a reasonable way.

I've no issue if players change their entries a few times.

[Elethiomel]

I don't mind if people edit their clues. I figured spoilering the clues might be nice in case someone wants to start with "blank sheets" when composing their clue. But you can still peek at the other clues if you want to; I don't have an issue with that, either.

[novice]

My clue:

Brush with law enforcement with the power to kill.

[Zag]

COPPICE: Manage to keep short film of the thicket.

[DejMar]

Here is my submission for COPPICE.
To effectively handle the difficulty about the photo — crop the hedges. (7)

[Suspence]

That gives us enough for a vote. I'll create a poll when I get back to my computer; it's no fun from a phone. If any others would like to submit, get them in soon.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Poll is up. We've got 7 clues to choose from. We can begin discussing them as well.

I voted for Elethiomel's as the surface reading was funny.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[novice]

[Zag]

Ditto, except that I think 'failure' is a fine anagram indicator and I'm willing to accept just "bushes" and the definition and consider "in the" to be merely glue.

[Vagrant]

Why have you used my first submission and not my amended clue?

[Suspence]

I actually looked for it, but somehow missed it, so I went with the original.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Elethiomel]

I voted for Novice's clue, because I like the "brush" idea, even though it could use a little more polishing.

[DejMar]

[3iff]

Thanks for the explanations. I wasn't understanding the ones that referred to "manage"...but I do now.

[Elethiomel]

I hope I'm not being too presumptuous here, but I went ahead and generated a new random word:

OSPREY

I don't mean to cut short any discussion on the previous word, I just wanted to get the next one up so I could start thinking about it.

[3iff]

I think it's obvious which clue is the winner...when I saw it as a sneak-preview while getting stuck on my clue I immediately knew I wouldn't get anything withing a few light-years of it...

What's annoying about it is that it tells it's own little story.

For my clue, I saw the possibility of using ICE but only had the image of frozen water, not the clever use of the slang term-to kill. I eventually settled with my published clue which needs discussion.

I did have two drafts...is the second one better?
Policeman with a torn picture of an English wood
Policeman with torn picture of English wood

I also came up with an alternative clue...which you can also pick to pieces.

I say without hesitation, copper kills trees.

[novice]

[3iff]

How about "I say without hesitation, copper will kill trees."

[Amb]

"To gain meth and cocaine" =
Cop (Gain)
Meth (P)
Cocaine (Ice?)

I think

Anyway - how is this for odd:
http://www.onelook.com/?w=Coppice&ls=a
http://www.onelook.com/?w=coppice&ls=a

I get different meanings if I search on Coppice and coppice. I have never heard of coppice, and nor will I ever need to use it I think

[DejMar]

The modal verb 'will' is an auxillary verb. Thus, 'will kill' would translate to 'will ice' and not the intended 'ice'.
The verb form required would be the base/first-person present simple form, though the infinitive form would also be acceptable.

[Elethiomel]

@3iff: "will kill" doesn't really work, either. You need to look for a way to fit in "to kill" or just "kill". Something like "Without hesitation, copper is said to kill trees." Or maybe, switching to another definition, and taking "copper" to mean policeman:

Copper harbors no hesitation to kill scrub. (7)

As an aside, my first stab at a clue for COPPICE had the same basic idea as the one I went with, but I have a feeling it wouldn't make it past a serious crossword editor.

Epic failure chasing snatch in the bushes. (7)

In the end, I decided to look for something slightly more subtle.

[3iff]

Thanks...it seems I often find myself struggling to get the right word(s) to make things fit properly...and fail most times.

[DejMar]

Of the seven clues not my own, I consider these three to be good cryptics.
Copulation ends prematurely - epic failure in the bushes.
Stand and manage to take the snapshot. (I almost voted for this one!)
Manage to keep short film of the thicket.
All the others were not bad, they just seemed to need a little refinement.
(3iff, the first wording of "Policeman with a torn picture of an English wood." has a better surface read, but it is not as "cryptically accurate" as the second wording, And, even then, I feel it would need a bit more polishing.).

I am curious as to how others would critique my submission:
To effectively handle the difficulty about the photo — crop the hedges.
Cropping is a technique used in photography to remove parts of a photo that are unwanted. I felt I handled the wordplay well.
What do you think?

[Elethiomel]

I thought it was fine, but a little wordy. You could strike "effectively", for starters. Also, "crop the hedges" seems slightly inaccurate as a definition. Still, the clue certainly works and the surface reading is good.

[3iff]

DejMar

To effectively handle the difficulty about the photo — crop the hedges.

When I read that, it's just a tad too close to "crop the edges" which is what someone might do to a picture/photo and for me it disrupts the reading of the clue.

[novice]

[DejMar]

Elethiomel,

When you think you have your cryptic completed, tell me what you think about these for OSPREY.

Predatory flyer is a returned infestation of the plant-decayer — Psocoptera.
OSPREY // retptoc(OSPREY)acedtnalp
clue definition: predatory flyer
definition-wordplay link word: is
reversal and embedded word indicators: a returned infestation of the
{target: 'plant-decayer — Psocoptera' ~> 'retptoc(OSPREY)acedtnalp'}

Spy pocketed a second note. First it's the cipher: "FISH HAWK".
O+SP(RE)Y // OSPREY
container indicator: pocketed {container: SPY, contains: RE = a second note}
wordplay placement indicator: First it's the {target: O = cipher}
clue definition: fish hawk

[Elethiomel]

Here's mine for OSPREY:

Yes, pro wrestling is a feather in the cap. (6)

I've been wrestling with a lot of variations, but I'll go with that one, for now.

[3iff]

Mine for OSPREY

Spore acquires chromosome and evolves into raptor