Thanks to Ramki Krishnan for hosting the contest.
The contest elicited some clever ties in common cryptic surfaces: “on the house”, “giveaways,” “handouts,” “no charge,” etc. were often used definitions. Wordplay in several clues used beer/fries), insects (BEE), chips/fries, or anagrams/containers involving those elements.
Voter comments focused on indirect anagrams, same-root issues (using “free” directly in fodder), def mismatches (adjective vs. noun), and Spoonerism failures.
Favourites had witty pub-related surfaces (beer, fries, chips/gravy as free perks) or evocative storytelling. Some entries were creative but overcomplicated or had minor technical flaws.
Overall it was a fun, thematic contest with high participation (34+ entries), where the top clues excelled in balancing misleading surfaces with fair, elegant cryptic mechanics.
Top 10
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aashirwad | No charge for these beers if bartender essentially gets drunk (7) | 31 | 11 | Definition = no charge for these; anagram of BEERS+IF+E (bartEnder essentially) | – Best of the best clue imo – Brilliant clue! |
| 2 | ALP | Queen, possibly when upset, tucks into chips and gravy? (8) | 29 | 11 | FR(BEE<)IES. Gravy as slang for complimentary perks, etc. | – Gravy is great here – Excellent clue! |
| 3 | Textrous | Those on the house sadly see fire consuming the top of building (8) | 28 | 9 | Def: Those on the house, anagrind: sadly, SEEFIRE* around B(uilding) | – Good storytelling, evocative – Really really like how "on the house" works here – Sadly is a bit weak for such a scary situation imo. A bit picky. Worriedly for example. |
| 4 | Satyen Nabar | Gifts new Frisbee to entertain teens at centre (8) | 27 | 11 | FRISBEE* around (te)E(ns); new= anag ind, to entertain= cont ind, at centre= middle letter sel ind, def= gifts | – Splendid clue |
| 5 | Avtaar | Insect turned up in chips ? You don't have to pay for these (8) | 23 | 8 | BEE<< in FRIES (chips). Def: You don't have to pay for these | – Would’ve read better as “you don’t have to pay for them” – Great clue just done better by someone else |
| 6 | @qpheevr | Insect turned up in chips? They’re on the house (8) | 21 | 10 | FR(EEB)IES: ‘chips’ = FRIES; ‘insect’ = BEE; ‘turned up’ indicates reversal (in a down clue). ‘They’re on the house’ = def. | – Nice. Most clues were expected to be down clues for this. – The best of the insect clues! – Awesome clue! |
| 7 | Manish Jhaveri | Bottomless beer, fries, nuts, they're on the house [8] | 21 | 9 | #DownClue > Anagram of BEE FRIES * ; anagram indicator is nuts. Definition: they're on the house | – Could have done better than bottomless – Great clue |
| 8 | Nathan Townshend | Europeans in briefs, running riot – they won't get charged! | 17 | 8 | EE in BRIEFS* def is 'they won't get charged' | – Great clue, but the definition is not grammatically correct. – Great clue |
| 9 | Mona Sogal | SEBI's giveaways (8) | 15 | 5 | REVERSE ANAGRAM SEBI*/ GIVEAWAYS IS THE DEF | – Brilliant clue – Where is negative marking option? – Huh? – Sebi isn't a believable name to me. That could be a cultural thing though. The best I could see would be: I.e. BS. Haha. |
| 10 | Adman_i | Samples rum, fries and endless beer (8) | 13 | 6 | Samples (Definition) – (FRIES)(BEEr)*, rum – anagrind | – Great clue |
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.Here’s the link to the full results
Also Check out the Leaderboard for 2026.
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