| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @inwitinwit | Free exchange of rupees vital for capital. (11) | 39 | 20 | Anagram of "rupees vital". Anagram indicator: "Free exchange of". Definition: "capital". |
- Very nice clue, with a smooth and natural surface reading |
| 2 | Veera Raghavan | Wonderful, exotic silver tea cup about to be given away (11) | 27 | 15 | Anno: (SILVERTEACUP-C)*. |
- "About to be given away" is a very smooth deletion. |
| 3 | @LowdownCryptic | Smashing it up reveals nuts (11) | 25 | 13 | (IT UP REVEALS)* anagrind = nuts; def = Smashing |
- Elegant clue! I like the exploitation of part-of-speech ambiguity in both “smashing” and “nuts” |
| 4 | VENKATESAN P | Extraordinary pulse rate treated on getting IV injection (11) | 23 | 13 | Definition: Extraordinary; Anno: (pulse+rate)* around (iv); Anagrind: Treated | |
| 5 | Lily Geller (@lilygeller) | Venture capitalist managed to divest AT&T Inc. blue chip (11) | 21 | 13 | Anagram ("managed") of VENTURE CAPITALIST, deleting ("to divest") ATT INC. Definition is "blue chip" meaning "outstanding, excellent"; for the surface it refers to high value stock | |
| 6 | Ananth Srinivasan | Blemishless lives are put in disarray (11) | 15 | 11 | (LIVESAREPUT)* - Def: Blemishless |
- “Blemishless” is too clumsy a mouthful to make a superlative surface. |
| 7 | Melissa McSeismal | Following drink, animated relative could be tipsiest (11) | 15 | 10 | SUP + erlative* def (could be tipsiest) |
- It’s not clear to me that tipsiest = superlative |
| 8 | Thejaswi Udupa | Trap elusive mutation of the highest order | 13 | 7 | (trap elusive)* |
- If only there were Ghostbuster equivalents for trapping COVID. - 👏 |
| 9 | Satyen Nabar | Unparalleled pleasure on popping bit of Viagra - sex's revolutionary! (11) | 12 | 6 | PLEASURE* around (V... + IT) <-- ; On (as in playing, performing)= anag ind, popping= cont ind, bit of Viagra= V (1st letter sel ind), sex= it, revolutionary=rev ind. |
- on is not an anagram indicator. - Ambitious and clever! - I don''t see how "sex" = IT. Also, "on" (via "playing") is a bit removed to work as a fair anagram indicator. |
| 10 | William Snow (@ContoCrosswords) | Perhaps the strongest ever sail put out (11) | 11 | 9 | Perhaps the strongest = def / (EVERSAILPUT)*out |
- I think this reads more cleanly as "strongest sail ever put out"? - “Perhaps the strongest” ≠ superlative. |
| 11 | Vinay Singad | Reveal situp exercise number one (11) | 11 | 7 | Reveal situp : fodder, exercise : anagram indicator, number one : Superlative |
- ‘Exercise’ isn’t right for the cryptic grammar - I don''t think ''exercise'' as a noun works as an anagram indicator. If it''s ''exercise'' (imperative verb) as an anagram indicator, it needs to precede the fodder. - PoS. Noun vs. adjective |
| 12 | @qpheevr | I put several rowdy, drunken, tulip-averse relatives up; unfortunately, any one of them would be horribly repulsive at best (11) | 11 | 5 | Quadruple anagram: I PUT SEVERAL/TULIP-AVERSE/RELATIVES UP/REPULSIVE AT. Best=def. “Any…be” = multiple ind. Anagrinds: rowdy, drunken, unfortunately, horribly |
- I think this clue has too much going on. - [Cluer’s note: “tulip-averse” makes it less natural-sounding, but I couldn’t resist] - Wow! - Very creative way of getting around the one-submission-per-entrant restriction. ;–) |
| 13 | Drink cocktail later - I have to be most alert, for one (11) | 10 | 7 | SUP + LATER* + IVE, def = most later, for one |
- I would say that ''cocktail'' as an anagram indicator needs to follow the fodder. - I like the idea of "cocktail" in the surface, but I don''t see it indicating that "later" is "mixed." |
|
| 14 | Excellent terrific tale spun over one victory (11) | 9 | 5 | Defn is excellent, terrific is super, i v in tale* | ||
| 15 | Pure evil occasionally starts becoming matchless (11) | 7 | 4 | PURE EVIL S(-t)A(-r)T* |
- I don''t love "becoming" as an anagram indicator. - S(-t)A(-r)T(-s)* |
|
| 16 | Choose vital rep using some backing in capital (11) | 7 | 3 | Rev Tel. choosE VITAL REP USing. Some backing is reversal indicator. Def = Capital |
- Impressive telescopic reversal but I don''t get the surface sense. Like electing? - A bit laboured. |
|
| 17 | Magnificent arrangement of visual expert after eliminating the unknown(10) | 5 | 4 | def: magnificent, anagrind : arrangement of, fodder: visual expert - x, unknown is x | ||
| 18 | Ace! Sadly a very exhausted Rafa Nadal finally upset! | 5 | 3 | Def - Ace. Sadly - anagrind.( A=) I V R(af)A (Nada)L UPSET |
- Not sure I buy A = I (with "one" their common synonym), but either way you''re missing an E. |
|
| 19 | Eat emergency room laxative, shitting out 40% of Xanax--that's excessive (11) | 4 | 3 | SUP+ER+LA[-xa]TIVE | ||
| 20 | "Evita" plus "ER", strangely, is the absolute best (11) | 4 | 3 | EVITA PLUS ER anagram, "strangely" = anagrind, "the absolute best" = definition |
- Funny, and probably also true! (Who doesn''t love a musical episode?) - Surface not smooth enough for a win. |
|
| 21 | Sensational, extraordinary elusive part (11) | 4 | 2 | Anagram | ||
| 22 | Drink relative served with a spike at the start was best | 3 | 3 | Drink = sup , relative spiked at the start = erlative, Def: best |
- Ambitious to present ''served with a spike at the start'' as, essentially, ''I hit the R into the word''; the ball being served into itself? |
|
| 23 | Magnificent drink had with relative beginning to move ahead (11) | 3 | 2 | Magnificent (Definition), Drink - Sup, Relative beginning to move ahead - Erlative |
- Isn’t the beginning moving behind not ahead? |
|
| 24 | Best charge over French milk mixed into lustful gazer (11) | 3 | 2 | Fr. milk = “lait”; LAIT* in PERV in SUE. Defn. best |
- French milk > lait > lait* is an indirect anagram. |
|
| 25 | Best degree ?(11) | 2 | 2 | CD, I guess |
- excellent? uttermost? Cryptic clues are suppose to offer two paths to solution, not zero or many. |
|
| 26 | Without name, put in several versions of the highest quality (11) | 1 | 1 | [PUT IN - N (Name) + SEVERAL]* | ||
| 27 | Put several to work securing individual best (11) | 0 | Anagram of Put Several (to work - indicator) with insertion of I (individual). Definition- Best |
- A workmanlike clue lacking the brilliance of a winner. |