| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VMA Nair | Puppet president beginning to impose limit to immigration at chaotic borders controlled by US state (9) | 31 | 18 | President = P, beginning to impose = I, limit to immigration = N (last letter) ChaotiC borders = CC, controlled by = Insertion Ind, US state = Ohio, Definition = puppet |
- Clue of the week for me! - Topical and realistic! |
| 2 | Textrous | Iconic shop abroad gives away small, iconic wooden toy (9) | 28 | 16 | ICONICSHOP* ("abroad" is the anagrind) - S (small); def: iconic wooden toy |
- good wordplay and surface, giving would be better grammar than gives - No need for "iconic" to be repeated in the def IMO |
| 3 | @LowdownCryptic | Disney movie makes repeated use of Chopin pieces (9) | 27 | 13 | Letter bank (CHOPIN) indicated by "makes repeated use of ___ pieces" |
- Two letter bank clues in one week?! This is the better IMHO - nice letter bank I predict that this clue is by Lowdown - Not generally a fan of letter bank clues but this is a good example |
| 4 | Satyen Nabar | Extravagant picnic? Ooh, he paid through the nose (9) | 25 | 16 | (PICNIC OOH)*; extravagant= anag ind, defn= he paid through the nose |
- fun though the definition would benefit from a question mark as it''s not a literal def. |
| 5 | @ahope1.bsky.social | Arrangement of Chopin pieces for performer with wood and strings | 21 | 11 | Letter-bank clue. One "Arrangement" of (copies of) the letters/"pieces" of the word "Chopin" results in the word PINOCCHIO, defined as a "performer with wood and strings". |
- Good definition and a nice letter bank but it doesn''t imply the repeated use of the characters |
| 6 | Gayathri Viswanath | Hip icon first to call out crooked liar (9) | 18 | 12 | Def - liar, HIP ICON CO* first to - letter selection indicator for C O, crooked is the anagrind |
- cryptic grammar doesn''t quite work first to only indicates a single letter not two. |
| 7 | Ramki Krishnan | After retirement, policeman going around in Switzerland starts to investigate - obviously he is a nosey person (9) | 17 | 11 | Def = he is a "nosey" person, wp = COP (policeman) << around IN + CH (Switzerland) + I O |
- overlong perhaps but it does parse well |
| 8 | Sitter | Extended feature film? | 17 | 8 | Cryptic def - the nose grows!! |
- fun CD - Nicely done. I think the solver would be confident they had the right answer, which is a key test of CDs |
| 9 | Coot | Boy who has a nose for fiction? (9) | 16 | 10 | CD |
- fun CD |
| 10 | Womble | Italian character sees off last of pie and gnocchi starter, with love | 13 | 9 | 'Sees off' = Remove 'last of' PI(e) and g(NOCCHI) 'starter', with love (O) | |
| 11 | Amrita Majumdar | He is prone to lying quietly at home on rickety old Indian couch bunking university (9) | 13 | 9 | He is prone to lying - DEF , P IN (O I COUCH)* - U |
- good seamless join between lying and quietly. Is I a standard standalone abbreviation for India? |
| 12 | No to edit iconic photo showing puppet! (9) | 12 | 9 | (ICONICPHOTO-TO)*. Edit: anagrind . Definition: Puppet |
- the cryptic grammar doesn''t quite work here. No to is ok and edit fodder is ok but not together as one is descriptive and one is imperative. |
|
| 13 | Puppet state imprisons two hundred after power at home (9) | 10 | 7 | Defn. Puppet. OHIO (state) containing (imprisons) CC (two hundred) = O(CC)HIO after P (Power) IN (at home). | ||
| 14 | Rogue cop in company got high. One hears he got life. (9) | 9 | 6 | COPIN* = PINOC (rogue is anagrind) + CO (company) getting HI (HP of high; HP indicator = one hears). Definition = He got life |
- The full stop unfairly separates high from the homophobe indicator. Also isn''t it prounouned pee-no-key-oh? |
|
| 15 | See this liar! Crazy, he copies icon (9) | 8 | 5 | Composite Anagram/ This liar is the def/ See+ Pinocchio= he copies icon |
- poor surface grammar crazily would work better as an adverb |
|
| 16 | A popular character clip at two cents in Ohio(9) | 7 | 5 | Definition is a popular character, clip is pin, 2 cents is cc , cc inside Ohio | ||
| 17 | A feature became more prominent in his stories | 5 | 5 | CD |
- nice but needs a QM to indicate a cryptic definition |
|
| 18 | Cochin opium without hesitation cracks up nosey lying character (9) | 5 | 4 | COCHIN OPI(-um)* def: NOSEY LYING CHARACTER | ||
| 19 | I regret not listening to the cricket? | 5 | 2 | Cryptic definition. ref Jiminy Cricket. |
- Have seen similar usage in Guardian. Cricket clues without capitalisation and definition by example is not kosher, IMO - Not very cryptic |
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| 20 | Pistachio eating thief returns to give away 50% of treats for fictional character (9) | 3 | 3 | Pista(noc = con in reverse = thief returns)chio - sta(give away 50% of treats) - pinocchio |
- surface doesn''t make a lot of sense |
|
| 21 | Geppetto's puppet in coco / hip dancing (9) | 3 | 2 | Definition: Geppetto's puppet. Anno: (IN+COCO+HIP) *. Dancing - Anagrind | ||
| 22 | State arrests clone following stick figure with a telltale feature | 3 | 2 | Definition: Figure with a telltale feature / Wordplay: OHIO (state) containing (arrests) CC (carbon copy=clone) after PIN (stick) |
- CC for clone is dubious wordplay - Clone = CC seems like a bit of a stretch |
|
| 23 | No Pacific hero fearlessly reassembled puppet swallowed by dogfish (9) | 2 | 2 | (NO PaCIfIC HerO – FEAR)*; reassembled = anagrind; Pinocchio is swallowed by a dogfish in Collodi’s book, though Disney made it a whale |
- WP works though some would want a second anagrind for fear. Surface is rather nonsensical. |
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| 24 | Cultural icon from Italy forgets starter of gnocchi being captivated by the Po (9) | 2 | 2 | Cultural icon (Definition) - P(I)(gNOCCHI)O, I - Italy, Po - Italian river, Forgets - Del ind, Captivated - Insertion ind |