1ACCWC - Results
1ACCWC#562 - DESPOT
Total Clues: 29 Total Voters: 27
✓ Contest Closed - Final Results
| # | 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 |
| 11 | --- | Tyrant died close to sewers after consuming Ecstasy and cannabis (6) | 11 | 4 | Definition: Tyrant. Wordplay: (D S consuming E) and POT. |
- Perhaps you meant “close” |
| 12 | --- | Adolf Hitler say, stopped moving after losing power | 10 | 4 | Anagram (suggested by moving) of stopped minus p |
- A technically sound clue whose surface could be improved with a better choice of anagram indicator |
| 13 | --- | Possibly Catherine the Great rides Potemkin from three until eight (6) | 9 | 3 | Letters 3–8 of “riDES POTemkin”. DBE: “Possibly Catherine the Great” (Empress Catherine II of Russia, known as an ‘enlightened despot’, whose advisor Grigory Potemkin was also her lover) |
- Interesting clue even though it’s not in my top 4 - Very specific timings! - Funniest surface |
| 14 | --- | Say Trump posted falsely (6) | 8 | 3 | Def: Say Trump; falsely - anind, posted - anagram fodder |
- One could argue that Donald Trump is authoritarian. One could stretch the argument and say that he’s a fascist. But there’s no way anyone can argue he wields absolute authority in the way that a despot does. In my opinion, your definition doesn’t work. - Nicely topical and accurate |
| 15 | --- | Say Putin, stop seducing nurses! Revolting! | 7 | 3 | Hidden word in “sTOP, SEDucing” (indicator: nurses (vb.)), reversed (“revolting”). Def by example (“say”). All standard indicators. |
- The clue is technically fine but the surface feels too contrived. - The containment indicator “nurses” is in the wrong place for the cryptic reading to work - Fun clue |
| 16 | --- | Mark backing extremely despicable oppressor (6) | 6 | 2 | Oppressor is def/ Mark is spot/ backing is juxtaposition indicator/ extremely despicable is DE |
- “Mark backing extremely despicable” gives SPOTDE |
| 17 | --- | Boss in warehouse taking a little smoke-break (6) | 5 | 4 | Boss is the definition (Chambers Thesaurus). Warehouse taking a little smoke-break = DE(S)POT. Disclaimer: smoking is injurious to health. | --- |
| 18 | --- | Strongman’s son breaks storehouse(6) | 5 | 3 | Definition: Strongman. Anno: (DE(S)POT). Storehouse – Depot. Son – S. Breaks – Insertion indicator |
- Seems especially apt because children of strongmen almost always wreak havoc! |
| 19 | --- | Any renegade’s potentially a tyrant (6) | 5 | 2 | DES + POT hidden word indicated by ‘any’. Def: ‘a tyrant’. (‘Renegade’ meaning one rejecting lawful or conventional behavior.) |
- “Any” doesn’t work as a hidden indicator - How does \"any\" by itself indicate something hidden in the fodder? - Not sure how \"any\" works as a hidden word indicator - I like this idea but I’m not sure about “any” as a hidden indicator. It doesn’t mean exactly the same thing as “some”. - How is \'any\' a hidden indicator? - I don\'t think \'any\' indicates a hidden word |
| 20 | --- | Tyrant of French locality (6) | 5 | 2 | Tyrant = Defn, of French = de; locality = spot | --- |
| 21 | --- | Do pets strangely become one with absolute power? (6) | 4 | 2 | (Do pets)* indicated by strangely. “become” link verb meaning “turn into / equate to”. “one with absolute power” definition = DESPOT. [My cat certainly thinks so] |
- “Pets” is plural while “one” is singular - Should be becomes(the wordplay becomes the solution). Also, can multiple pets become one? - Clever, but the surface reading is marred by the difference in number between “pets” and “one” - Perhaps \'become\' could be the grind instead of a link? |
| 22 | --- | Tyrant spotted heartless, agitated (6) | 4 | 2 | Definition: Tyrant Anagrind : agitated. Spotted heartless is SPOTED. Anagram of SPOTED is DESPOT. |
- Cryptic grammar-wise, it’s better to say “spotted heartlessly” = SPOTED. |
| 23 | --- | A tyrant gathered poets after beginning to dream (6) | 3 | 2 | Beginning to dream - D, anagram of (poets) - ESPOT, Def: a tyrant |
- Seems unlikely! |
| 24 | --- | Tyrant posted abroad | 3 | 2 | Posted* with abroad as anagram indicator |
- Too easy! |
| 25 | --- | Extremely desperate position of someone like Hitler (6) | 3 | 1 | DE end ltrs of desperate SPOT postion. Def: (by example) someone like Hitler |
- “Of” as a link work works when linking definition->wordplay, but not when linking wordplay->definition as you’ve done here. - Of as a connector should be DD (Clue Clinic) - Not sure about “of” here because it’s pointing the wrong way. (Defintion of wordplay would be fine.) |
| 26 | --- | Desperate, short, essentially heartless tyrant (6) | 3 | 1 | Tyrant (Defn) - (DESPO)(hearTless), Despo - Slang/short for desperate, essentially - middle letter |
- Grammatically, DESPO is either “short desperate” or “shortly desperate” or “desperate, shortly” but not “desperate, short” which is the construction you’ve used. - Despo? Nah |
| 27 | --- | Posed differently model became control freak | 0 | 0 | Definition=control freak(despot), differently=anagrind, (posed)* model(t) |
- “Control freak” for despot is not 100% accurate, but could probably pass as a crpytic definition with a question mark at the end. |
| 28 | --- | Donald Trump initially a receptacle for hopes - dashed from the second he proved himself this? | 0 | 0 | D T (Donald Trump, initially) holding ("a receptacle for") (*OPES) (dashed = anagrind, from the second = not including the first letter). Semi-&lit. |
- One could argue that Donald Trump is authoritarian. One could stretch the argument and say that he’s a fascist. But there’s no way anyone can argue he wields absolute authority in the way that a despot does. In my opinion, your definition doesn’t work. - Too long |
| 29 | --- | Tyrant along with son trapped in store room (6) | 0 | 0 | S inside DEPOT |
- \"and\" would work better than \"along with\" as connector between def and wp - Why not just \'tyrant\'s son...\' |