There were only 46 voters this month. As happened last month, our host server could not cope and crashed half way through the first day and voting was impossible for 9 hours. As result, a lot of potential voters never came back out of understandable frustration at being unable to vote.

Our host's server had been running quite well for most of last month, such that we decided to stay with them, instead of going through the trouble of moving. However, this latest failure made us decide to move sooner than later. We hope to do so with the minimum of down time.

In the interim, we have moved the Anagram Artist downloads onto another server of mine to reduce the load on the host server. The number of downloads had increase from 10-15 per day up to 25-30 per day at 3.2 Mb each.

This was quite an exciting competition, especially for the minor places.

One of the things that I like about the General Category, is that it is usually not dominated by the big name winners (you know who I mean!). Also, giving three awards means that it gives a chance to those who win less frequently. And so it was this month.

Paul had a small lead just before the server crash on Day One and maintained that for a pretty comfortable win. The real excitement was for the minor places. Deano was in second place for the first two days, with Toby and Ellie just behind never more than a couple of points apart, and Hans-Peter not far back from them.

The Final day saw Toby move up into second, and Deano and Ellie tie for third. A very fair result.

This was Paul's first win since March 2004. Over the past four years he has won ten awards. Toby's award was his 4th this year and his 19th all-up. Ellie now has ten wins to her credit and Deano's 5th win this year gives him 8 awards altogether.

1

  Paul Pan

41  

An equal opportunities employer = I put some inept queer on a payroll!

2

  Toby Gottfried

28  

An apple a day keeps the doctor away = So why not add a pear, papaya, leek, etc. ?

3

  Ellie

25  

A new laptop = Now at Apple.

3

  Deano

25  

A game of Russian Roulette = So am I sure to get an earful?

5

  Hans-Peter Reich

22  

The maternity hospital = It has motherly patient.

David opened a six point lead after 20 votes had been cast. He gradually extended that lead for a comfortable 22 point win. Toby and I tied for second place.

1

  David Bourke

56  

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit = Blast the unwelcome big-eared raw carrot thief!

2

  Larry Brash

34  

The Two Ronnies = Two... then one, sir.

2

  Toby Gottfried

34  

The American Symphony Orchestra = Harmony may shape their concerts.

Mey opened a 13 point lead after nine hours of the competition. He powered on to win by 31 points.

1

  Mey Kraus

64  

The trial of president Saddam Hussein = It sure is hard to defend this man's plea.

2

  David Bourke

33  

Margaret Thatcher is now eighty years old = Sad geriatric Tory here. (The ghastly woman!)

3

  Tony Crafter

26  

French Connection UK set to drop their slogan = Honest concern or not, I deplore that FCUK sign.

Another big win for Mey here. Throughout the event, his points were always more the double the second placegetter. The minor places were close with me two points ahead of Scott and Tony tieing for third.

1

  Mey Kraus

73  

G.W. Bush, the American president = The man's screwing it up bad here!

2

  Larry Brash

33  

Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement = It's her calm move that is provoking the reforms.

3

  Scott Gardner

31  

Justice Samuel A. Alito = O, I just emulate Scalia.

3

  Tony Crafter

31  

Adolf Eichmann = Nice? No, half-mad.

This category was a bit closer than the three above.

David was just three points ahead after nine hours and kept that small margin until the last day, when he moved steadily ahead and won by 14 points.

David's two wins this month take his total to 11 awards this year and 75 all-up. An unusual three-way tie for third place involving Toby, Tony and Scott, in a month of may close contests for second and third places.

1

  David Bourke

49  

The Medical Research Council = "Ah, sod the mice, I'll cure cancer!"

2

  View

35  

Greenwich Station = Whence I got trains.

3

  Toby Gottfried

25  

The Hewlett Packard Company = They make that old PC crap new.

3

  Tony Crafter

25  

Cheltenham Ladies' College = Gentle academics' hellhole!

3

  Scott Gardner

25  

The Republic of Iceland = Can be pitiful cold here.

Another easy win for Mey. He romped home with a 22 point gap on the rest of the competitors.

1

  Mey Kraus

71  

'Beyond Multiple Choice: Evaluating Alternatives to Traditional Testing for Selection' by Milton D. Hakel =
This guide is likely to be:
[ ] A little pedantic
[ ] Darn unconvincing
[ ] A totally tiresome torment
[*] All of the above.

2

  Tony Crafter

49  

Tony Blair's MG car crashed in a field and a farmer buried him.
"Was he dead?" said the police.
"He said 'no', but you know how he lies." =
When President Bush died, God (from a Celestial Chair) asked, "And who are you?"
"It's Bush!" he bellowed, "an' I'm afraid yo' in ma chair."

3

  Horrid Stretchy Pus

38  

scha·den·freu·de n.
Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others =
mas·och·ist n.
due unto an odd reverse, he preferred to suffer himself.

This was the closest category this month.

At nine hours, Ellie and Tony were tied just two points ahead of me. After 24 hours, Ellie and I shared the lead, one point ahead of Tony. Further into the competition, Ellie dropped off the pace and Tony had a small lead over me.

The last day was exciting as I broke clear and finished strongly to win by nine.

Personally, I thought Tony's shorter anagram was far cleverer and funnier than my own, but the voters are often seduced by length.

1

  Larry Brash

60  

After the death of Quasimodo, the bisho... = And the following day, with an unbear...

2

  Tony Crafter

51  

"Father, I had sex four times in all wi... = The new priest called on the village ...

3

  Ellie

33  

The Holy Bible in only Fifty Words Go... = Overheard joke Poor Adam - bad, mad...

Only four entrants this month, so only two awards here, instead of the usual three.

There were no surprises that Mey led out and was always likely to be the winner. I thought that the contest for second place would have been a lot closer.

Tony stayed quite close to Mey for most of the way, but opened a big lead on David and Rosie to pick up an award.

Another strong month for Mey with four winners. That gives him 38 for the year and a massive 225 career total. Tony is having a good year 13 wins, moving up to 14th place on the All Time Table with 18 awards.

1

  Mey Kraus

67  

The complete list of Shakespeare's plays anagrammed into a sonnet,

2

  Tony Crafter

59  

'IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN'

3

  David Bourke

33  

'Don't Let's Be Beastly To The Germans' - Noel Coward

4

  Rosie Perera

26  

Bridge Over Trouble Water

Mike is better known for his special category anagrams, but he can always produce a good short anagram when needed, including the occasional rude one.

Mike led from beginning to end, but never by a huge margin. This was his 9th win of the year and he now has a total of 32 awards.

1

  Mike K

39  

Serpentiform = Term for penis.

2

  Tony Crafter

32  

Modern lesbian = Man's role in bed!

3

  Mey Kraus

23  

A lesbian relationship = So, I hear it'll ban a penis!

There were a few possible contenders here this month, but most were well off the pace in their categories. The top 5-6 in General were always very close, so I went for Hans-Peter's anagram which was just three points off winning an award.

Hans-Peter Reich with:
The maternity hospital =
It has motherly patient.