#033 - TOMBOY

[vinod.raman]

Surprised, yet again, to see my clue picked in spite of its uncoventionalities. And especially surprised to see Boaz thought it worthy of pipping, of all, Anax's "road block" clue.

So, TOMBOY it is, for this edition of DIYCOW.

[dram]

She likes being undressed (6)
Straight cryptic, play on 'dress'

[Rishi]

Spirited lass? (6)

CD

Recalls French word for girl — young gender-bender (6)

TOM ('mot', rev.) + BO (girl) + Y (young), def = gender bender, 'young' doing double duty as part of def as well

[Rishi]

Romper — one of the people in general — counters lout (6)

Romper (def)
TOM (of Tom, Dick and Harry fame) + BOY [rev of 'yob' (lout), 'counters' being the rev ind]

[Rishi]

Look out! Lobotomy performed on roughhousing girl (6)

Anag. of BOTOMY after deleting LO(look) from LOBOTOMY, 'performed' being the AInd

[Boaz]

Spitfire shot my boot! (6)

*MYBOOT
Exclamation mark is there for the benefit of the surface, more than anything else.

[dram]

Tomb originally raided by the young Lara Croft perhaps? (6)
TOMB + O(riginall)Y - 'raided' indicating clearing the word out. 'the young Lara Croft' is the def. And of course Lara Croft is the gun-toting adventure hero of the Tomb Raider games and films.

[anax]

Toy company acquisition’s occupying one who prefers Meccano to Barbie? (6)
TO(MBO)Y – MBO = management buy-out

[kororareka]

Nanny State Blues

Two lads miss playing roughly (6)

two lads = TOM & BOY with definition "miss playing roughly"

[kororareka]

Young lady perhaps, but probably not, watching the ball. (6)

Thats an attempted "Huh? Yes and no." clue with an integrated "yes and no". A tomboy is a young lady who is into sport and hence could be watching the ball in that context ("perhaps" indicating def. by example, since the sport might not involve a ball) but who probably wouldn't be watching the ball in the grand frocked dance sense.

[Boaz]

Climbing Ivy? (6)

Straight cryptic

On the basis that like a joke, if you've got to explain it you've got a bit of a duffer on your hands, I'm not holding out much hope for this effort.

'Climbing Ivy' is a type of plant, with full growing instructions here:
http://www.iloveindia.com/garden/garden-care/making-ivy.html

Ivy is of course, also a girl's name. Were she also to enjoy climbing, she'd also almost certainly be a bit of a Tomboy. Hence the capitalisation of Ivy and the question mark for a definition by example ('that old trap' as Anax might say, were he alive today).

Ah well, maybe next week.

[anax]

Circumnavigation outlined in short book by admirer of Dame Ellen MacArthur? (6)
O (depiction of circumnavigation) in TOM(e) BY

I added "admirer of" (at a late stage) only to avoid the def by example trap!

[maddy]

Boisterous girl leaders take over male bastion of yesteryears (6)

Acrostic Clue. Boisterous Girl - Defn.

[dram]

Lout taken aback after lad is… a girl wearing male gear! (6)
'Lout taken aback' = YOB reversed = BOY... after lad=TOM. 'girl wearing male gear' is the def.

[Rishi]

Lout taken aback after lad is… a girl wearing his gear! (6)
'Lout taken aback' = YOB reversed = BOY... after lad=TOM. 'girl wearing his gear' is the def.

I really like this clue!

It breaks down the clue almost as I did and it even uses the same definition for a component as I did. Yet it has a certain j'ai ne se quoi that any clue of mine lacks.

"taken aback" is great as a rev ind and so meaningful in the surface reading.

So also "after" as a positional ind and as a neat part in the surface reading.

The ellipsis offers a pregnant pause - in which we can imagine how the lout, perhaps not "straight", sidled up to the other lad and wonder what mischief he was up to.

Finally comes the def: a most disappointing turnout for the fellow with malintention.

PS: Perhaps a little tweaking of the def will further improve the clue. "a girl wearing his gear!" (emphasis mine) suggests that the lout had known the other person before. Could we change it to something like "a girl in male dress" or ...

It may be argued that a tomboy is not necessarily one who wears male dress but we can understand that a tomboy is likely to be a girl in male dress.

[dram]

That's really kind of you Rishi, thanks!
I agree with the comment about tweaking the reference to 'his' and have amended it.
I also wanted to tighten the clue up and came up with:

Bloke, lout, turns out to be a girl in guy’s gear (6)
Which is similar... Bloke = TOM, lout=YOB reversed ('turns out'), 'a girl in guy's gear' is the def

[anax]

That's really kind of you Rishi, thanks!
I agree with the comment about tweaking the reference to 'his' and have amended it.
I also wanted to tighten the clue up and came up with:

Bloke, lout, turns out to be a girl in guy’s gear (6)
Which is similar... Bloke = TOM, lout=YOB reversed ('turns out'), 'a girl in guy's gear' is the def

Double kudos actually. I think the above clue is OK although, to be absolutely honest, the components you've used are effectively direct lifts from the answer's make-up (remember; the word YOB actually comes from a reversal of BOY). However, your Lara Croft clue is an absolute belter; superbly themed, and the unexpected (but, I think, wholly acceptable) "raided" indicator is great.

[Penfold_61]

your Lara Croft clue is an absolute belter

Totally agree.

[kororareka]

Fair game? Last two sent off last to say it was fair and game (6)

Fair game with last two sent off = TOMBO(la) + last to say = Y with definition = it was fair and game, with fair being the fair sex and game being plucky, brave or spirited; the "was" indicating tomboy is a word my mother might have used but whose pejorative overtones have seen disappear, or at least be restricted to the Footy Show.

That clue was going to stop at the question mark, but I thought that was a step too far, even for a cryptic clue. Unlike Boaz's Ivy, which I really liked, despite his reservations, but not as much as his Spitfire, which reminded me of all those old war comics (speaking of the Footy Show & history's dustbin) in which German soldiers inexplicably ran into the nearest open ground shouting "Achtung! Spitfire!" whenever one flew overhead with guns ablaze. My inner German now shouts "Achtung! Spitfire shot my boot!" Apologies to the adjudicator for all this table talk.

[Boaz]

Boisterous mob play outside with her? (6)

Boisterous mob = OMB
Play = TOY outside
T(OMB)OY
&lit

[anax]

"George" baby clothing order book (6)
"George" (def) refers to Georgina - as in Blyton's Famous Five. Hopefully the image created is of Asda's clothing range.
TOY (baby - miniature) around (clothing) O.M. (order) B (book)

[dram]

However, your Lara Croft clue is an absolute belter; superbly themed, and the unexpected (but, I think, wholly acceptable) "raided" indicator is great .

That's most kind and I do appreciate you guy's encouragement for the newbie here. I couldn't believe my luck when I realised that Tomb led to Lara. However I must say my money is on Koro's Nanny State Blues.

[anax]

I'm not ladylike - there's a sweaty smell to my dresses (6)
B.O. in TO MY

[Boaz]

Heh. If we're allowed to talk in class now, then you have to say that's brilliant. My fave in a strong week.

[kororareka]

... However I must say my money is on Koro's Nanny State Blues.

No, that's a bit of a clunker. As Anax said, tomboy is just tom & boy literally stuck together and it's a bit lazy to clue it that way, particularly if you clue it with words that mean the same as the literal meanings. You might get away with cluing it as "cat thing you tie your boat to that sounds like boy (to some)". That's one of the reasons your Lara clue is so much better. Hey, I hope vinod.raman's not reading this.

Speaking of clunkers, I couldn't get this one to work properly or even rhyme. Speaking as the enraged father:

Gigolo must have once switched letters from my little girl found in her brother's drawers (6)

That's TOYBOY with one of the Y's switched for an M (letters from "my" switched once, since unmodified you'd get TOMBOM) with definition "little girl found in her brother's drawers" - as in underwear but "chest of" on the surface.

[Boaz]

Heh heh, bet you thought I'd won!

Oooh, this is like one of those really long pauses you get on Strictly or X-Factor before the winner is announced.

[vinod.raman]

This is some bunch of clues to contend with!

DRAM
=====
She likes being undressed (6)
An okay CD attempt, which at the least should have had a "?". Still, I don't think undressed adequately conveys "doesn't dress up", if that's what you meant.

Tomb originally raided by the young Lara Croft perhaps? (6)
Although my first thought was that the "Tomb" already makes up too much of the answer for comfort, I reckoned the clue doesn't betray the solution (for someone who doesn't know the answer I mean). Great effort.

Lout taken aback after lad is… a girl wearing male gear! (6)
Bloke, lout, turns out to be a girl in guy’s gear (6)
I prefer the first one. The imagery it conveys is amusing, like Rishi observed. There's no problem with the wordplay, except that the definition is a bit of a giveaway. Good effort, nevertheless.

RISHI
=====
Spirited lass? (6)
This clue just about works for me. But I think the CD could have been more misleading

Recalls French word for girl — young gender-bender (6)
I like the use of "French word" for MOT, as well the definition. My only grudge is the use of "Recalls". I don't think it adequately suggests reversal in it's present form. "Recall" (as an imperative verb...i.e. an order to the solver) or "Recalled" would have been much better.

Romper — one of the people in general — counters lout (6)
I really like "one of the people in general" for TOM. But, again, "counters" suffers from the same inadequacy in suggesting reversal as "Recalls"

Look out! Lobotomy performed on roughhousing girl (6)
Anag. of BOTOMY after deleting LO(look) from LOBOTOMY, 'performed' being the AInd
I have quite a few issues with this clue:-
- The use of "on" as a connector between the subsidiary indication and the definition. I think it
unfairly obscures the definition. I prefer "for", "to" etc.
- "performed" as an AInd for "Lobotomy". I'm unable to figure out what meaning of it would suggest
jumbling the letters of the fodder. Perhaps, I'm missing something here.
- "Look out! Lobotomy": A out, B - I think this doesn't sufficiently suggest removal of A from B.
B, A out works for me. But if the portion to be deleted precedes the fodder, then it needs to be
indicated with from/of/in etc. e.g. A out of B

BOAZ
====
Spitfire shot my boot! (6)
Excellent clue! Misleading definition, great surface and acceptable AGI

Climbing Ivy? (6)
I had to request Boaz to explain this clue. After his explanation, turns out it's me and not the clue that's the "duffer" But, I do not think that a girl is any less likely to indulge in climbing than a guy. This clue may work well in a grid, but without one, it's a tad too lateral IMHO.

Boisterous mob play outside with her? (6)
More brilliance from Boaz. I do have a bit of a problem with "with" connecting the sub. ind. and the defn. But since this is an &Lit, I think it's acceptable and I really like the &Lit.

ANAX
====
Toy company acquisition’s occupying one who prefers Meccano to Barbie? (6)
TO(MBO)Y – MBO = management buy-out
Nice clue with a great defn. I find the sub. ind. a tad cumbersome, though.

Circumnavigation outlined in short book by admirer of Dame Ellen MacArthur? (6)
Again, nice clue. "Circumnavigation" goes really well with the sailor referred to, and the definition is very creative. Yes, I do think sailing is more male dominated arena than climbing

"George" baby clothing order book (6)
"George" (def) refers to Georgina - as in Blyton's Famous Five. Hopefully the image created is of
Asda's clothing range.
This is trademark Anax (as is the next). The facile and exceptionally misleading use of words ("clothing" here) that are nouns in the surface but verbs in reality (and vice-versa) is extraordinary. I do, however, think that this clue is not the smoothest and is knowledge-based. Not to say I have a problem with clues that require specific knowledge, but that merely from the perspective of this being a CWC, I prefer clues of a more generic nature.

I'm not ladylike - there's a sweaty smell to my dresses (6)
Amazing use of "dresses". Fantastic surface. This is absolutely outstanding. Please replace "outstanding" with whatever stronger adjective comes to your mind.

KORORAREKA
==========
Two lads miss playing roughly (6)
Great defintion. Excellent deception. My only little grouse is "two lads", where one is a lad's name and the other a synonym of lad.

Young lady perhaps, but probably not, watching the ball. (6)
Phew! I really don't know how to classify this clue. It's like nothing I've seen before. After all that explanation, it does work for me. But it has too many twists and turns, and I for one would need a whole lot of crossings were I to get the solution to this in a grid.

Fair game? Last two sent off last to say it was fair and game (6)
Fair game=TOMBOLA is nice. But the defn. is tad convoluted for me.

Gigolo must have once switched letters from my little girl found in her brother's drawers (6)
Amazing stuff. Could have done with a "?" though. But awesome wordplay and imagery.

MADDY
======
Boisterous girl leaders take over male bastion of yesteryears (6)
A decent effort with a very likable surface (bastions, IMO, would sound better). My only issue is with the absence of an "of" or "from" or "in" to indicate where the 1st letters have to be picked from.

Here's my pick (picks rather, for this is a great crop of clues) :-

3rd
----
DRAM's Lara Croft, BOAZ's boisterous mobs, KORO's two lads

2nd
----
BOAZ's spitfire, KORO's gigolo

1st
----
You know it already. Yes, ANAX's unladylike B.O.

Gosh! Over and out