Results: Clue writing contest 1989 Pierrot
Winner
Lynne Davis, London NW7
Buffoon in dock starts to rage over trial
Buffoon = definition
in = link between definition and wordplay
dock = PIER
starts to rage over trial = R, O, T
Which buffoon is being described in the surface reading is left to the solver to decide, though I think your guess may be the same as mine. You may think, as I initially did, that a pier is part of a dock, but the first definition for “dock” in Collins English Dictionary is “a wharf or pier”. I also wondered about “buffoon”, but its first definition in Collins seems broad enough to include “pierrot”, in both its “male sad clown” meaning and the “similarly dressed clown” one.
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Good clues
Neil Mondal, Harrow, London
Clown who looks sad prior to event starts to stir
This clue uses an anagram of (prior, T~ E~). The link between person and action seems a shade stronger in the winning clue, but apart from the last word identifying the action, the surface reading of this one is very good indeed.
Joe Jenkinson, Bristol
I’m known to be sad as ripe bananas go mouldy
I don’t think rotting food is always mouldy, so strictly there’s a shade of definition by example for ROT after the anagram of RIPE, but on the other hand, “ripe bananas” stands at least some chance of disguising the anagram indicator.
Piers Ruff, Eastleigh, Hampshire
Corruption behind seaside attraction saddened performer
This was my favourite among clues using the fairly obvious PIER+ROT wordplay, and has a good surface reading, with “saddened performer” indicating the “sad clown” meaning.
Elizabeth Manning, Malvern, Worcestershire
Clown is to do something silly with leader of orchestra in area by stage
For those of the right generation, I think this clue is pretty certain to suggest one of Morecambe and Wise’s best-known sketches, though in a circus or panto context it could describe something different. The word play is (ERR = do something silly, O~) in PIT = area by stage (often containing an orchestra, as it happens).
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Terry Neale, Orton, Cumbria
Wigan has long been associated with this rubbish comedian
This is another clue using PIER + ROT. The indication taking advantage of Wigan pier is much longer than the single-word other components, which could be deceptive. But I can’t link Wigan with comedians (good or bad) except as a sample town in Lancashire, which seems to have supplied a lot of well-known ones.
Jonathan Peters, Dunblane, Perthshire
Ape that is playing the part of a clown
Tim Lavender, Tonbridge, Kent
Ape that is taking the place of a famous clown
These two clues use “letter swap” wordplay, with “ie” replacing the A in parrot = ape = imitate. One possible educational benefit of cryptic crosswords is clarifying the difference between ie and eg, for solvers who don’t know the meanings of the Latin phrases they stand for.
Ciaran Daly, Cork, Ireland
Mimic that is standing in for a French clown
Ron Elliott, Earl Sterndale, Derbyshire
Mimic that’s masking a clown
These clues use the same wordplay, but a different verb (or noun in the surface reading) which is a synonym for “parrot”.
Steve Randall, Reading
Buffoon that is engaged in marketing pants
In the wordplay here “marketing pants” is the “PR rot” containing ie. Whether the surface reading is really about underwear promotion may depend on your level of cynicism about marketing.
Luciano Ward, Evanston, Illinois, USA
Frenchman largely reverted to being a clown
The Frenchman here is “Pierre”, most which precedes OT as “reverting to”.
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William Kelly, Southsea, Hampshire
After Columbine, he was heartbroken
The French pantomime version of Pierrot loved Columbine, but lost her to Harlequin. This clue disguises that interpretation by using the more recent meaning of Columbine. It makes sense as a good cryptic definition clue, but using an event like that for entertainment purposes when it’s recent enough to conceivably have affected someone solving the puzzle seems inappropriate.
Some comments on other clues
Clown of a detective releases second character without hesitation
The detective here is Poirot, with ER inserted after losing his second letter. When you need to combine the result of something like “detective releases second character” with something else in the wordplay, my usual preference is to use a verb form like “releasing”, as this seems to reduce the need to convert the indication to its result before continuing with “without hesitation”. This clue is also subject to the usual problem with “character” — anyone who has done cryptic crosswords for a year or two will know that it’s practically guaranteed to mean “letter”.
Vacuous trouper, his heart broken
This is intended as an all-in-one/&lit clue, and as far as the definition reading is concerned, I don’t mind characterising Pierrot as vacuous. But in the wordplay, “vacuous” is intended to indicate the removal of U from “trouper” before adding I = “his heart” and anagramming. If vacuous means “empty”, I think “vacuous trouper” has to mean TR rather than TROPER.
Clown, made a blunder amidst ground floor of theatre
My first point about this clue is a minor one. The comma after clown seems unnecessary. I’m struggling to think of a sample sentence with a comma there, except when it’s the first of two commas. It’s a problem that’s very easily fixed, but a careful crossword setter would notice it and remove it before sending their puzzle. As there were no explanatory notes, I’m not sure whether “made a blunder” or “a blunder” is intended to indicate ERR or ERRO(r). As “ground floor of a theatre auditorium” is a meaning of “pit”, the second seems to be intended, but we need a word like “mostly” to indicate that the last letter of “error” isn’t being used. The word “made” doesn’t really fit — the wordplay makes a synonym of “clown”, but “clown” doesn’t make the rest of the clue except as one of many possible ways of indicating one of many possible forms of wordplay.
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Sad faced extemporiser is upset not having sex with me
Although “extemporiser” isn’t a very common word, it’s in Collins and its meaning is easy to see from “extemporiser”, so the surface story is at least a possibility. If we subtract words from a longer word to produce an anagram, we normally indicate an anagram of the words like “sex (with) me” unless they’re in the longer word in the right order. This could be done easily enough with something like “kinky sex with me”. As the definition, “sad faced” won’t do — it’s a definition (rather than possibile description) for something like “miserable”. This could also be fixed fairly easily, with “One sad-faced”, meaning a sad-faced person.
Clue writing contest 1992 Regatta
You are invited to write an original cryptic clue for the word above, in our cryptic crossword style. Email your entry to puzzle.entries@sunday-times.co.uk. The contest closes on Monday, November 6 and the best entry wins a £25 Waterstones voucher.