From: kennedy@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Ralph Kennedy)
Subject: CWC24 Clues
Organization: crosswords
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 23:09:13 GMT


     Here are the rest of the clues submitted for CWC24.
Pretty good clues.

PRINCIPAL
---------

      This word was fairly rich in possibilities.
For the first time since I've gotten involved in
this newsgroup that I can remember, there were
quite a few double-definition clues and homophonic
clues.

+------------------------------------------------------------------
 Devastating --- a crippling loss of key educator (9)

   [anag "a crippling", lose musical key of G; educator = principal]

Reads very well.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Fund money in PR, Inc.? I pale at thought! (9)
^^^^^^^^^^    ^^  ^^^   ^ ^^^
definition    

Not too keen on FUND MONEY.  Also, PR is contrived, and
two extra words to cryptic at end.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

In the main, I was between the short prince and my friend (9)
-----------  -                 -------------    ----------
definition   I between PRINC(e) and PAL

Not thrilled with IN THE MAIN.  Good cryptic.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Chief employer of agents?(9)
(defn)(   second defn.  )
 
A much better second definition clue was submitted.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

A friend succeeds, an heir almost arouses interest (9)
("A friend" = I PAL, "succeeds" implies after, "an heir almost" = PRINC
(missing E), "arouses interest" = PRINCIPAL (as in loan amount))

Cute definition, but surface meaning sketchy.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Key player announced rule (9)
(def.    /   sounds like "principle")

Nice short clue.  A bit simple, as the author admitted.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

    Important rule announcement (9)

       Important: def.
       rule announcement: homophone of PRINCIPLE

A little better variation on the previous clue.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

 He started a war with Albert and Victoria (9)
 ---------------- ---- ------ --- --------
     PRINCIP      +     AL    =     def.

        [Trivia time:  Gavrillo Princip was the Serbian Nationalist
         who shot Archduke Ferdinand, touching off WWI.  Victoria
         Principal is a famous TV actess (from "Dallas," I believe).
         Victoria and Albert were the Queen and Prince Consort of
         Great Britain, respectively, for much of the 19th century.]

A very nice clue for trivia buffs, except that I don't like
Victoria used as the definition.  I'll buy history, but I don't
feel solvers should know about every cheap soap opera on TV :-)
Also, it's a bit unfair not to have a straightforward definition
of the word somewhere in the clue, but that's probably just
a quirk of my own.  Although I'm sure many would have no
problem putting "Victoria Principal" and "straightforward"
together in a sentence. :-)
+------------------------------------------------------------------

New Jersey school, not Eton, I associate with a headmaster (9)

    PRINC + I + PAL
    PRINCETON - ETON = PRINC
    associate = PAL
    a headmaster = defn.

Very nice charade.  Second place to Jake Bergmann
(bergmann@billerica.applicon.slb.com).
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Leading pro finishes early; a friend follows
 (it's only natural)  (9)

Leading = principal

Pro finishes early = PR

A friend =  I PAL   follows

it's only natural = IN C  (Key of C Major has no
sharps or flats)

A bit too convoluted and contrived for my taste, both on the
surface and cryptic levels.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Pile of gold or lead? (9)
------------    ----
  def 1         def 2

def 1 = Capital amount
def 2 = Lead, as in a play

A very nice second-definition clue.  PILE OF GOLD for PRINCIPAL
is just this side of too cute for a definition, and the double
meaning of LEAD this well-themed clue suggests is good.  First
place to Mark Manasse (msm@src.dec.com).
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Chief said to be moral (9)

Defn  sounds like Defn(principle)

Another decent homophone.
+------------------------------------------------------------------



CORROBORATE

     This clue turned out to be a little more difficult,
as expected.


 Verify that machine contains radium in the middle (11)

   [verify = corroborate; radium = atomic symbol Ra, contained by
    "robot" (machine) in "core" (the middle)]

A tough clue to solve.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Confirm cab error: too far out of the way. (11)
^^^^^^^ 
definition    cab error too anagrammed (far out of the way is indicator)

FAR OUT OF THE WAY is a little iffy.  Reads very well, though.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Tea drunk at the end of the aboriginal meeting helped to check the facts (11)
--- -----                    ----------------             -------------
     anad ind.                corroboree                     defn
               end of corroboree mixed with tea = defn (corroborate)

Where do you get rid of the "ee"?  Also, what does drinking
tea have to do with helping to check facts?
+------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Provide support for a boat company error at sea.(11)
( defn.        )     (BOAT CO ERROR      anag. ind.)

Not fair to expect solver to reduce COMPANY to CO before
anagramming.  Also, surface reading iffy.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Radio encapsulates two-way alternative to speak out in support (11)
("Radio" = CB, "two-way alternative" = OR RO, "speak out" = ORATE,
  "support" = CORROBORATE)

I don't like "or" for "alternative," although I suppose that's
some sort of standard.  Surface meaning a bit contrived.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Displaced Croat or Boer gets to tell us what we already suspected (11)

"Displaced" = anagram keyword
"Croat or Boer" = anagram
"gets" = linking word between def's, i.e. "yields" or "produces"
"to tell us what we already suspected" = literal def.

The author adds:
The somewhat morbid surface idea is based on the
fact that Boers and Croats have both been displaced to concentration camps in
this century, by the English and the Serbs respectively (no political soapboxes
here, just hard truth.)  Too often it takes an enormous number of such victims
telling their tragic tales to corroborate what the "free world" essentially
knew already, and so on...

A bit of a weird clue, but I'll buy it.  Second place to
David Franklin (david_franklin@law.uchicago.edu)
+------------------------------------------------------------------

    Three alternatives: A) thick base; B) wide end; C) improved support (11)

	OR + OR + OR +  A + (T)hick  + B + wid(E) + C   anag.
	Support: def.

Another "or" fan!   Anyway, kind of an indirect anagram.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Confirm or abort core dump? (11)
------- ------------- ----
  def. =OR ABORT CORE anag.

Some might say DUMP is on thin ice, but I'll buy it since the clue
reads so well.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Agree with transit system splitting, murmur a bishop's address (11)

    CO(RR)O + B + ORATE
    agree with = defn.
    RR (railroad) splits COO
    address (verb) = ORATE

What am I missing?  Where does "a bishop" come in?  At any
rate, surface meaning is too disjointed.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Make certain company trains deliverer to make speech  (11)

Make certain = corroborate

company = CO
trains = RR
deliverer = OB (obstetrician)
to make speech = ORATE

Pretty good charade, and pretty good reading.  Hard to tell
which end of the clue to begin with, and fairly difficult
to solve without being unfair.  First place to Greg Lawler
(jose@math.duke.edu).
+------------------------------------------------------------------

    In hindsight, did Hoffman (E.T.A.) rob? Or Rockefeller confirm it? (11)

    hid.  back                 ^ ^ ^   ^^^  ^^ ^^^        =   def.
							   corroborate

Usually hidden word clues are DEFN in PHRASE, no?  At any rate,
I'm not all that happy with the surface reading.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Turned brace or root into support (11)
------ -------------      -------
 anag  BRACE OR ROOT        def.

Pretty good anagram.
+------------------------------------------------------------------

Confirm or Serbo-Croat gets pointlessly dismembered (11)

Defn    -- anagram ---      without S   hint for anagram

Pretty good anagram.  Looks like somebody's been looking at
the war pictures!
+------------------------------------------------------------------


--Ralph Kennedy      {ames,gatech,husc6,rutgers}!ncar!noao!asuvax!kennedy
                        {allegra,decvax,ihnp4,oddjob}--^
                                          ^---------------The Wrong Choice
                             internet: kennedy@asuvax.asu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles