| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Satyen Nabar | Male star playing lead in Chinatown as a clever dick (5,4) | 40 | 16 | (MALE STAR)* + C(-hinatown); playing: anag ind, lead in: 1st letter sel ind, ref: Jack Nicholson playing role of a dick (detective) in the movie Chinatown. | |
| 2 | N Anantakrishnan | Melodramatic, head of state, Modi goes abroad - he can be irritating. (5,4) | 28 | 15 | (Melodramatic + S - Modi)* Goes - deletion indicator. Abroad - anagram indicator (as in going around) Def - he can be irritating | |
| 3 | Sowmya Ramkumar | Wise guy caught trailing gangster sheltered by master criminal (5,4) | 26 | 13 | Def: Wise Guy, SMART(AL)E* C, C- Caught, Gangster - AL(Capone), MASTER* Criminal - Anagram Indicator | |
| 4 | Raj Jayaram | Inconsistencies mar tale circulated about wise guy (5,4) | 21 | 10 | inconsistencieS MAR TALE Circulated = fodder containing hidden word; about = hidden word indicator; wise guy = definition | |
| 5 | Amrita Majumdar | Wise guy turned scarlet , transfixed by a couple of maidens (5,4) | 16 | 9 | Scarlet* around MA ( couple of MAidens) | |
| 6 | Kalyan Bandyopadhyay | Know-all's fake scam alert (5,4) | 12 | 8 | (scam alert)*; Definition: Know-all | |
| 7 | Thejaswi Udupa | Cocky bastard met rascal | 11 | 8 | (met rascal)*, bastard as anagrind (bastard is used to refer something that is irregular), cocky as definition (considering smart alec as an adjective) an | |
| 8 | VENKATESAN P | Wise guy Charlie follows alarm set wrongly(5,4) | 11 | 8 | Definition: Wise guy. Anno: (ALARM+SET*)(C). Charlie=C. Anagram Fodder=ALARM SET. Anagrind=Wrongly. | |
| 9 | Ganesh Raman | Blend cream with salt in a saucebox? | 10 | 6 | Anagram of CREAM + SALT; Anagrind: BLEND; Def: SAUCEBOX; Question mark to indicate different meaning than in the surface | |
| 10 | Ramki Krishnan | Overconfident person starts to accelerate Mercedes car: "Let's move!" (5,4) | 9 | 7 | Def = overconfident person, anagram of (A M CAR LETS), move is anagram indicator | |
| 11 | @qpheevr | Annoying person smelted scrap metal, and not quietly (5,4) | 9 | 6 | (SCRA[p] METAL)* – ‘smelted’ = anagrind; ‘and not quietly’ = remove P (for ‘piano’); ‘annoying person’ = def. | |
| 12 | Madhup Tewari | Wiseguy initially smuggled liquor outside market before getting caught. (5, 4) | 9 | 6 | Def: Wiseguy; S (initially Smuggled) ALE (liquor) outside MART (market) + C (caught) |
- ALE comes _after_ MART, or _inside_ MART+C, not outside. |
| 13 | The French participating in new act as Mr Know-all (5,4) | 8 | 5 | LE in (ACT AS MR)*. Def: Know-all | ||
| 14 | Dapper 30 Rock star is a wiseass (5,4) | 6 | 4 | DD. Dapper = Smart. 30 Rock star = Alec (Baldwin). Wiseass = Def. | ||
| 15 | Wise guy to has to cancel a tram service going west | 6 | 4 | Wise guy : Definition; has: Containment indicator: going west: Reversal indicator; Reverse telescopic clue: canCEL A TRAM Service |
- ‘Has’ implies the opposite containment relationship—it’s usually ‘[container] has [contents]’. (Also, there’s an extra ‘to’) - "has" as hidden word indicator has to come after the fodder IMO - If "has" is to be used as a hidden-word(s) indicator, it should appear to the right of the fodder. |
|
| 16 | Using different positions for a castle, Mr. Wise Guy? (5,4) | 6 | 4 | (A CASTLE MR)* - anagrind is "Using different positions for", definition is "Wise Guy", surface suggests a friendly game of chess |
- ♜ |
|
| 17 | Carl's team doctor is a know it all (5,4) | 6 | 4 | Def- know it all, doctor - anagram indicator, Carl's+team = smart alec |
- The anagrind ‘doctor’ normally precedes the fodder (so that it can be read as a verb in the imperative) - Doctor as a verbal anagrind has to come before the fodder |
|
| 18 | Small man withholding skill, a little cheeky wise guy (5,4) | 5 | 3 | S M (ART) ALE C S small ART skill in MALE man C first letter of cheeky def: wise guy | ||
| 19 | "Scam Alert - Becoming a wise guy" (5,4) | 5 | 3 | Wise guy (Defn) - Anagram of (Scam alert) | ||
| 20 | Wise guy in social media bursting a cartel (5,4) | 4 | 3 | Def-wise guy, social media- sm, bursting- anagram indicator for a cartel | ||
| 21 | Wise guy on streetcar, opening stopper, knocked back a Guinness | 1 | 1 | (TRAM+S)<< + ALEC. "streetcar" = TRAM. "opening stopper" = S. "knocked back" = reversal indicator. "a Guinness" = ALEC [the actor]. Def: "Wise guy". | ||
| 22 | Clever-clogs, Harry, met rascal? (5,4) | 1 | 1 | Clever-clogs is def |
- The annotation should also explain the wordplay (even if it seems obvious to the setter) - Would read better without the two commas. |