| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kalyan Bandyopadhyay | Capture criminal gang infiltrating borders of Europe (6) | 37 | 21 | (GANG)* (anagram indicated by criminal) inside EE (borders of Europe); Definition: Capture (as in to attract someone’s attention or interest) |
- Vanilla but solid |
| 2 | Amrita Majumdar | Arrest gang involved in drugs ( 6) | 32 | 14 | Arrest-def , Gang ( anagrammed, indicator- involved) inside drugs (E E) | |
| 3 | Suyash Roongta | Immerse in turbulent Ganges as it turns South East (6) | 27 | 14 | {GANGES - S + E}*. Turbulent = anagrind. Turns South East = Replace S with E. Immerse in = engage. | |
| 4 | Satyen Nabar | Catch rogue at the back throwing an egg (6) | 24 | 16 | (-rogu)E + (AN EGG)*; defn= catch, at the back= last letter selection ind, throwing= anag ind. |
- Vanilla but solid |
| 5 | Ganesh Raman | Take on gang unlawfully occupying outskirts of Entebbe | 23 | 13 | Def: TAKE ON; Anagram of GANG (UNLAWFULLY as Angrind) within EE (outskirts of Entebbe); OCCUPYING as containment indicator |
- Vanilla but solid |
| 6 | @LowdownCryptic | Expediting new Gaza aid gateway, European leaders get involved (6) | 20 | 12 | Acrostic ("leaders"), def is "get involved", ref. to EU's humanitarian air bridge |
- Sneaky acrostic. Makes WWIII fun! |
| 7 | VENKATESAN P | Attempt new joke in ease for the audience (6) | 17 | 10 | Definition: Attempt. Anno: (E(N)(GAG)E). Ease for the audience (hp)=EE. New=N. Joke=GAG. |
- I don''t think this needs "For the audience" at all and I think the surface feels much tighter and lively without |
| 8 | N Anantakrishnan | England needs win, time to attack (6) | 16 | 10 | England - land (win) , Age ( time). Def - attack | |
| 9 | Veera Raghavan | Co-opt sweetheart to scramble an egg! (6) | 11 | 8 | swEet ANEGG*. scramble: anagrind. Def: Co-opt |
- I don''t like Co-Opt as a def here. Maybe by some depressing technicality it works, but I don''t think it''s fair or fun. |
| 10 | Lakshmi Vaidyanathan | Attack German pushing out republican in anger (6) | 11 | 7 | Def- attack, german-g, pushing out - deletion indicator for r from republican, anger- enrage - EN (R) G AGE | |
| 11 | Employ whisk. Essentially blend an egg (6) | 10 | 6 | Employ (Definition), Whisk - Anagrind indicator, Essentially blend - E, Fodder - (E)(AN EGG) |
- Vanilla but solid |
|
| 12 | Feeble gag needs stripping back - concentrate! | 10 | 5 | Hidden backwards, definition is concentrate | ||
| 13 | Pledge to participate | 10 | 4 | Double definition | ||
| 14 | Partake of an egg whisked with energy (6) | 9 | 6 | Def: Partake of, which means both "eat" and "engage", ANEGG*+E |
- Vanilla but solid |
|
| 15 | What next generation's leader says to motivate! | 8 | 3 | Def: motivate. &lit clue: next generation’s leader=Picard of Star Trek, whose catchphrase was “engage” |
- More timeless than the average TV reference. |
|
| 16 | Player still upset after England's draw (6) | 7 | 4 | Def: Draw, EN - England, E- Player, GAG - Still, EN GAG E< |
- Nice 1 |
|
| 17 | Awkwardly, Geena captured Grant’s interest (6) | 6 | 4 | G inserted into anagrammed GEENA | ||
| 18 | Arrest and imprison gang leader instead of secondary accomplice (6) | 5 | 3 | Arrest = definition of “engage” as in “engross”; and = connector; imprison = ENCAGE; gang leader = G; instead of = replacing; secondary aCcomplice = C (2nd letter) |
- imo this is too much work to stretch to the answer of a rather bland surface |
|
| 19 | Hook's direction to "Stifle! Stifle!" (6) | 3 | 3 | Def = Hook. First "stifle" indicates containment - {EN{GAG}E} | ||
| 20 | Ere gang lost head ruffian, stumbled into hire | 1 | 1 | {EREGANG - R}*, stumbled is anagrind, def = hire | ||
| 21 | Committed to negotiate a deal | 1 | 1 | DD committed to//negotiate a deal |
- I feel like this doesn''t work. "Committed To" = "ENGAGED". - Should be ''commit to'' |
|
| 22 | England without land and time get busy | 0 | 2 | Eng (-land)age = engage -> busy |