| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Satyen Nabar | Alert old leader of Russia making unreasonable demand (4,5) | 34 | 18 | (ALERT OLD R)*; leader of Russia= R, making= anag ind, defn= unreasonable demand. |
- Very topical surface |
| 2 | Hari Mannarsamy | Select all or deride some? It is a difficult ask! (4,5) | 27 | 14 | Telescopic. Selec(t all or der)ide . T. I d = some. Def: It is a difficult ask. |
- Good - Some as tele-ind should come before the fodder |
| 3 | Samit kallianpur | Too much to ask?...Perhaps later, Lord! | 26 | 14 | Later Lord*. Def = Too much to ask. Perhaps = anagrind. |
- Is POS of definition OK? I wonder |
| 4 | N Anantakrishnan | End of unrest. Total peace? That's difficult to achieve. | 24 | 13 | (Unres) T ALL (total) ORDER (peace) . Rest is definition. |
- Good - Root issue |
| 5 | Avtaar | A couple of novices participating in hill-climbing rose to a difficult challenge (4,5) | 24 | 11 | #downclue. ALL(couple of novices) inside (participating in) TOR (hill)+ RED(rose)<<<(climbing). Def A difficult challenge |
- Good surface but don’t see how rose=red - Nice use of "rose" |
| 6 | VENKATESAN P | Story about Nobleman and King’s tough proposition (4,5) | 23 | 14 | {TAL{LORD}E}{R}. Story=Tale; Nobleman=Lord; King=R. Def: tough proposition. | |
| 7 | Ananth Srinivasan | Essential to forestall or derail difficult task (4,5) | 22 | 13 | fores(TALL OR DER) ail - Hidden word ind: Essential to Def: difficult task |
- Nice |
| 8 | Ajeesh | When wife is killed, managing world later is a difficult task (4,5) | 20 | 12 | Anagram of world later - w(wife) |
- I''m not sure that the surface flows. - Nice story - Nice surface - "With wife gone" would make it less gruesome and more touching! |
| 9 | Manish Jhaveri | Hard task returning buttered roll, a teashop offered (4, 5) | 19 | 11 | Rev Telescopic (returning is reversal indicator; offered is telescopic indicator). Def = Hard Task |
- Great clue, I think it would be better without the comma. |
| 10 | Simon T. Hill | Team leader gets complete harmony, not a easy thing to do. (4,5) | 17 | 12 | T(eam) + complete (ALL) harmony (ORDER) Def - not an easy thing to do | |
| 11 | Melissa McSeismal | That's a lot to ask of wretched troll, dear (4,5) | 17 | 10 | def (that's a lot to ask) trolldear* |
- Good |
| 12 | Textrous | Story about God Rama's first battle (4,5) | 17 | 7 | Def:BATTLE, Story=TALE, God=LORD, Rama's first=R=>TAL(LORD)E R |
- Love the surface, but I don''t get "battle" for "tall order" - Nice surface but Battle as def seems incomplete, maybe uphill battle? - Not sure battle is a sufficient definition. Great clue, nonetheless. Wins points from me |
| 13 | Changing leotard without both hands is very difficult (4,5) | 15 | 9 | Anagram of Leotard containing L&R (both hands), Anagram indicator: Changing, Container indicator: Without, Def: Very difficult |
- I like the wordplay so much but I don''t think TALL ORDER can be defined as an adjective? - Without should be with for containment no? Without means dropL&R? Otherwise very nice |
|
| 14 | Roll back in trade arrangement? Very difficult task. (4,5) | 14 | 11 | LLOR in (TRADE)* - "back" is the reversal indicator, "in" is the containment indicator, "arrangement" is the anagrind, "very difficult task" is the def. | ||
| 15 | Inside the capital, Lord Ernest is formidable (4,5) | 14 | 8 | capiTALLORDERnest. Hidden in plainsight. Indicator- Inside. Def- Formidable |
- Def. (adjective) does not match entry (noun) - Good - POS mismatch? Tall order is a noun and formidable is adjective. |
|
| 16 | Dear troll, get lost! Is that something very difficult to do? (4,5) | 13 | 8 | Dear troll*/ have used get lost as anagrind to suit the surface. |
- Such a nice surface, I don''t mind the extra "that" for the surface (and the anagrind works) |
|
| 17 | Initially training everyone, arrange to give tough task (4,5) | 11 | 6 | Anno: T(raining) ALL ORDER. ‘To give’ is indicator of result of wp. | ||
| 18 | High command describes tough assignment | 11 | 5 | DD- high(tall) command (order) def : tough assignment |
- Root issue - Same roots. Not cryptic enough, IMO |
|
| 19 | Starbucks request – a difficult task: reducing fat on drier blend without a bit of ice (4 5) | 10 | 5 | Def: 1. “Starbucks request” (“tall” is an order size at Starbucks); 2. “a difficult task”. Wordplay: TALLO[w] (“reducing fat”) + DRIER* (anagrind “blend”) – I (“a bit of ice”) |
- Could''ve removed "a difficult task," but this surface is still nice. - I like the idea of having two definitions. |
|
| 20 | Winning elections without money? Tough task for high command | 9 | 6 | Three definitions. First as an example, then "tough task", then the charade of high (tall) command (order) |
- Nice but is "for" necessary - Root issue with High for Tall - The first def seems like it would need an example indicator |
|
| 21 | Used up, flushed toilet paper at difficult job (4,5) | 8 | 6 | Reversed (Used up) RED (flushed) ROLL (toilet paper) AT is TALL ORDER (dificult job) |
- I would say you need a DBEI for toilet paper > roll - Love the use of "flushed" here and the reversal indicator - very amusing surface |
|
| 22 | Start to test everone with operational research? The German assigment that's too hard | 7 | 5 | T[est] + ALL + O.R. + DER | ||
| 23 | Hard soil contains rolled nuts (4,5) | 7 | 4 | Defn-Hard, Soil (TAR) contains (ROLLED) nuts (anagrind) ---> TA (LLORDE) R |
- As Tall Order is a noun, hard cannot define it. Otherwise an excellent clue. |
|
| 24 | Heartless tamer holds in amusing comeback? That's a big ask (4,5) | 7 | 3 | TAMER loses M, gains DROLL reversed |
- Amusing indeed! |
|
| 25 | After losing a fortune in the beginning, recovering lost dollar is a difficult task (4,5) | 6 | 4 | TER(after-a f) around DOLLAR* def: a difficult task |
- Recovering is container indicator? - Smart use of "recovering" for a container indicator |
|
| 26 | Almost impossible to request a small drink at Starbucks? | 6 | 3 | At least in the US, Starbucks labels its "small" size as "tall." Thus "to request a small drink at Starbucks?" = TALL ORDER |
- If you switched "small" to "medium" (a Short is a small at Starbucks), this would work - TALL ORDER is a compound noun, and the double def clues, as annotated, an adjective ("almost impossible") and a verb ("to request ...") - Tall order is a noun. Almost impossible is not. |
|
| 27 | It is difficult to do a bit of Lamaze wearing tight leotard, right? (4,5) | 5 | 4 | Def = it is difficult to do, L inside LEOTARD* + R |
- Hilarious surface! - Love the surface, but "tight" doesn''t work as an anagram indicator for me - not sure about "tight" as an anagram indicator |
|
| 28 | It’s a challenge getting a small drink at Starbucks! (4,5) | 5 | 4 | Double definition (2nd part = to order a Tall drink, which is the small size at Starbucks) | ||
| 29 | A tough task from high command? (4,5) | 4 | 4 | Def on Left; high = tall and command = order |
- Good surface, but duplicated by another entry - Root issue - Same root. Not cryptic enough, in my opinion |
|
| 30 | Everyone in model arrangement? That's impossible (4,5) | 3 | 2 | ALL in model T ORDER arrangement. Def: that's impossible |
- Root issue |
|
| 31 | High integrity? Tough ask! (4,5) | 3 | 1 | high=tall, integrity=order, def=tough ask |
- Root issue |
|
| 32 | Quite a challenge for short term hedges of volatile dollar (4,5) | 2 | 1 | T (DOLLAR)* ER (short TERm); Definition - quite a challenge |
- Hedges for works better. Also definition for Wordplay is not usually used. Good idea - Lovely surface. This is def for wp which isn''t within the conventions. |
|
| 33 | Without permit held by no longer approved Trader Joe's, get 12 ounces at Starbucks? (4,5) | 2 | 1 | "Without permit" is the word ALLO[-w], as the "with" of "permit" is "out." It is held (contained) by TR[-a]DER, which is a "no longer approved" TRADER: T(ALLO[-w])R[-a]DER. The crossword definition plays on "Joe" (for coffee) and how "12 ounces at Starbucks" is a Tall, for a TALL ORDER | ||
| 34 | Father enters later upset with an unreasonable demand | 2 | 1 | Defn is an unreasonable demand, father is lord , so lord in later* |
- “With” does not work as a connector, IMO - Lovely wp. The surface would be better with a comma (later, upset) |
|
| 35 | Difficult request made by organization seeking model to appear before everyone (4,5) | 2 | 1 | Organization = order, model before everyone = T + all , Difficult request made (Defn) |
- Not very clear how TALL comes before Order. - Root issue with organisation for order - Wasn''t sure about the "seeking" part of this surface; I like "organization" for "order" |
|
| 36 | Difficult task to get through charred roll a teenager served up | 1 | 1 | rev tel. Def: difficult task, tel ind: get through, reversal ind: served up | ||
| 37 | Doctor alert embracing noble job that’s difficult (4,5) | 1 | 1 | Def: Job that’s difficult, Anagram of ALERT around LORD (noble) |
- I''m not sure that the surface works. |
|
| 38 | Lofty grade is difficult to achieve (4, 5) | 1 | 1 | Lofty :Tall, grade :ordee, difficult to achieve :Definition. |
- Lovely surface. Your definition doesn''t match the solution in terms of part of speech. adjective / noun - Root issue - Same root Tall and Order. Not cryptic enough , in my opinion |
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| 39 | TL/DR Earl houses Oscar broadcast, something that is difficult to accomplish. (4, 5) | 1 | 1 | TLDREARL + O anagrammed (broadcast) turns into something that is difficult to accomplish. | ||
| 40 | Alt-L maybe an option at Starbucks.com! | 0 | Alt-L* maybe (reverse anagrind) TALL* ORDER(anagrind) def: an option at Starbucks.com | |||
| 41 | It's challenging for Grandmaster in late burst regaining top spot | 0 | Grandmaster = Lord, late burst = *late (tale), regaining top spot = r, being first letter of regaining |
- Lord can be Master, but Grandmaster is a stretch |
||
| 42 | Big ask by high command | 0 | DD |
- Root issue |