Ramki took the 3rd spot, Anne, the 2nd, and Satyen’s editorial take finished on top. Over to you, Doc
Top 10
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Satyen Nabar | Editor withdraws post about tyrant (6) | 28 | 10 | ED rev + POST*; editor= ed, withdraws= rev ind, about= anag ind, def= tyrant | – Very smooth surface |
| 2 | Anne de Pimodan | Arsenal’s taking on Spurs’ last terrible manager?(6) | 22 | 8 | DE(S)POT = terrible manager? Terrible = inspiring fear, terror, awe (Chambers) | – Nice ideas with the football theme and the cryptic definition – Lovely device but I am not sure “taking on” is equivalent to “taking in” – the wordplay would require the latter – Overall really solid clue. |
| 3 | Ramki Krishnan | Dictator exercising supreme power over territory, primarily (6) | 20 | 8 | Acrostic &lit | – Neat acrostic – Good clue spoilt by ‘primarily” imo |
| 4 | Veera Raghavan | Tyrant stopped in rebellion, stripped of power (6) | 19 | 7 | Tyrant: definition. (STOPPED-P)*. In rebellion: anagrind. | – Almost nice, but surface a bit awkward |
| 5 | Nathan Townshend | Stop seditious infiltrator backing an autocrat (6) | 18 | 7 | Hidden backwards (infiltrator backing) | – “Infiltrator” as a hidden indicator does not work. – I am not 100% convinced about “infiltrator” as the indicator, but I like the experiment a lot |
| 6 | @LowdownCryptic | Trades half-off cookware item for superior one with an iron grip (6) | 18 | 5 | Def: superior one with an iron grip; (Tra)des half-off = DES; cookware item = POT | – Lovely misdirection – Best definition part! |
| 7 | Textrous | Model posed nervously before a tyrant (6) | 16 | 7 | Def: a tyrant; Model: T, Posed nervously: DESPO*, before: position indicator | – The clue is technically fine but the surface seems a little contrived – Very believable |
| 8 | Arnav V Raju | Leaders of Denmark expectedly support prosecution of terrible autocrat (6) | 14 | 6 | Definition: Autocrat Wordplay: Acrostic of “Denmark…..terrible” with leaders as the acrostic indicator | |
| 9 | Abhay Phadnis | Leading figures in Dar es Salaam publicly opposed tyrannical dictator (6) | 13 | 6 | Acrostic (“leading figures in”); definition: “dictator” | – Wonderful acrostic with a nice surface, even though Tanzania doesn’t have a dictatorship – Best of the acrostics |
| 10 | Sampath Srinivasan | Dictator resolves to stop seditious, revolutionary content (6) | 11 | 4 | Reverse telescopic; def = dictator; sTOP SEDitious <<; content – hidden word indicator, revolutionary – reversal indicator | – “Resolves to” appears to be superfluous, contributing only to the surface reading. – Clue is ok without ‘resolves’ – “resolves to” is tricky, assuming it is used to just link definition and wordplay – “wp resolves to defn” makes sense, but “defn resolves to wp” doesn’t quite work IMO – “resolves to stop” is extraneous for cryptic reading – ‘resolves’ could be left out |
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated.Over to Satyen Nabar for the next contest.
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