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Limit of 1 clue per setter. Please Annotate your clues clearly.
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Contest closes at 10:00 AM, April 3, 2026 after which VOTING will be open.
All participants who set clues are expected to vote as well. So please check when the Voting opens and/or bookmark the links
Voting will close at 7:00 AM, April 5, 2026 after which Results will be announced.
This week’s 1ACCWC received 31 clues, with good participation from regulars and irregulars alike.
The majority of clues went with a wordplay of HONOUR = ON inserted in HOUR, with several setters opting for surfaces referencing the TV show “60 minutes”. On the flip side, a few of setters tried to use unique cryptic devices or wordplay ideas with varying degrees of success.
Voted comments focused on setting technique: can a homophone indicator be used to indicate rhyming words? Can extraneous words be used to improve a clue’s surface reading? Is “gnawer” a spoonerism for “Honour”? Can “nailed by” be used as a containment indicator? (It can, it’s referenced in Clue Clinic).
With 47 points from 18 voters, the winning setter this week is Abhay Phadnis! That’s about as decisive as the voting in this contest gets. His clue was topical and technically sound: Leaders of Hungary oppose NATO on Ukraine; Russians applaud (6)
Congratulations Abhay. Over to you as the host of next week’s contest.
H(ON)OUR. Honour = any one of four best trumps in whist; on = about; nail = to secure (all Chambers). Trump last appeared on the show in November 2025 and famously stormed off in 2020 claiming “biased, hateful and rude” questioning. Bless him.
– ‘Nail’ can mean ‘secure’, and ‘secure’ can mean ‘contain’, but that doesn’t mean ‘nail’ can mean ‘contain’
Pay tribute to dear leaders of old utopian regimes (6)
11
4
Definition: Pay tribute to Wordplay: Dear -> hon (as in honey). + first letters of following with leaders as acrostic indicator
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated. Over to Abhay Phadnis for the next contest.
If you have any comments or feedback on the contest or the new 1ACCWC app. or any suggestions, please leave a comment and I shall try and incorporate it.
All participants who set clues are expected to vote. You are not allowed to vote for your own clue
Click on clues to shortlist them, click on the Shortlisted Button to see shortlisted clues only
Use arrows to move clues up or down the list if you wish to. Clicking on the buttons moves the clue right to the Top or Bottom of the list.
Allocate a total of 10 points exactly across 4 clues e.g. 4,3,2,1 (ideal allocation) or 3,3,3,1 etc. A running total is visible on the top of the page to help you see what you have allocated.
Click on submit votes. You will not be allowed to allocate more or less than 10 points/4 clues
Votes from voters whose names are not recognised from FB/Twitter/Bluesky will be disallowed. Please use your login IDs.
Participants who do not vote will lose 10 points for the round
Do check out our Leaderboards. These includes points for all players whose clues figure in the Top 10 each week and gets accumulated over the year.
Limit of 1 clue per setter. Please Annotate your clues clearly.
Please login to participate. You can use your wordpress/gmail account for login but please use one account consistently so that your performance can be tracked for the leader board
Contest closes at 8:00 AM, March 27, 2026 after which VOTING will be open.
All participants who set clues are expected to vote as well. So please check when the Voting opens and/or bookmark the links
Voting will close at 7:00 AM, March 29, 2026 after which Results will be announced.
– Nice surface, but I’m not buying the definition
– Good wordplay, but I don’t think delicious = angelic
– Nice telescopic, but I’m not sure about ‘delicious’ as a def.—something like ‘heavenly’ or ‘divine’ would be better, while still working with the surface reading
– Extract from/of orange lychee would be better
Mainly agreeable, naturally gorgeous, exceptionally loving, incredibly charming and divine?
11
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Acrostic suggested by mainly; definition divine.
– mainly is a standard last letter deletion indicator – bit of a stretch to use it for acrostics!
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated.
Over to Aashirwad for the next contest.If you have any comments or feedback on the contest or the new 1ACCWC app. or any suggestions, please leave a comment and I shall try and incorporate it.
“Give to Gain” was a special puzzle put together with several talented cruciverbalists from across the globe on International Women’s Day 2026.
Stats: 112 solvers attempted this puzzle. 55 solvers managed to complete the puzzle, of which 53 solvers also completed the bonus forms. As many as 27 solvers got the full score. (more…)
All participants who set clues are expected to vote. You are not allowed to vote for your own clue
Click on clues to shortlist them, click on the Shortlisted Button to see shortlisted clues only
Use arrows to move clues up or down the list if you wish to. Clicking on the buttons moves the clue right to the Top or Bottom of the list.
Allocate a total of 10 points exactly across 4 clues e.g. 4,3,2,1 (ideal allocation) or 3,3,3,1 etc. A running total is visible on the top of the page to help you see what you have allocated.
Click on submit votes. You will not be allowed to allocate more or less than 10 points/4 clues
Votes from voters whose names are not recognised from FB/Twitter/Bluesky will be disallowed. Please use your login IDs.
Participants who do not vote will lose 10 points for the round
Do check out our Leaderboards. These includes points for all players whose clues figure in the Top 10 each week and gets accumulated over the year.
Limit of 1 clue per setter. Please Annotate your clues clearly.
Please login to participate. You can use your wordpress/gmail account for login but please use one account consistently so that your performance can be tracked for the leader board
Contest closes at 8:00 AM, March 20, 2026 after which VOTING will be open.
All participants who set clues are expected to vote as well. So please check when the Voting opens and/or bookmark the links
Voting will close at 7:00 AM, March 22, 2026 after which Results will be announced.
