From: guy@ulysses.att.com (Guy Jacobson)
Subject: CWC27 Entries
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 22:36:13 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

A very good batch of clues this week, for both words.  I'm especially
impressed by the many good clues for the difficult word kookaburra.
All entries follow, in no particular order.  Bonus clues are marked
with a +, runners-up with a *, and winners with **:
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TRANSPARENT
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Useless start; pen ran colorless! (11)
------- -------------- ---------
 anag.  START  PEN RAN=   def.

A solid clue.  "Useless" isn't the best anagram indicator, though.
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See through phony Spartan tear  (11)
----------- ----- ------- ----
   def.    =anag. SPARTAN+RENT

A good clue, and it makes a measure of sense given the stoic Spartan
character.  The phrase "Spartan tear" reeks of anagram, though, so the
clue is a bit obvious.
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+Frank ran stern PTA assembly (11)
 ----- ------------- --------
 def. =RAN STERN PTA   anag.

Very good clue; nice and short.  I like the deceptive use of "Frank"
as the definition.
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*Frank and I left drills with one of the folks (11)
 ----- --- ------------- ---- ----------------
  def.  =     TRA(i)NS     +      PARENT

Another very good clue, for the same reasons.  Actually a little
better since it is more deceptive (the double meaning of "drills")
and since charades are harder to constuct and solve than anagrams.
This runner-up came from Tovah Hollander.
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**See through pants arent bad with redhead inside (11)
  ----------- ----------- --- -------------------
      def.   =PANTS ARENT anag   around R(ed)

A saucy and delicious clue.  "Redhead" for R is a bit of a cliche,
but it works in this clue.  The winner, by Anil Nair.
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Crystalline bracelet brought on hypnotic state! (11)
----------- -------- ---------- -------- ------
   def.    =PAIR RENT   after    TRANCE  homoph.

	(bracelet = brace + let  = PAIR RENT)

I don't think it's quite fair to expect the solver to convert
"bracelet" into PAIR RENT, and then later to use a homophone.
This clue is too indirect.  It reads naturally, though.

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Easily-read motive for hard-to-read type? (11)
------------------ --- -----------------
       def.         =        def.

    A person with transparent motives is easy-to-read; it would be 
    very hard to read transparent printing.

A good double meaning.  Although it would indeed be hard to read
transparent printing, this definition is not accurate enough
to satisfy me -- I would not be sure that I had solved the clue,
even after I knew the answer.
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Directions to get in hold are not clear (11).
---------- --------- ---- ------- -----
    NS      inside   TRAP+ AREN'T=  def.


I'm not crazy about "Directions" or "Points" when used to specify
an arbitary string in {N,E,S,W}* -- it's too vague.
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*For a brief time, using average instead of one makes it clear (11)
 ----------------  ----- ------- ---------- --- -------- -----
   TRANSIENT,      subst.  PAR        for    I      =     def.

A very clever charade/substitution.  It isn't entirely clear what the
the clue is supposed to mean on the surface, though.  This clue is courtesy
of Ilana Stern.
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*Canvas structure held melted mineral, like glass (11)
 ---------------- ---- ------ -------  ----------
       TENT       around [RAN + SPAR]  =   def.

A very good charade, and fairly decptive, too.  This was set in hot
lead by the redoubtable Jake Bergmann.
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*Open time restricted by a new health club lease (11)
 ---- ---- ---------- -- - --- ----------- -----
 def.= T  +    R      +  A+ N +    SPA    + RENT

Quite a feat to pack all these little pieces together in such a short
and functional clue, by the very busy Ralph Kennedy.

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KOOKABURRA

Two references to the song:

        Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree,
        Merry merry king of the bush is he,
        Laugh, kookaburra; laugh kookaburrra,
        Gay your life must be!

        (lyrics only approximately correct)

and a couple of "laughing jackasses".  While I enjoy these references,
they pose a problem for the clue judge.  Anyone who knows the nickname
"laughing jackass" will be able to solve a clue containing that phrase
immediately without even looking at the cryptic part, while anyone who
doesn't know the nickname won't have a fair shot at it at all.  So the
clue is going to either be too easy or too difficult from the point of
view of a potential solver.  On the other hand, a very vague
definition like "bird" is kind of a cop-out, and had better be coupled
with a very good cryptic reading.

Quite a few very good clues for this tough bird:

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Oh-oh, Kay's out again - Ab, you are twice a laughing jackass! (10)
-----  ----- ---------   --  --- --------- - ----------------
[OO  +  KK]     anag   + AB   U      RR    A=     def.

This charade is too indirect for me.  I don't like the gratuitous
use of "Ab", either.
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*Crazy articles about sound of Northern English bird (10)
 ----- -------- ----- ------------------------- ----
  KOOK+ [A + A] around          BURR           = def.

A very good charade. The only blemish is the vague def.  I like the
way "sound of Northern English" works in the clue.  Runner-up by
Greg Lawler.
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Eccentric sailor goes to old city to meet God but finds
the merry king of the bushes (10)
--------- ------ ------- -------- ------- --- ---------
----------------------------
  KOOK   +  AB      +       UR       +     RA    =
           def.

Quite a mouthful, with a lot of non-fuctional words.
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**Senselessly bar auk, rook, and kingfisher from Australia (10)
  ----------- -------------  --- -------------------------
    anag.    BAR AUK  ROOK   =           def.

An excellent anagram, given the ugly letters you had to work with.
"Kingfisher from Australia" is a very good and specific definition,
made a little more deceptive by the phasing of the clue.  This winner
sprung from the brow of Tovah Hollander.
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*Knockout nickname for Van Buren, Jefferson's VP: a laughing jackass (10) 
 -------- ----------------------  --------------  - ----------------
   KO    +          OK           +   A. BURR     +A=      def.

       (nickname for Van Buren = OK - as in Old Kinderhook,
        arguably the origin of the expression. A little trivial
        pursuit never hurt a puzzle fan - though I'm sure that all
        subscribers know that Van Buren was Jackson's VP, how many
        know that Clinton (George no less) served as VP under both
        Jefferson and Madison.  One more piece of trivia from the
        novel, Burr, by GORE Vidal - who suggests that VanBuren was
        really Burr's illegitimate son.)

Good charade and consistent American Politics theme. A history lesson
comes along for free with this clue, penned by the obviously
well-schooled David Kraines.
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Aussie bird reads like crazy, man: a Vidal novel, a ... (10)
----------- ---------- ----------  - -----------  -
    def.        =         KOOK     A    BURR      A

Good charade, with a good deceptive use of "bird" as a slang
term for fellow.
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+Australian bird, a nut-case, a nut, takes it all from the rear (10)
 ---------------  - --------  - ---  --------------------------
      def.      =[A+  BURR  + A+KOOK]       rev. (words)

Fair charade; a bonus clue pandering to my backwardness.
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Initially, kestral, ostrich or kingfisher? a bird urgently requiring,
rural Australia (10)
---------  -------  ------- -- ----------  - ---- -------- ---------
initials [ K      + O      +O +K         + A+B   +U       +R        +
----- ---------
R    +A ]      &lit.

These super-long initial strings read clumsily, which gives away the show.
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Strange, tabu tattoo: laughing Aussie flappers strip-tease. Not petty, perky!
-------  ----------   ------------------------ -----------  ----------------
 anag.   TABU TATTOO =         def.           ,replace T's     --> RK


In the words of the robot on "Lost in Space", "That does not compute".
This clue is way too indirect -- the definition is lost somewhere in
the middle, and I'm still not sure what rules in the T -> RK
transformation are, exactly.
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*Stark woman with a divine chest turned over to receive a back rub and
 some pecker down under (10)
 ----------- ---- -------------- ----------- ---------- - ---- --- ---
    KOO        +  [    ARK      ,    rev.  ]   around  [A+rev. RUB] =
 ----------------------
         def.

	(KOO Stark, Prince Andrew's floozy)

An X-rated clue, perhaps, but well-built.  Even though it's a bit long
and twisted, I feel that it gets the job done.  One quibble - a
kookaburra is a kingfisher, not a woodPECKER.  I guess "pecker" is
supposed to be a deceptive term for bird.  I have heard some Brits
tell me to "keep my pecker up"; I wonder what they meant?  Anyway, this
sweet clue is from the hand of Tom Deneau.
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*It's in an old gum tree -- a nutcase with prickly seed pod, found within
 the limits of area (10)
 -----------------------    --------- ---- ----------------  ------------
          def.                 KOOK    +   [     BURR           inside
 ------------------
      A(re)A

Excellent attempt to mask the obviousness of the "old gum tree"
reference.  The clue is a bit long but very good - the only weakness
is "the limits of area", which doesn't read as well as the rest.
This fine clue is the work of Ilana Stern.
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The southern kingfisher returns, to brush by a king in a castle (10)
----------------------- -------  -------- -- - ---- -- - ------
          def.         =  rev.  [ (RUB     + A+ K)  in(A ROOK)]

A good charade, if a bit complex. 
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-- 
_________________________________________________________________
Guy Jacobson   (908) 582-6558              AT&T Bell Laboratories
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