| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Satyen Nabar | Extremely shocked about American writer's arrest (7) | 36 | 17 | S(-hocke)D around (US + PEN); extremely shocked= SD (extreme letters sel ind), about= cont ind, American= US, writer= pen, defn= arrest |
- Natural surface, very plausible, checks all boxes |
| 2 | Thejaswi Udupa | Pass time hanging around American bar | 20 | 11 | SPEND (pass time) around US (American). Defn - bar |
- To pass time is to spend time—but not just spend - Reads very naturally and works fine |
| 3 | Abhay Phadnis | Use up partially, use up fully - or keep aside? (7) | 18 | 10 | Charade of SU [USe "up" (reversed) "partially"] + SPEND [use up fully]; definition is "keep aside" |
- Logically ''use up partially'' would give ES(u), even if partially is accepted as last letter deletion indicator |
| 4 | Avtaar | Vacant units in waste ground (7) | 16 | 9 | U(..,)S inside SPEND(waste). Def: ground (ref Chambers) |
- Using a word that ends in s rather than a plural form (end letters selection) always preferable. Apart from that, very nice clue elements |
| 5 | @qpheevr | Arrest leaders in shocking United States presidential election night drama (7) | 15 | 9 | Definition: “arrest”; “leaders in” indicates that what follows is an acrostic | |
| 6 | Steve Gunter | Stop the American writer in South Dakota. | 14 | 7 | definition: Stop. wordplay: American(US) + writer(pen) inside South Dakota(SD) |
- I’d omit “the” - ''the'' becomes superfluous, could have been avoided |
| 7 | VENKATESAN P | Temporarily shut down faulty UPS in Southern Terminal (7) | 13 | 10 | Definition: Temporarily shut down. Anno: (S)(UPS*)(END). Southern=S. Terminal=END. Faulty=Anagrind. Fodder=UPS. | |
| 8 | Kalyan Bandyopadhyay | Eliminate waste consuming America (7) | 12 | 9 | SPEND (waste) containing US (indicated by 'consuming'); Definition: Eliminate (as in 'to officially prohibit') |
- Good wordplay but definition seems a stretch. A more appropriate def could have made this a winner |
| 9 | samit kallianpur | Cease to invest in America?...Quite the contrary! (7) | 12 | 7 | S(US)pend instead of U(spend)S. To invest = spend. In = container ind. America = US. Quite the contrary = indicator to reverse container wordplay. Def= Cease. |
- Works well. Were the ''trois points de suspension'' really required? |
| 10 | Ramki Krishnan | Hang tips of stockings, usually seeking presents, especially now (December!) (7) | 9 | 7 | Def - hang, acrostic of "stockings...december", "tips of" -> acrostic ind |
- You can hang stockings by their tips, but ... |
| 11 | Delay by Musk, essentially over pay out (7) | 8 | 6 | SU (mUSk<<) + SPEND, Def: Delay |
- For the surface ''payout'' would need to be one word |
|
| 12 | Postpone despatch to include unique selling point (7) | 7 | 6 | Def: postpone. Unique selling point USP in SEND despatch |
- Simple but effective enough |
|
| 13 | Discontinue 'Send with UPS' arrangement (7) | 7 | 6 | (SEND + UPS)*. Anagrind - arrangement. Def - discontinue. UPS is United Parcel Service - used to send packages. |
- Nounal anagrinds don''t work for me |
|
| 14 | Obscene snap used to ban a bar | 7 | 4 | def: bar, anagrind: obscene, snapused* - a |
- Good surface but can''t find a meaning of obscene that justifies it as an anagram indicator |
|
| 15 | Set aside wacky send-ups (7) | 5 | 4 | Anagram ‘send-ups’ |
- Anagrams in which a bulk of the fodder appears in the same order as entry are not ideal (ref SEND) |
|
| 16 | Stop nudes’ dancing, not to wait! (7) | 4 | 3 | (STOPNUDES-TO)*. Def: Wait |
- Can''t see the role of the apostrophe in this clue |
|
| 17 | Hang accused without a bit conscience around noon (7) | 2 | 2 | Hang -def , accused- suspect -c + n |
- Doesn''t work :( The T has to be substituted with D - ^of - guess it should be ''bit of''. Even then the result would be SUSPENT |
|
| 18 | South American writer getting discussion starter put on the shelf (7) | 2 | 2 | S (South) + US (American) + PEN (writer) getting D (Discussion starter) = SUSPEND (put on the shelf) |
- Not a very convincing surface, and letter picking indicator not Ximinean |
|
| 19 | Semi Urban leaders put in sling (7) | 2 | 2 | Semi Urban leaders = SU (lead alphabets); put in = SPEND; sling = SUSPEND (definition) | ||
| 20 | Interrupt fling, stopping service; climax denied (7) | 1 | 1 | S(USP[-s])END |
- To get USPS from ''service'' would be almost impossible for a solver |