| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madhusudan H | After regular losses, Super Kings struck boundaries to bounce back (6) | 46 | 19 | {S}u{P}e{R} + k{ING}s Defn: To bounce back |
- Good one - Great clue and topical too! - The syntax in the ''struck boundaries'' part isn''t ok |
| 2 | Ramki Krishnan | It's the season of love - rush to spend time with girl (6) | 45 | 20 | It's the season of love - def, SPRINT (rush) -T (to spend time) + G (girl) |
- Def debatable? - Excellent clue and nice surface - Good one |
| 3 | Satyen Nabar | Runs limited by turn and good bounce (6) | 36 | 17 | R in SPIN + G; runs= R, limited by= insertion ind, turn= spin, good= G, defn= bounce |
- Very nice clue, everything hangs together well |
| 4 | AMRITA MAJUMDAR | R.P Singh mostly played well (6) | 32 | 17 | R.P Singh - h anagrammed, well - def . R.P Singh is a former indian cricketer |
- Good one! - Ha ha - OK, more of a statement than a clue though |
| 5 | Arjun Mukerjee | "For starters," said Putin, "Russia is never going to pay!" (6) | 23 | 13 | Acrostic Indicator - "For starters", Connector - "to", Definition - "pay" (I'll spring for/pay for the drinks) |
- For an acrostic to be ranked it would have to be something really special. This is topical, but that''s all - Intelligent clue - Smooth surface; nice use of a less obvious definition |
| 6 | Samit kallianpur | Beginning of Modi's PR in Gujarat (6) | 22 | 12 | Telescopic. Def Beginning. Tel indicator = Of |
- "Of" is a weak telescopic indicator - Apostrophe s to get the first letter in is a bit weak, but nice idea |
| 7 | Nate Cardin | Well-bound (6) | 21 | 11 | Double def: Well and bound each = SPRING |
- The hyphenation weakens the clue unfortunately |
| 8 | Sowmya Ramkumar | Prudent to leave article in vault (6) | 18 | 11 | Sparing (Prudent, Chambers) - A (article). Def: Vault |
- Works fine |
| 9 | @usharameshnj | Season’s pretty roses inspiring new gorgeous beginnings! | 17 | 10 | def: season ; acrostic indicator: beginnings |
- OK, but really just a string of words put together easily substituted with other words, the usual problem with acrostics. Also the S is missing, can''t read this as an &lit - Shouldn''t the acrostic fodder be separate from the definition? - Simple and nice |
| 10 | Suyash Roongta | Time of the year to sing about first signs of peonies and roses (6) | 14 | 8 | S(PR)ING. Whole thing works as an extended definition. |
- First signs include s also so some other word could have been used instead - Works very well except for using ''sing'' as is, a synonym would have been better |
| 11 | New shoot is seen around time of growth (6) | 13 | 10 | N (new) surrounded by SPRIG (shoot). Def = Time of Growth |
- Works well in all respects |
|
| 12 | Well, potato chips lost the French Revolution (6) | 13 | 6 | "Well" is the definition; "potato chips" is PRINGLES, minus "le" ("the French") is PRINGS, and "Revolution" signals a cycle, with S moving to the front. |
- Not a clue that appeals to me, apologies. I am generally not in favour of using brand names, and the signalling of the placement of S is a bit far fetched |
|
| 13 | Branch hosts new launch (6) | 12 | 8 | Spri(n)g Def: Launch branch=sprig new=n |
- Branch for sprig seems a bit of a stretch |
|
| 14 | Season of sprouting ends? (6) | 11 | 6 | SPR(out)ING |
- Picking any number of letters as ''ends'' not ok for me |
|
| 15 | Protective of money in the absence of a vault (7) | 11 | 6 | Protective of money in the absence of a = SPARING - A; Def: Vault |
- One of the better Sparing/Vault clues for me |
|
| 16 | Spill the beans about Human Resources Department's issue | 11 | 5 | spill the beans = sing, HRD = PR, Definition: issue |
- How does HRD = PR? - HRD can''t be equated to PR |
|
| 17 | Develop well after winter (6) | 10 | 6 | Triple definition |
- Found it difficult to equate develop with spring, but no doubt some thesaurus will have it |
|
| 18 | Saving without a vault (6) | 9 | 7 | SPARING (saving)- A. Def: VAULT |
- Works, but not a convincing surface, can''t see a vault being a pre-requisite for saving |
|
| 19 | Children cut off head (6) | 9 | 5 | OFFSPRING (children) minus OFF; def. = head (i.e., the source of a river or stream) |
- Not the most ideal synonym as definition |
|
| 20 | Well, it's a bouncer (6) | 8 | 5 | DD |
- Second def doesn''t seem ok |
|
| 21 | Branch welcomes start of nationalization rush (6) | 8 | 5 | SPRIG (Branch) with insertion of N (start of nationalization); Definition: rush (as in sudden move forward, verb) |
- Branch for sprig is a bit of a stretch imo |
|
| 22 | Vault opens slowly possibly revealing ingots, narcotics, gold....(6) | 7 | 4 | Vault (Defn), Opens (Acrostic indicator) |
- ''Opens'' for initial letter selection not ok; the surface also appears a bit forced - Should be openings in , IMO |
|
| 23 | Kellogg's Pringles have bounce | 6 | 4 | SPRING hidden in kelloggS PRINGles (def. is bounce) |
- OK with brand names here since just used as fodder, but using apostrophe s to get the first letter in is a bit weak. Do chips have bounce? |
|
| 24 | Branchlet welcomes new season (6) | 6 | 3 | Definition: Season; Branchlet=Sprig; New=N; Welcomes=Container indicator. |
- Not a convincing surface |
|
| 25 | Bound to replace team leader with German in quick run | 5 | 3 | SPRIN[T>G] |
- Technically fine, but not a very convincing surface |
|
| 26 | New branch grows outside for it's the season for it! | 5 | 2 | SPRIG grows outside N(ew). Rest of clue is the defn |
- ''grows'' seems redundant, branch for sprig also not quite ok - Nice surface, but "grows" and "it''s" are not indicating anything in the clue |
|
| 27 | Running, but can hide well (6) | 5 | 2 | SPRIN(tin)G, but hide TIN(=can) |
- Grammatically speaking this would need to be ''can hides'' |
|
| 28 | Well, if winter comes can this be far behind proverbially?(6) | 4 | 4 | Well: definition , 'proverbially' is indicator for second definition (spring season) |
- Cryptic part is straighter than the straight def :) - Nice, bit on the easier side |
|
| 29 | Root : " Missing off, son " | 3 | 2 | Def - Root. Son = offspring - off. Surface - Captain (now ex) Joe Root to the young English bowler who wants to review the LBW decision that was given not out. |
- Good idea, feel that a ''perhaps/maybe'' before son would have made this even tighter |
|
| 30 | Appear in 1across's PR in glossies. | 3 | 2 | def=appear, hidden |
- Using apostrophe s to get the first letter in is a bit weak |
|
| 31 | Dawn of a season (6) | 3 | 2 | Double definition |
- First def a bit obscure, but fine, though I felt there were so many other possibilities |
|
| 32 | Beginning with prayers, rosaries in carol season(6) | 2 | 2 | Defn is season, p r in sing(carol) |
- "Beginning with" doesn''t exactly work as an opening letter indicator for the words following. Probably rephrase to "Prayers, rosaries beginning in...." - ''beginning with'' for initial letter selection doesn''t seem right - Beginning “with” could have been improved to Beginnings “of” with suitable change in surface grammar |
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| 33 | Reformed party leader rings spa | 2 | 2 | Reformed = anagrind ; party leader = p; fodder = p+Rings; spa = definition |
- Anagrind placement could be improved upon as the fodder is still being established...e.g. Party leader rings reformed spa (sorry for spoiling the surface!) - Not a convincing surface, very discrete elements |
|
| 34 | A time for sprouting out out! (6) | 2 | 2 | Semi-&lit. Spring is a time, and a time for "sprouting out out", and SPR(OUT)ING with OUT taken out. |
- Hmm, if this had been ''...out? Out!'' would have been better for surface; also not sure of the expression ''sprouting out'' |
|
| 35 | Miss out of blossoming well(6) | 2 | 1 | def: well, wp take 'out' from spr(out)ing ie blossoming. |
- The surface doesn''t ring true. You could miss out ''on'' something |
|
| 36 | Season's top story - Mrs Grundy seen wearing a grin at last | 1 | 1 | Def - Season, Top story - S, Mrs Grundy - Prig, Grin at last - N |
- ''top'' for ''top of'' not ok in my book; ''a'' is extraneous |
|
| 37 | Cradle without issue to king and emperor's No Good | 1 | 1 | Cradle:spring. Without issue (sine prole)SP (king and emperor rex Rex et Imperator)RI N G |
- A bit too complicated for me - where the cryptic definition is as complex as it is here, the straight definition could be a bit more direct. - Some rarely used abbreviations here, but I''ve no problem with that. But No Good with caps spoils the surface. |
|
| 38 | Dutch bank going after endlessly spry appearance. (6) | 1 | 1 | Dutch bank: ING going after endlessly spry: SPR = SPRING. Definition: appearance, as in "to spring a surprise on someone" |
- "to appearance a surprise"? - Apart from the brand name usage which is avoidable, the surface doesn''t seem to mean much |
|
| 39 | Baseball season onset from sprinting without can (6) | 1 | 1 | Baseball season onset (SPRING) from SPRIN(-TIN)G |
- I have no idea of what to make of the surface |
|
| 40 | Well, sure felt oddly super with a muddied gin | 0 | Def on Left = WELL; oddly super = SPR with muddied gin = ING |
- ''sure felt'' and ''a'' are superfluous, and I''ve not come across the term ''muddied gin'' - Not clear what is the role of "sure" in the clue |
||
| 41 | Space?? Get rid of wizard harry at blastoff. | 0 | Def - blastoff , space - (get rid of)(ace= wizard) = sp : harry = ring sp+ring = spring |
- Many issues. Why 2 question marks? Surface intent? Couldn''t figure out why harry = ring, and anyway needs capitalisation for surface? Def is also a bit suspect |