| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madhusudan H | Leaders of China open new trade route after cancelling Taiwan's agreement (8) | 60 | 30 | Leaders : Acrostic Indicator, Defn : Agreement |
- It''s not easy to have an acrostic that long that still makes perfect surface sense; well done. - Simple and elegant |
| 2 | Yossi Fendel | Abridge?! | 42 | 16 | &lit - "Contract" is a bridge game |
- I love the idea, but "a bridge" doesn''t feel like it clues "a TYPE of bridge" - Though the idea has been overused the wordplay is clever |
| 3 | Adman_i | Shrink to get in touch about core therapy (8) | 23 | 12 | Shrink (Defn), To get in touch - Contact, core therapy - R | |
| 4 | Debasmita Basu | Shorten exposure to capture portraits, essentially (8) | 21 | 12 | Def:Shorten; exposure=contact, capture container indicator, portraits essentially=r |
- I really like this surface. - Really like the photography surface here |
| 5 | Satyen Nabar | Negotiate with leader of Russia in meeting (8) | 21 | 11 | R(-ussia) in CONTACT (meeting); defn= negotiate |
- Nice - This was my favorite of this type of clue, but there were too many similar surfaces. |
| 6 | AMRITA MAJUMDAR | Losing lead actor can mess with time and commitment (8) | 15 | 10 | {(-A) CTOR CAN }*+ T, COMMITMENT - def |
- Love the sense of "Losing lead actor" and how subtly "can mess" pairs with it. |
| 7 | Gayathri Viswanath | Russia's leader in meeting for a pact (9) | 15 | 9 | Def - Pact, CONT(R)ACT | |
| 8 | Aaron Riccio (@thatcrypticguy) | Squeeze right into DM? (8) | 13 | 7 | "Squeeze" for CONTRACT; "R" for "right," inside of "CONTACT" for "DM" (direct message): CONT(R)ACT |
- Great surface! |
| 9 | Thejaswi Udupa | Compact type of bridge | 13 | 6 | DD. |
- Compact surface, too; elegant. - Have seen it so many times before . And I think they share the same root too |
| 10 | CrypticBlah | Put out a hit on Bond (8) | 11 | 6 | Double definition (from Chambers) 2. Bond, 8.Undertaking or agreement to kill(criminal slang). Reference James Bond 007. |
- Natural, smooth double. |
| 11 | R Nagendra Prasad | Right in touch for an agreement (8). | 11 | 6 | CONT(R)ACT | |
| 12 | Sudha Bhaskaran | Fraud on estate agreement | 11 | 5 | CON / TRACT = Estate, Agreement - definition | |
| 13 | Tejas Siddharth | Capture of Russian leader by Confederate leads to a treaty (8) | 11 | 5 | Russian leader = R in confederate = contact | |
| 14 | Ramesh Swaminathan | Opposite view about model agreement (8) | 11 | 5 | CONTRA opposite view C about T model def: agreement | |
| 15 | Undertake to swindle large piece of land. (8) | 9 | 7 | Undertake=Def; CON (SWINDLE) + TRACT (LARGE PIECE OF LAND) |
- Sounds like the plot of a film; I''m in. |
|
| 16 | Catch or a hit? (8) | 9 | 6 | Double definition. To catch can mean to contract (an illness) and a "hit" is a contract (to kill somebody) in organized crime. |
- Feels like the surface needs a little more, but I also admire the succinctness. - Great DD; I think it would even work without "a" - Supari...ha ha! Nice clue |
|
| 17 | Bond's liaison welcomes the Premier of Russia (8) | 9 | 6 | Cont(R)act. Liaison = Contact. Welcomes = container indicator. The Premier of Russia = R. Def = Bond | ||
| 18 | Come to terms with shrink | 9 | 5 | double def |
- Very nice. |
|
| 19 | Scrutinize real estate deal (8) | 8 | 5 | con + tract; definition = deal | ||
| 20 | Agree to get purse for Bond (8) | 8 | 4 | Quadruple Definition - Agree, to Get, Purse (as in tighten) and Bond are all synonyms for contract |
- "Agree" doesn''t quite work for me but the other three are great! - Ambitious--you did twice as much work as necessary. |
|
| 21 | Trick and plot to make a bond (8) | 7 | 7 | def:bond. trick=con, plot =tract. (con+tract) | ||
| 22 | Bad actor has new court document to sign | 7 | 6 | N (new) inside ACTOR* + CT. def = "document to sign" | ||
| 23 | Bond's crime district(8) | 7 | 6 | Bond as def/ crime is con/ district is tract | ||
| 24 | Undertake baffling case in court (8) | 7 | 5 | Definition: Undertake; case: Carton; baffling : anagrind; in: containment indicator; court: CT; (C{CARTON}*T): CONTRACT |
- Indirect anagram - indirect anagram of ''carton'' - Love the surface, but the indirect anagram of "baffling CARTON" instead of "CASE" doesn''t work for me. |
|
| 25 | Genghis followed sound written agreement (8) | 7 | 5 | Khan + tracked homophone |
- If only he (and others warmongers like him) would! - Khan and con are not homophones IMO |
|
| 26 | Tense bond with shrink (7) | 6 | 4 | Triple definition - Tense (as in, muscles contracted / tensed), bond, shrink (used in the therapist sense in the surface) |
- tense and shrink are the same meaning though. |
|
| 27 | Russian leader to get hold of pens to sign a treaty (8) | 6 | 4 | Def: to sign a treaty (Contract as a verb), Russian leader=R, to get hold of=CONTACT, CONTACT pens, i.e. encloses R | ||
| 28 | Bond criminal caught picking up paintings [8] | 6 | 4 | criminal = CON; caught = CT (PS. Ct and C are both valid abbreviations of caught); picking up paintings = taking back ART = TRA. Definition: BOND | ||
| 29 | Catch prisoner by finesse, subduing resistance (8) | 6 | 4 | def = catch, CON (prisoner) + TACT (finesse) around R (resistance) | ||
| 30 | Prison yard? | 5 | 4 | Attempted CD. Con tract - an area for prisoners to be outdoors. |
- What is the definition? Prison yard = con tract but not contract |
|
| 31 | Narcotic prepared with a bit of tramadol. No one to deal! (8) | 5 | 3 | (NARCOTIC+T-I)*. Def: to deal | ||
| 32 | Shrink is endlessly on track in Connecticut (8) | 4 | 4 | Shrink (definition) = ON TRAC ("endlessly on track") inside CT ("Connecticut") |
- I like the wordplay, but it''s hard to see that "endlessly" refers to "on track" as a phrase instead of the component parts. |
|
| 33 | Fiddle with circular arrangement (8) | 4 | 3 | CON(fiddle)+ TRACT(circular as in leaflet) . Def: Arrangement | ||
| 34 | Hustle plot deal {8} | 4 | 2 | Hustle : Con plot : tract Deal : CONTRACT | ||
| 35 | Content of market cart no customer returned - that's a bargain (8) | 3 | 2 | Def: That's a bargain. Reverse telescopic. Content of: Telescopic indicator. Returned: reversal indicator. T CART NO C << |
- Surface strains a bit, but that''s a nice find (and literally so) |
|
| 36 | A Carl Sagan book about Romeo hiring an assassin. (8) | 3 | 2 | CONTACT (Carl Sagan book) about R (NATO alphabet Romeo). Definition: informal, to hire an assassin is to contract them. |
- Cute concept, but "hiring an assassin" would suggest "contracting" - Good surface, but the definition ("hiring...") doesn''t grammatically agree with CONTRACT; maybe it can be a gerund ("hiring of an assassin")? - Hiring an assassin would be ''contracting''? - Wouldn''t it be contracting , then ? |
|
| 37 | Pact shown on slide in C-Span | 2 | 2 | def: Pact ; shown (connector) ON slide in (insert) C span TRACT = C[ON]TRACT |
- Span = TRACT, in the context of C-SPAN is very clever, but it''d be "on" C-SPAN, not "in" it. - This would ruin the surface but grammatically I think it would have to be "ON sliding in..." or "ON slides in..." |
|
| 38 | Carton broken during vacation of court obligation | 2 | 2 | *carton in CT, Definition: obligation | ||
| 39 | Shrink, caught engaging in narco deal, served time | 2 | 1 | Def = shrink, [anagram of Ct (caught) & Narco] + T (time) | ||
| 40 | Treaty offset without disheartened Ukraine (8) | 2 | 1 | Def: Treaty - COUNTERACT-UE offset = counteract, U(KRAIN)E | ||
| 41 | Don't counteract until evitable beginners leave to shrink..(8) | 2 | 1 | Don't is anagrind for counteract, until evitable beginners leave ( minus u and e), shrink is the definition. |
- Does not need anagramming - COUNTERACT -U -E directly gives CONTRACT - Had a bit of trouble following the surface sense, sorry! |
|
| 42 | add Royal touch to squeeze (8) | 1 | 1 | def: to squeeze - clue: insert R in CONTACT | ||
| 43 | Wheelbarrow goes back after working in court to find the middle ground(8) | 1 | 1 | Defn: To find the middle ground; Wheelbarrow=Cart; Goes back=Reversal indicator; Working=On; Court=CT. ANNO: (C(on)(cart<--)t) | ||
| 44 | Deal against law's right? On the contrary | 1 | 1 | Con (rt<=) act def:deal | ||
| 45 | Cheat counterfeiting art? Case of complicit cut (8) | 0 | CON (ART)* CompliciT; Definition: Cut (as in, to shorten a word or phrase) |