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56 votes - same July score as last year. We seem to be steady around the mid-fifies. This was remarkable month with one of the broadest spreads of winners that I can remember for some time, with 12 people winning 15 awards, but, even more remarkably, Mey was not among them. |
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At the 12 hour mark, there were 23 votes received and Toby had opened a small lead over Mey and Rosie. Toby began to extend that margin after 24 hours, with rainwalker and Mey in the minor places and with Ellie just one point back in 4th. The positions were unchanged at the half-way mark, with Toby moving further ahead. With 24 hours to go, Ellie powered into second place, narrowing Toby's lead. These placings were continued to the finish line with Rosie and Horrid moving past Mey. This was Ellie's 3rd win in the Anagrammies. Rainwalker now has had two winners, the first being in 2003. |
1 | Toby Gottfried | 45 | Spaghetti & meatballs = Best light pasta meal. |
2 | Ellie | 38 | The newly divorcing = End love with crying. |
3 | rainwalker | 32 | Charity event = Very nice, that. |
4 | Rosie Perera | 26 | The archaeological survey = They go shovel crucial area. |
5 | Horrid Stretchy Pus | 22 | Bilateral talks = Risk all at table. |
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Toby started very strongly with a massive 26 point lead after just 12 hours. While that lead was reduced somewhat during the competition, Toby was never in doubt for an easy win. This was Toby's second double win in his career which now totals 18 awards. |
1 | Toby Gottfried | 73 | A Steven Spielberg film: "War of the Worlds" = H.G. Wells: Beware of visits from Red Planet. |
2 | Rick | 54 | My name is Bond... James Bond. = Enjoys madmen... and bimbos. |
3 | Scott Gardner | 31 | Claude Oscar Monet, "Tulip Fields in Holland" = Laud oil painter's scene of an old Dutch mill. |
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David made a minor change to his subject before the competition, altering from "Iraq oil/arms trade" to "Iraq oil + arms trade". While this may seem like a very small change, it made it slightly more readable and enhanced the result. David was 12 points clear in as many hours with a big bunch vying for second place. His lead did not change much from that point, but Mike finished strongly to jump over Mey and to get within five points of David. |
1 | David Bourke | 51 | Iraq oil + arms trade = Al Qaida terrorism. |
2 | Mike Keith | 46 | Fourth of July weekends in America = Joyful anthem, audience, fireworks. |
3 | Rick | 44 | The National Sex Offender Public Registry = Benefit? Alert young children of ex-rapists. |
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Like the categories above, the winner emerged by 12 hours. Tony had two Peoples Names from which to choose, so he asked my advice. I thought that his Blair anagrams was far superior and the voters agreed. Tony maintained a solid lead from start to finish, with Mey in clear second position. |
1 | Tony Crafter | 76 | Britain's Labour Party Leader = Tony Blair (rated a superb liar). |
2 | Mey Kraus | 58 | The private detective Sherlock Holmes = I hope the clever dick solves the matter! |
3 | Dee4j | 38 | A thespian named Booth ~ shot top man Abe in head! |
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Palusch had a small lead after 12 hours over Mey, but really opened this up over the next couple of days. By the end of the event he was 26 points clear of Richard and Mey tieing for second. This was his fifth ever award. He won his first Anagrammy back in 1999. |
1 | palusch | 66 | The United States Postal Service = That site directs envelopes at us. |
2 | Mey Kraus | 40 | President's Bathrooms at the White House = So Bush has the time to read his new Potter. |
2 | Richard Grantham | 40 | "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should" = Addict rots a lung, so now he seeks to litigate. |
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I had Mey's entry here as an easy winner before the competition. However, Horrid polled strongly and was in the lead, with Mey staying ten points or less behind throughout. This was Horrid's fifth winner. He has been well overdue for a win as his last award was back in 2004. |
1 | Horrid Stretchy Pus | 57 | pan…gram (n): A sentence that uses all the letters of the alphabet. = |
2 | Mey Kraus | 51 | The Three Stages of Truth: |
3 | Rosie Perera | 41 | "He is a person that will make all Americans proud to be a member of the Supreme Court." = |
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This was one of the more unusual and difficult challenges that I have put up. I felt happy to have a pangram that sounded vaguely meaningful. However, it was always going to take something extra special to win this one. Richard certainly came up with something very clever, but the competition was extremely close from the beginning. Richard was five points ahead after 12 hours, then he and Mey were tied after 24 hours. At the 36 hour mark, Mey was four points clear. Richard narrowed that and took the award on the last vote. This was Richard's 153rd award. |
1 | Richard Grantham | 47 | A quiz by RJG: Os + V + Xe + Cl + Fm + ? = K + Pd + W + Th + N + ? |
2 | Mey Kraus | 45 | My kind zap Fox TV, squelch GWB Jr.! |
3 | Scott Gardner | 40 | Fix TV show, NBC! Dump lazy GQ jerk! |
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Inspiration for long anagrams often comes from the most unusual places. I was watching an episode of "The Bill" (a long-running UK cop show, for the non-Brits/Aussies/etc). One of the characters was reciting the 12 steps of A.A. I found the wording on the Internet and with a few hours I had come up with a good result. However, it was not all plain sailing for me. Tony was just four points behing at 12 hours and I kept anxiously watching the margin as the competition progressed. It was not until the halfway mark that I felt that I could relax a little with a 14 point margin. I held onto that lead down to the line. That is number 92 for me |
1 | Larry Brash | 72 | THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS... = THE TWELVE ANAGRAMMY FORUM STEPS 1. W... |
2 | Tony Crafter | 60 | Roberta Prince, the lady of the house, ... = Fay Wate, the lady of the manor, was ... |
3 | Ellie | 27 | French Snail Selected French snail wit... = Bastille Day Alors, we can relax! Cel... |
3 | Foxboy | 27 | Mr. Praline: "VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird ... = 'E's suffering disembodiment, poppies... |
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Richard Brodie is an old hand at this category and it is always good to see him come in and do well. Richard was just three points ahead after 12 hours with David and Mike looking good in second and third places. By the 36 hour point, Richard had moved clear of David by ten points, a margin that he kept down to the line. Rosie made a late challenge for third, but Mike always looked like he would pick up that award. Richard has been overdue for a win with his first win this year. His total is now 51 awards. David managed two awards this month, bringing him up to 72. Mike's eighth win gives him a total of 31 awards. |
1 | Richard Brodie | 59 | Psalm #46 contains some amazing coincidences |
2 | David Bourke | 49 | 'Don't Let's Be Beastly To The Germans' - Noel Coward |
3 | Mike Keith | 31 | ACT V. Scene I. Elsinore. A churchyard. |
4 | Rosie Perera | 26 | Shark-Infested Waters |
5 | Mike Keith | 25 | November Graveyard |
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This was the only other category that was reasonably close this month. Tony led by five after 12 hours, with Richard closing that to two points by the end of Day One. Horrid joined the fray at the half-way mark and three points covered the first three places at half-time. With 24 hours to go, Richard was one point ahead, but Tony finished well for a modest five point win. This was the first double win for Tony, and they take him to 13 awards all-up and jumping him to 18th on the All Time Table just one behind his old mate, Mick Tully. |
1 | Tony Crafter | 49 | A small dick = Dismal lack. |
2 | Horrid Stretchy Pus | 44 | A french tickler = Felt in her crack. |
2 | Richard Grantham | 44 | Answering the call of nature = I ran a race to Gents when full. |
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This was very hard to pick. Mey had a pile of second places that we considered. We also looked closely at Rosie's 4th in General, Rick's Entertainment and Topical placegetters, Dee4j's third place in Peoples Names. We ended up going for Rosie's General which was always a medal contender, and we took into account that she was the most frequent poster and the most nominated for the month. It happened to be a very good anagram, too.
This was Rosie's fourth award. |
Congraulations to all the winners. Thank you all for voting.