This week’s clue contest on 1ACCWC received good participation with 30 entries, and 33 voters having their say well ahead of the deadline.
Many setters played on variations of the simple anagram of COP+LIE = POLICE. Other popular entries referenced current affairs and geopolitics surrounding OIL, an anagram of which is contained in POLICE.
While I’m pleased for those who have done well in this edition of 1ACCWC, I must also express some criticism towards the voters. I think this particular issue even keeps a few very good setters from participating in 1ACCWC regularly.
A cryptic crossword clue has two readings – the surface reading and the cryptic reading, the latter of which is like a set of instructions for the solver to arrive at the solution. In a good clue, BOTH of these readings must be grammatically correct. Unfortunately, in many editions of this contest, voters tend to ignore problems in the cryptic grammar of the clue, as long as they like its surface. It doesn’t reflect well for an international clue setting competition when half the voters select a clue that has an obvious grammatical problem in the cryptic reading.
I think it’s alright for setters to make mistakes and to use this contest as a sort of workshop to improve their craft. But I think voters ought to be a lot more discerning, and ought not to reward faulty grammatical constructions simply because they frequently appear in a certain publication having lax editorial standards!
It takes a community effort to keep such a competition going week after week, and I urge other participants to endeavor to maintain it at a high standard of excellence.
Top 10
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manish Jhaveri | Monitor pandemic starting with spread of E.coli (6) | 40 | 16 | Def: Monitor. P (pandemic starting) + anagram of E.coli* | – Great surface – strating does not work for me as a first letter indicator – Should be pandemic’s starting or starting of pandemic – “Pandemic starting” for P is not a grammatically correct letter selection construction. Even though it works on the surface reading, the cryptic reading is grammatically incorrect. “Starting of…” or “start of…” would be acceptable. |
| 2 | @LowdownCryptic | They protect crude oil covered by Trump’s last hollow compromise (6) | 29 | 11 | Def: They protect; OLI (crude OIL*) inside P (trumP’s last) + CE (hollow CompromisE) | |
| 3 | Karol S | Keep the peace? Trump’s latest hollow “ceasefire” is about oil, stupid! | 28 | 8 | P (trumP’s latest) + CE (hollow CeasefirE) around (is about) OIL* (anag:stupid). To keep the peace = to police. | – Very nice but I think the anagrind would need to be “stupidly” – In the cryptic reading, “[anagram fodder] stupidly” or “stupid [anagram fodder]” would both be grammatically correct. Unfortunately, what you have here is neither, even though the surface reads well. |
| 4 | Satyen Nabar | Watch corrupt cop lie (6) | 27 | 10 | (COP LIE)*, corrupt= anag ind, def= watch | |
| 5 | Kabir Firaque | Tripoli certainly has law enforcers (6) | 27 | 9 | Hidden in plain sight. Indicator: has. Definition: law enforcers | – Short, sweet, simple – Lovely |
| 6 | Nathan Townshend | Public organisation lacking in credible effective leaders | 23 | 9 | Acrostic &lit | – Mean but possibly justified! – “Leaders of XYZ” is a grammatically correct letter selection construction. “XYZ leaders” may work on the surface but is grammatically faulty in the cryptic reading. |
| 7 | Avtaar | Copper rod inlaid with zinc evenly (6) | 22 | 9 | -z(I)-n(C) inside POLE (rod). Def: Copper | – very nice wordplay but “copper” is used to refer to one policeman. Not sure it works as definition for POLICE per se – Copper is policeman and not police IMO. But nice clue. – “Copper” refers to a single police officer, whereas “police” is a plural noun |
| 8 | Mona Sogal | Every now and then people inched towards the Boys in Blue (6) | 14 | 5 | Boys in blue is the def/ Intermittent letter selection/ every now and then is the indicator to select every other word in the fodder | |
| 9 | Kalyan Bandyopadhyay | Control price right away, arresting extremes of oil (6) | 13 | 5 | Def: Control (POLICE as verb). PICE [price without R (right away)] containing OL [extremes of OiL]. | |
| 10 | Anne de Pimodan | Get rid of twisted agents under Trump’s control (6) | 13 | 5 | LOP< + ICE (agents under/working for Trump) = control. Lop = to cut out (Collins) | – Can’t see the def? – “Twisted” suggests anagramming in general rather than reversal specifically, which makes the first part of this an indirect anagram – Can’t fault the sentiment |
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated.
Over to Manish Jhaveri 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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