The judges have toiled through the night to mark your answers and admire your own cryptic clues. There were 17 perfect sets of answers (out of 57 sheets returned either on-line or by post), and on the basis of the tie-breakers submitted, the winners are
1st prize: Clive Buddle of Tonbridge
2nd prize: Margaret MacDonald of Guernsey (!)
3rd prize: Pat Watkins of St Leonards
The other 14 clever-clogs: Tim McDonald, Geoffrey Howells, Hilary Coote, Harry Macdonald, Dave Young, Lynnie Porter, Jim Phelan, Stewart Buchan, Brian Tomblin, Elaine Barton, Jean Baker, Chris Chantler, Andrew Ashenhurst, Mrs S.Hennessey
[The extra prize for the best cryptic clue of all, whatever that person’s score, went to Brian Doble with a superb clue that included computer buffery and French.]
Nº 56 posed a problem to many. ‘clipper’ worked for ‘cut it out’, but didn’t begin to explain ‘saintly sinner’. The answer was pirogue, the simple boat hewn out of a tree trunk. pi= pious, saintly; rogue = sinner. For nº 20, ‘skateboard’ didn’t really explain the ‘obsession’ part of the clue.
For the full list of answers with explanations, click here:The Answers . For a list of the tie-breakers submitted, click here:Your own cryptic clues on the Transport theme. Some people really got the bug and sent in further cryptic clues. Well done, but we all ought to get out more!
We raised over £500 with the orange sheets this year. Thanks to everyone who sold sheets, especially the Staff at Battle & Langton School, Vera Burgess, Maureen Burgess, Dr Robert Greenhill, Derek Greenup, Jane Kemp – and, of course, Nola McSweeney, and her husband Jim for doing the marking. Thanks, too, to those who very kindly donated extra funds over & above the usual entry fee. And thank you all, too, for supporting the Link’s work in Hastings Sierra Leone. I hope you enjoyed this year’s orange sheet. See you next winter!