> 4.2 average rating vs. 4.1. It was the sole basis for my decision.

I used to rate composers' years like this, but I don't anymore, because i realized that (e.g.) a composer who wrote 1 great score, 2 good scores and 2 kinda uneven ones that still had some decent material had a better year than another composer who just wrote 2 good scores.

That, and not all scores are created equal in stature. In the case of something so unusually large-scale as Rings of Power, that seems to me like it should weigh the scale a lot heavier than (say) Werewolf by Night. I could see it being enough to give McCreary the argument for CotY even if he wrote no other scores this year.