| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samit kallianpur | Diva's embraced by fans, in Germany (6) | 35 | 21 | Telescopic. Def = Diva. Embraced by = indicator. Fans in Germany = fodder |
- ''Embraced by'' indicates containment and not telecopic |
| 2 | Suyash Roongta | Concerts in Germany featuring Beyonce, for one (6) | 34 | 20 | Hidden word - concertSINGERmany. Indicator - featuring. Def - Beyonce, for one |
- smooth! |
| 3 | Saurabh Upadhyay | “Fire” by Bruce Springsteen perhaps? (6) | 32 | 19 | Double definition by examples. Bruce Springsteen is a singer and Fire singes, hence is a singe-r. Fire is actually a song by Bruce Springsteen |
- "by"? |
| 4 | Madhusudan H | Springsteen spent vacation rocking with Lady Gaga, perhaps (6) | 31 | 15 | { SPRINGSTEEN (-) SPENT }* = SINGER. Vacation is DEL-IND, rocking is ANAGR-IND. Defn. - Lady Gaga as an example of singer |
- Nice idea and great surface, but not sure of vacation being the deletion indicator, usually means emptied from within |
| 5 | Textrous | Grande's one, perhaps without a shred of doubt (6) | 24 | 13 | GRANDESI* minus A D(oubt); "perhaps" is the anagrind; &Lit (ref. to Ariana Grande) |
- I like the &lit attempt, but that surface definition''s very strained. - Perhaps & without a shred of doubt are a bit contradictory, but you still get a point from me :-) |
| 6 | VENKATESAN P | Vocal performer grins horribly after consuming drug (6) | 22 | 13 | Definition: Vocal performer; Anno: (grins*) around (e); Anagrind: Horribly |
- "After" is superfluous here, but it''s a very evocative surface! |
| 7 | Kalyan Bandyopadhyay | Lata Mangeshkar perhaps reigns singularly (6) | 22 | 12 | (reigns)*, D-by-E |
- I would have chosen a different anagram indicator that doesn''t have so manner of the letters the same as the solution. I realise it''s not a root issue; it simply seems not quite right. |
| 8 | @LowdownCryptic | Engineer reengineers one-of-a-kind sewing machine (6) | 20 | 11 | REENGINEERS* with duplicate letters removed. "Engineer" (as a verb) is anagrind, "one-of-a-kind" indicates removing duplicates, "sewing machine" is definition (a Singer is a sewing machine made by the famous Singer company). |
- Great idea, however the instruction (that the fodder is one-of-a-kind) is not clear. Something like "reengineers made one-of-a-kind" - but that works for cryptic grammar, but not for surface. - Innovative wordplay - This is great wordplay that would be better served by a reverse letter bank--i.e., no anagrind needed. |
| 9 | Sowmya Ramkumar | Engrossing remixes of song with Madonna, perhaps (6) | 19 | 9 | Composite Anagram - ENGROSSING* = SONG SINGER*, Def: Madonna, perhaps. Anagrind - Remixes |
- Composite Anagram clues need to have indicator like this, thus, it, _____ etc. to help the solver identify what they are solving for - Nice, but unfair to have a CA without "This" or similar placeholder - Not sure how this works--wouldn''t song need to be removed somehow? |
| 10 | @qpheevr | Seamstress in Germany uses sewing machine (6) | 18 | 14 | Hidden: seamstres(S IN GER)many; Singer is a brand of sewing machines |
- "Sewing machine used by seamstress in Germany" OR "Sewing machine seamstress in Germany uses" would have been better, since it indicates what the solver must look for - ''uses'' as hidden word indicator is questionable |
| 11 | Spice girl at first is soprano peformer (6) | 17 | 8 | Spice:ginger first g (girl:g) is S giving singer, a perfomer. Surface ref to ginger costa-jackson |
- S = soprano? |
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| 12 | KK for one, was the centerpiece of music in primarily giving emotional renditions (6) | 16 | 10 | Def - KK for one: the centrepiece of - middle letter indicator- MU(S)IC +in+ {primarily - 1st letter indicators} (G)iving (E)motional (R)enditions = singer |
- "was"? |
|
| 13 | Uprising erupts trapping musician (6) | 15 | 9 | Telescopic clue |
- Great surface. Telescopics are best when across three or more words. |
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| 14 | Kishore Kumar, say - one who could set the audience on fire! (6) | 15 | 8 | Double def, second one to be read as singe-r |
- ''Audience'' is not contributing to the def, only the surface. - I don''t think singe = set on fire - I like that cryptic definition. |
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| 15 | Mercury for one burner (6) | 14 | 10 | DD . Mercury for one (Freddie Mercury). Singer also means one that singes or burns | ||
| 16 | Perhaps, one is burning to become a vocalist (6) | 12 | 6 | DD: Perhaps , one is burning = 'Singe'r; vocalist=Singer | ||
| 17 | Rearranged pieces from energising vocalist (6) | 11 | 8 | Def: “vocalist.” Wordplay: letterbank of (“rearranged pieces from”) ENERGISING |
- Congratulations on the collapsing (i.e. reverse) Letter Bank clue! However, there should be something to indicate that it''s only the *non-duplicated* pieces of ENERGISING that get rearranged. Saying "unique pieces" or "distinctive pieces" would work in this case. - How do we know which pieces to rearrange? - Nice idea, but nothing to suggest no duplication. Maybe "unique pieces" would have been better - which pieces of "energising"? |
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| 18 | Perhaps a backup sewing machine? (6) | 11 | 5 | DD by example. 1. a backup SINGER. 2. SINGER brand of sewing machine. DBEI - perhaps. | ||
| 19 | Vocalist Mika, we hear, met the Queen (6) | 10 | 7 | Vocalist - definition, Mika - Singh, we hear - hp indicator, met - connector, The Queen - ER. Singh~Sing+er | ||
| 20 | Dancer perhaps misses wife and turns a vocalist (6) | 10 | 6 | Swinger -w Defn vocalist | ||
| 21 | ßrat (6) | 8 | 5 | Rat is the definition, as in one who "sings". ß is "S" in GER. |
- ...but ß is not "S" in GER, it''s "SS" ;-) - Clever (if abstruse) wordplay, but what''s the surface reading meant to be? - Creative, but too far-fetched - ß is actually ss in German meaning that your solution would be SSINGER. This clue also has elision involving the definition which I understand is very much frowned upon. - Ultra Meta Cryptic ! - Very ambitious rebus; I love it. |
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| 22 | Father almost enthralls newgen musician (6) | 7 | 6 | Musician (Defn), SI(NGE)Re, Father almost - SIRe, newgen - anagram of gen, enthralls - holds |
- I like the elision aspect of this clue but I''m not sure there''s such a thing as a ''newgen musician''. - Not familiar with "newgen" but this wordplay is great. |
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| 23 | One performing Number 1s in shows is naturally gifted evergreen rocker (6) | 7 | 5 | Acrostic. First letters of Shows Is Naturally Gifted Evergreen Rocker. Def = one performing though whole clue acts as extended def | ||
| 24 | Someone like Lata, awesome elite and distinguished, unforgettable superstar captures hearts (6) | 7 | 4 | Def (by example): someone like Lata. Acrostic middle letters of: awe(S)ome el(I)te a(N)d distin(G)uished unforg(E)ttable supe(R)star |
- I like the idea of a central acrostic but the surface feels effortful. |
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| 25 | Pleasing error-free display by crooner (6) | 6 | 5 | Def - crooner , telescopic |
- by is extraneous - Lovely surface. Telescopics are best when across three or more words. |
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| 26 | Setting rings on fire ultimately with burner, perhaps (6) | 6 | 4 | Defn is burner perhaps (to burn= to singe), Anagram of rings +e |
- "with" does not work as a connector here between the subsidiary indication and definition |
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| 27 | Diva resign suprisingly (6) | 6 | 3 | def:diva, 'suprisingly' is the anagrind, wp: (resign)* |
- Grammar is off; this would need to be "resigns." - grammar issue in construction - Great idea. Should the surface not be ''Dive resigns...'' - Has to be "Diva to resign" or "Diva resign" for surface grammar - In surface reading, "resign" doesn''t agree with singular subject "diva" - Shouldn''t it be resigns ? - The surface is grammatically incorrect |
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| 28 | Crowd ignores, shows no love for Anu Malik, for one (6) | 5 | 5 | Ignores* - O , Anu Malik , for one - def |
- "Crowd" does not work as an anagrind - ''crowd'' as anagram indicator? - crowd as anagram indicator? - Not seeing "crowd" as an anagram indicator. |
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| 29 | Harmonising error overshadowing vocalist (6) | 5 | 4 | Telescopic clue (harmoniSINGERror) ; Def: Vocalist; Hidden clue indicator: Overshadowing |
- Lovely surface. Telescopics are better when they cover three or more words. |
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| 30 | Brandy--specifically cognac--cocktail is timeless (6) | 4 | 3 | Brandy is a SINGER, specifically; a cognac cocktail is known as a STINGER, but without the T ("timeless") | ||
| 31 | Who tells common Hindu husband to get lost? The queen! (6) | 3 | 3 | def.="Who tells" (in the informant sense). Common Hindu=SINGH; husband to get lost=delete H; the queen=E.R. |
- Singh is Sikh! ''common Sikh'' works fine. ''One who tells'' works better as def. |
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| 32 | Rat burner (6) | 3 | 2 | DD. Rat (as in informer), and burner (as in that which burns or singes) | ||
| 33 | The performance was in German, by Lata Mangeshkar, say (6) | 2 | 2 | Hidden in plain sight. Lata Mangeshkar- defn |
- "The performance was" has no role. "By" is extra. A hidden word clue ideally should not have any connectors/extra words. - Does "the performance" operating as a hidden indicator? - I cannot identify a telescopic indicator here. - Telescopic indicator missing ? - Telescopic indicator missing? - Too many extraneous words and not seamlessly indicated - What is the HIPS indicator? |
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| 34 | Burn a record with her voice, does she? (6) | 1 | 1 | Burn=SINGE a Record -> SINGER |
- should be ''burns'' for grammatical agreement - The "a" would be superfluous if it''s SINGE+R (also not sure of the abbreviation), and "her voice, does she?" is an odd definition. |
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| 35 | Crooner smiles awkwardly around elders (6) | 1 | 1 | Smiles = grins =singr around e |
- IA - Indirect anagram - Indirect Anagram and elders is not "E" - indirect anagram is a no-no - Indirect Anagram! - Indirect anagram. Also not sure if elders = e is a standard abbreviation - The clue involves an indirect anagram. Indirect anagrams are not considered acceptable. - This could work really well, I just don''t know "elders" as an abbreviation for E. - This is an indirect anagram which is taboo. smiles > grins* |
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| 36 | Vocalist's alaps in Shuddhkalyan, Imratkauns, Nand, Gawati and Erukalakamboji ragas (6) | 1 | 1 | Def: Vocalist; Acrostic (Acrostic indicator: alap, or opening part of raga) |
- Acrostics of more than 3 words sound contrived - Alap as a letter selection indicator is a bit of a stretch, but an amusing clue nevertheless - Love this clue but it''s very regional. Not for an international platform |
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| 37 | How to get anno, for one, possibly (6) | 0 | Reverse anagram of anno= madonna, possibly is example indicator |
- Doesn''t work IMO. "How to get anno" or "What could be anno for a famous singer" with answer as MADONNA is okay. But not with def as singer - I love the idea of the reverse anagram and meta surface, but what takes us from MAD ONNA to SINGER? - I think this is the first indirect reverse anagram I''ve ever seen. Also, in an RA, the ''how to get...'' construction doesn''t work with adjectival anagram indicators; you''d need to write "Anno for one, possibly?" where the ? is the RA indicator but then it''s still an indirect anagram when the solution is SINGER. Also, you don''t need a DBEI here because the clue contains the generic rather than the example. - Indirect, going from anno to madonna to singer is a step too many - This is a clue for Madonna, not Singer - too indirect |