Clue Challenge: NOCTURNAL

As it’s a fine distinction, I haven’t ruled out such adverbial definitions, but I have noted them as borderline. Definitions where the writer has taken the trouble to specify the adjective are better. One definition that initially seemed odd was “of night”, but that’s given explicitly in Collins English Dictionary, so it’s OK.

A few clues used URINAL in the wordplay. The Times tends to shy away from lavatorial references, but I didn’t think this was a strong enough reason to disqualify those clues.

There were comments on the Club’s bulletin board about last month’s judging, to which I sent a response, but the moderators seem to have suppressed it, so let me explain myself here. In my comments I try to cover everything that affects whether or not a clue is a competition winner. Some things I criticise (such as definition by example, eg “flat” for “pad”) do actually get published in The Times. My criticism doesn’t necessarily mean they’re absolutely taboo, but I’m trying to identify what makes one clue weaker than another. I may have quibbles about a clue, but a spark of brilliance can sometimes trump minor infelicities, making it a winner.

This month’s £50 prize goes to Gordon Wasserman for a clue with an entertaining image.

1st
Gordon Wassermann
Ran to lunch, confused after losing an hour of the night (9)
This gives a jumble of RAN TO LUNCH minus H. The wordplay runs smoothly into the definition, “of the night”, producing a natural surface sense about the danger of missing an appointment because of the onset of daylight saving.

2nd
Nesta Thomas
At sea, count on Senior Service chap active at night (9)
This has a jumble (at sea) of COUNT + RN (Senior Service, ie the Royal Navy) + AL. I’m not keen, as a rule, on using names defined as “chap” etc, since there are so many for a solver to choose from, but as the other parts are quite straightforwardly indicated here, this example is forgivable. The definition, “active at night”, is fine and the whole clue gives a natural, convincing surface sense.

3rd
Margaret Irvine
Notts’ opening pair go in short order - like a bat? (9)
The wordplay here is NO(TTS) + TURN (go) in CAL(L), expressed in a wording that gives a natural cricket image. Solvers might have difficulty getting “call” from “order” - the meanings are similar when calling a halt, a strike or a truce, but not in many other uses.

Runners-up: Ross Elliffe, Richard Royston, Martin Smith, Paul Walpole, Anthony Whitting

Comments on individual clues (runner-up clues marked with [R]):

Acorn found left with nut assortment? That’s bats! (9)
Bats are nocturnal creatures but “that’s bats” doesn’t mean “nocturnal”. The wordplay is a jumble of ACORN, L and NUT, but “found” doesn’t seem to have any function in the cryptic reading.

Active at night, not about to be caught, Little Woman abandons ledger (9)
The wordplay is C (circa, about) in NOT + JOURNAL minus JO. For the first part, “X Y to be caught” is a bit stilted when “Y to be caught by X” is meant. Jo March is one of the sisters in the novel Little Women; referring to her as a Little Woman (singular and capitalised) isn’t entirely logical, though it’s clear what’s intended. The components of the clue don’t make a very cohesive surface sense.

Active during night-time party - get up and go lad! (9)
The wordplay is CON reversed + TURN (go) + AL (lad). For the first part, the solver has to get from “party” to the Conservative party, then to the abbreviation “Con” and reverse it, which is quite a bit of work; and “X - get up” doesn’t read naturally as saying “X got up” or “get X up”.

Actor left nun roundabout midnight (9)
To indicate the anagram of ACTOR L NUN, “roundabout” needs to be the one-word adjective meaning “circuitous”, as shown, but for the surface sense it needs to be the pronoun phrase “round about”. The definition’s a bit iffy - nocturnal events may be several hours away from midnight - but, worse, since “roundabout” is used in the wordplay, it can’t also be part of the definition.

A dab of new colourant masking an old splash of dark (9)
This has N(EW) + a jumble of COLOURANT minus O (old), but “X splash” wouldn’t be used in The Times to mean “rearrangement of X”. Constructions like “a dab of X”, meaning “the first letter of X”, are also not part of The Times style. “Nocturnal” can mean “of the night”, but “of dark” isn’t precise enough to be fair.

After downright bluff, earn on a call at the end of the night (9)
The wordplay here is CON reversed + TURN + A + (CAL)L. A bluff and a con are both types of deception, but conning doesn’t necessarily involve bluffing. I don’t see how “downright” can refer to CON being read upwards. “Earn” is a difficult definition for TURN (as a profit) but it’s supported by the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. The surface sense suggests an all-night poker game, though using “bluff” to strengthen that puts some strain on the cryptic reading.

After having pushed Ernie, we hear, Al enjoys nightlife (9)
“Enjoys nightlife” is a verb so it can’t work as a definition for the adjective “nocturnal”. The wordplay is a homophone of KNOCKED ERN (Ernie) + AL, but there’s room for doubt over whether “knocked” ends with a D or a T sound.

A Norn cult messed about during the night (9)
“During the night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is a jumble of A NORN CULT, giving a convincing surface sense suggesting worshippers of the Norse Fates.

Artificial lifeform with night-vision manages to see through a no-turn and come out in the end (9)
The intention here is that C is in NO TURN with AL finishing, but the clue doesn’t say that. AL isn’t in the dictionaries as an abbreviation for “artificial life form” so the clue would need to indicate that only the initials are wanted. “With night-vision” doesn’t necessarily mean “nocturnal”, and having the definition interrupting the wordplay breaks the clue’s logical structure. “See” doesn’t mean C in the two official dictionaries, and the construct “manages to X through a Y” doesn’t convey “X in Y”.

At night, a bit of vaudeville? Upwardly mobile jailbird finds it below him, but Mr. Jolson doesn’t (9)
(No explanation given.)

Bat-like, owl-like, sounds like rap act by a student (9)
This has a homophone of KNOCK (rap) + TURN + A + L (student). Homophones can be risky for elements such as NOC that aren’t words and therefore don’t have an established pronunciation. To indicate the homophone, it really needs to say “something that sounds like X” rather than just “sounds like X”.

Between onset and completion of nightfall court an impropriety in the dark (9)
“In the dark” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb (apart from its idiomatic meaning of “ignorant”). The wordplay has a jumble of COURT AN in N(IGHTFAL)L, but I don’t think “impropriety” would be used in The Times for an anagram.

Cannot rule out ecstasy when circulating by night (9)
“By night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is a jumble of CANNOT RULE minus E (ecstasy), but I don’t think “X out Y” reads naturally as meaning “X with Y taken out”.

Caught in no fit state at night (9)
[R] “At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is C (caught) in NO + TURN (fit, attack of illness) + AL (Alabama). The concise wording gives a very neat surface reading.

Caught short, with almost no “gents” around at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The intended wordplay is CT in NO UR(I)NAL(S), but it’s not reasonable to expect a solver to understand “almost” as meaning that the third and last letters are omitted. “Ct” as an abbreviation for “caught” isn’t in the standard dictionaries (Collins has it as short for “court”).

Change of direction on nuclear and coal burning relatively unenlightened? (9)
The wordplay is supposed to be TURN in N + a jumble of COAL, but “X on Y” doesn’t mean “X in Y”. N for nuclear isn’t used in The Times but the abbreviation is in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary so it’s OK for this competition. “Burning” doesn’t imply rearrangement so it doesn’t work to indicate the jumble. The definition is too loose to be of use to the solver - it suggests “darker” rather than “nocturnal”.

City roused by noisy rap artist performing after dark (9)
This has a homophone of KNOCK + TURN + LA reversed. Homophones can be risky for elements such as NOC that aren’t words and therefore don’t have an established pronunciation. To indicate the homophone, I don’t think “noisy” would be used in The Times; it means “with a lot of unwelcome sound”, not “having the same sound”. The two official dictionaries define a turn only as a short performance, not the performer, but I think the usage is reasonably familiar (The Chambers Dictionary has it, and the OED quotes this use from The Times in 1907). “City” for LA is more vague than it needs to be; there’s no need to avoid mentioning that it’s in the US.

Clan run to massacre in the night (9)
“In the night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. For the wordplay, a jumble of CLAN RUN TO, “X massacre” is probably too fanciful as an indication of the anagram. The Times style tends to stick to words that have a literal meaning of rearrangement or misspelling.

Confused learner ran after strange count - like Dracula, say? (9)
The wordplay here is a jumble of COUNT + a jumble of L RAN. The clue is sound and the definition ties up nicely with the mention of a count; the presence of a learner is less well integrated into the surface sense.

Confused nobleman turns up computer network right after dark (9)
“After dark” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb (“after-dark events” would be fine). The wordplay is a jumble of COUNT + LAN R reversed. In an anagram, the letters to be jumbled should be given explicitly in the clue, though occasional very clear equivalences may be used for a few letters; “nobleman” for COUNT is too indirect. The construct “X turns up Y” isn’t quite right; what it wants to say is “X, Y turned up”.

Con goes round the bend when faced with gangster at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is CON reversed + TURN (the bend) + AL. Despite being a crossword clich?, “gangster” for AL is weak. The gangster in question can be named as “Capone” but “Al” without any established context wouldn’t identify him.

Desperate men may go here (not I) following leads of numerous other Cassanova types preferring night-time activity (9)
The wordplay is N(UMEROUS) O(THER) C(ASSANOVA) T(YPES) + URINAL minus I. Defining something by making a statement about it, using “here”, “this” etc, only really works for the whole answer to the clue, not for parts of the word. The dictionaries don’t give a specifically bladder-related meaning for “desperate”, so the definition for URINAL is a bit vague. I’m not penalising the clue for the misspelling of “Casanova”, which would easily be fixed in the editing.

Diet friendly? With a roll in the middle of the night! (9)
The wordplay has TURN (a roll) in NOCAL. Although “no-cal”, meaning “containing zero calories”, can be found in product advertising etc, it’s not yet mainstream enough to appear in the dictionaries. The Times crossword style avoids such trendy coinages, but it might sneak in with a much more precise definition so that solvers could work it out. TURN doesn’t appear exactly in the middle of NOCAL (difficult, since it has an odd number of letters).

Disturbed, Ann left court at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is a straightforward jumble of ANN L COURT. The surface sense is reasonable, though the use of an arbitrary name weakens its impact.

Even locations in Union City unrentable at night! (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. That said, it’s quite an achievement to get a reasonable surface sense with the wordplay taking so many alternate letters from (U)N(I)O(N) C(I)T(Y) U(N)R(E)N(T)A(B)L(E).

First nine units from lunar control group to be active by night (9)
Specifying the letters in the jumble of LUNAR CONT(ROL) as “first nine units from ...” is unusual but quite accurate, so it’s fair to the solver. However, “group” doesn’t really have enough sense of rearrangement to indicate the jumbling. The definition, “active by night”, is fine.

I leave pissoir after short piece at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. For the wordplay, NOCT(URNE) + URINAL minus I, the cryptic reading needs to say that the letter I “leaves”, not “leave”. Conventionally, “short X” means “X with the last letter removed”; expecting the solver to chop an arbitrary number of letters off something defined as vaguely as “piece” would be unfair.

Knight called out, treating lieutenant with rancour (9)
The indented definition is “night”, defined in the Collins English Dictionary as a modifier which has the right meaning in phrases like “I’m a night person”. But a modifier isn’t quite an adjective; it only acts like one when combined with another word, so using it on its own to define an adjective isn’t fair to a solver. If that were allowed, virtually any noun could define an adjective. Worse, the clue contains only a cryptic indication (a homophone) of “night”, which is far too indirect. The wordplay gives a jumble of LT and RANCOUR, but that has two Rs instead of the two Ns in NOCTURNAL.

Lack of energy briefly circumscribes opportunity for action occurring at night (9)
The wordplay here is TURN (opportunity for action) in NO CAL, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect solvers to deduce NO CAL (ie zero calories) from “lack of energy briefly”. The definition “occurring at night” is fine.

Late-night hit on Radio One Jilted John (9)
I’m not sure how many Times solvers would remember the 1978 single “Jilted John”, but it’s not necessary to solve the clue. The wordplay is a homophone of KNOCKED + URINAL minus I. Homophones can be risky, especially for elements such as NOCT that aren’t words, and there’s room for doubt over whether “knocked” ends with a D or a T sound. The surface sense here is good but the cryptic reading suffers for it. In particular, it’s difficult to read “X jilted Y” as meaning “Y with X removed”; I don’t think you’d see it in The Times.

Like all nighttime revellers, unflagging till complaints of neighbours start up (9)
This is an “&lit” clue, where the whole clue constitutes the definition while also giving the wordplay. The definition reading is entertaining, though it might be improved with a question mark to flag its facetiousness. As wordplay, it indicates the reversal (up) of the initial letters L(IKE) A(LL) N(IGHTTIME) R(EVELLERS) U(NFLAGGING) T(ILL) C(OMPLAINTS) O(F) N(EIGHBOURS). This requires “start” to be read as a verb, meaning “[these words] start”, but indicating initial letters in that way isn’t done in The Times.

Like Dracula, perhaps, batty Count starts to retreat nervously afore light (9)
The definition is entertaining, tying in with the punning “batty” count. The wordplay is sound, a jumble of COUNT + R(ETREAT) N(ERVOUSLY) A(FORE) L(IGHT), though the archaic “afore” sticks out like a sore thumb.

Loan cut, Northern Rock’s heads roll, getting active when things look black (9)
The wordplay is cleverly topical, giving a jumble (the letters “roll” around) of LOAN CUT N(ORTHERN) R(OCK). To fit the theme, the definition is a little forced, using “when things look black” to mean the night, but the straightforwardness of the wordplay counterbalances that.

Lunar changes affected heartless count at the onset of night (9)
[R] This has a jumble (affected) of CO(U)NT + a jumble (changes) of LUNAR, with the straightforward definition “of night”. Ideally, I’d prefer “X changes with Y at the onset” as a more fluent alternative to “X changes Y at the onset”. The surface reads smoothly, though the lunar reference is perhaps more relevant to a werewolf more than to Count Dracula.

Lunar confusion after no tips of crescent seen by night (9)
[R] In the wordplay, NO + C(RESCEN)T + a jumble of LUNAR, the moon theme is consistently maintained and tied in with the definition, giving a reasonable surface reading. The definition is perhaps slightly imprecise: “nocturnal” means active, used, done or happening at night, not necessarily seen.

Lunar shift after beginning of ninth and tenth month, briefly at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is N(INTH) + OCT + a jumble of LUNAR, but I don’t think “shift” (a slight change in position) has a strong enough sense of rearrangement.

Most of old can’t run around and don’t sleep at night (9)
The wordplay gives a jumble of OL(D) CAN’T RUN, but the definition “don’t sleep at night” can’t be substituted for NOCTURNAL in a sentence. It needs to be something like “not sleeping at night”.

Navy base eight around vessel at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is N + URN in OCTAL (base eight), but N isn’t used in The Times as an abbreviation for “navy”; it’s not in either of the reference dictionaries (see the competition rules).

Night dwelling count mysteriously hovers over navy boy (9)
“Night dwelling” is a bit odd to describe being active at night, for both the cryptic and surface readings. The wordplay is a jumble of COUNT + RN + AL (boy), but “mysteriously” doesn’t carry enough sense of rearrangement to be a suitable anagram indicator for The Times.

Nightly turn in Northern pub - fifty leave (9)
The wordplay is TURN in N (northern) + LOCAL (pub) minus L. It’s generally preferable, though not essential, to indicate which L is removed if there’s more than one. To be grammatically correct in the cryptic reading, the clue needs to say that L, the Roman numeral for 50, “leaves”, not “leave”.

No change in state at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is efficient and reads smoothly: NO + TURN (change) in CAL (California).

Occurring at night, the Ashes’ holder seized by nightmare - Oz cricketers thrashed at Lord’s initially (9)
[R] The wordplay here is URN (the Ashes’ holder) in N(IGHTMARE) O(Z) C(RICKETERS) T(HRASHED) A(T) L(ORD’S). The surface reading gives a reasonably convincing description of an Australian cricket team’s nightmare.

Old copper with lantern out east gets disorientated in the night-time (9)
“In the night-time” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is a jumble of O (old), CU (copper) and LANTERN minus E, but I don’t think “X out Y” reads naturally as meaning “X with Y taken out”.

Our cat starts to nibble neighbour’s lunch confusedly at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is a jumble of OUR CAT N(IBBLE) N(EIGHBOUR’S) L(UNCH). The surface sense is reasonable but not exciting.

Prisoner and gangster out at night (9)
“Out at night” is OK as the definition. The wordplay requires the solver to read NOC TURN as indicating CON, with AL appended. The first part could be clever, but it would need to be signposted more clearly to be fair. Despite being a crossword cliche, “gangster” for AL is weak. The gangster in question can be named as “Capone” but “Al” without any established context wouldn’t identify him.

Ran cult: no fly-by-night (9)
“By night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is a jumble of RAN CULT NO. The most apt meaning of “fly” I can find in the standard dictionaries is “flutter in the wind”, but I think that’s still rather fanciful for The Times style. The style also outlaws the use of hyphens that don’t make sense in the cryptic reading (such as shackling the wordplay and definition together).

Retarded criminal and gangster round the twist; active at night (9)
The wordplay here is CON reversed + TURN (twist) + AL. Although “retarded” can be defined as “held back”, this doesn’t mean a change of direction but a slowing down of progress etc; thus it doesn’t work as an indicator of the reversal of CON (even if it were an Across answer). Despite being a crossword clich?, “gangster” for AL is weak. The gangster in question can be named as “Capone” but “Al” without any established context wouldn’t identify him.

The darkness encourages nun to carol out (9)
(No explanation given.)

The French trick, rising, takes short walk at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is TURN (short walk) in a reversal of LA + CON, but “takes” has so many meanings that it doesn’t give a very clear sense of containment. Something more specific would be more in The Times style.

The night neurosis starts, ocular confusion follows; hardly attributes of one described as this (9)
This intends a jumble of T(HE) N(IGHT) N(EUROSIS) and OCULAR, but with the use of “follows” it actually suggests TNN + a jumble of OCULAR (assuming one’s happy with “X starts” for “X’s starts”). The definition tries to connect with the wordplay, but it doesn’t logically follow that a nocturnal person is free from night-time neuroses or visual difficulties.

Time to study elevated lunar activity - at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is a reversal of T CON + a jumble of LUNAR. For the anagram, I could imagine “active X” in The Times, but not “X activity”, as “activity” means “busy movement”, not “the result of something having moved busily”. The “study” meaning of “con” is archaic; the clue should indicate that. To indicate the reversal, “elevated” is debatable: it means “moved to a higher position”, not really “oriented upwards”.

Tipsy count regularly drank all night (9)
This uses a jumble of COUNT + (D)R(A)N(K) A(L)L. The definition is just “night”, defined in the Collins English Dictionary as a modifier which has the right meaning in phrases like “I’m a night person”. But a modifier isn’t quite an adjective; it only acts like one when combined with another word, so using it on its own to define an adjective isn’t fair to a solver. If that were allowed, virtually any noun could define an adjective.

Turn the French trick: turn in at night (9)
“At night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay has TURN in a reversal of LA + CON. The surface reading has consistency.

Upstanding prisoner gets fit with others legally after dark (9)
“After dark” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb (“after-dark events” would be fine). The wordplay is CON reversed + TURN (fit) + AL, but “al.” by itself isn’t an established abbreviation for “others”, and in “et al.” it’s not particularly a legal abbreviation.

Up with wind, nearly all through the night (9)
“Through the night” is borderline as the definition, suggesting an adverb. The wordplay is CON reversed + TURN (wind, as a verb) + AL(L). I was surprised to see “con” listed by itself in the Collins English Dictionary, meaning “with” in a musical sense. It would be fairer to give the solver an indication of this restricted musical context, but that would probably hurt the very convincing surface reading. Signalling the reversal, if “up” is an adverb, it would be more natural to say “X up” or “up, X”; if it’s an imperative verb, the overall cryptic structure should be something like “up X before Y”, not just “up X Y”.

Wayward cult ran on, active through the night (9)
[R] This has a straightforward jumble of CULT RAN ON and a perfectly good adjectival definition, in a natural surface reading.

When night falls, I leave a bunch of cilantro with the peacekeepers (9)
It’s difficult to find a sentence in which “when night falls” could be an adjective, like NOCTURNAL; it’s more likely an adverb or a noun. “A bunch of X” doesn’t have enough sense of jumbling to indicate the anagram of CILANTRO minus I and UN (peacekeepers). To be grammatically correct in the cryptic reading, the clue needs to say that the letter I “leaves” CILANTRO, not “leave”.

Working by moonlight, Enoch ate burnt calf innards (9)
For the wordplay, taking the internal letters of (E)NOC(H) (A)T(E) (B)URN(T) (C)AL(F), it’s better to say “X’s innards” than “X innards”, and the apostrophe-S wouldn’t harm the surface reading. The clue does well to avoid the adverbial “at night” for the definition, but unfortunately comes up with something looser: moonlight isn’t necessary for nocturnal activities.

Working nightly (Dracula not wanting daylight possibly?) (9)
This is quite a nice example of a “composite anagram &lit” clue. The whole clue gives the wordplay, a jumble (working) of NIGHTLY DRACULA NOT minus a jumble of DAYLIGHT, and the whole clue can also be read as the definition. Sadly, composite anagrams aren’t used in The Times, so this clue breaks the first rule of the competition.