What’s wrong with this clue?

In November 2009, the word for the Times Clue Challenge was HAND OVER.

I sent this in:

Clue: To suspend, Enter + Shift Control (4,4) HAND OVER

Explanation: The surface refers to keys on a computer keyboard. 'Shift Control' is commonly used in combination with other keys, as application shortcuts to perform operations like resuming/suspending a transaction.

Definition: Shift control

Wordplay: H(AND)OVER

suspend = HOVER 
To…enter = c/c indicator 
+ = AND

When the contest result was announced, the judge's comments caught me by surprise. A flaw in my clue had slipped me entirely.

So, tell me cluenatics - what's wrong with the clue?

Update (24 March 2010): Thanks everyone for your feedback about the clue. Many of you sensed that there was something amiss in the definition – you were on the right track. Vinod hit bull's-eye, he points out the same error in his comment as the Times Challenge judge.

This is exactly what the Times Challenge judge had to say:

The definition is "shift control" but for the transitive-verb answer it needs to be "shift control of". That's unfortunate, because this is otherwise a nice clue, instructing the solver to enter AND (+) in HOVER (even if the phrasing "X, enter Y" is a bit stilted) while presenting on the surface a plausible suggestion for using a computer keyboard.

'of' is so often an innocuous connector that it is easy to overlook it. Yet it can make or mar a clue, as it did in this case.

Lesson learnt: To verify that the definition is accurate, try the substitution test. A sentence containing the answer should be unaltered in grammar and meaning when the answer is replaced with its definition.

Related Posts:

• Clue-Writing Contests
• What's unXimenean about it?
• Clues that reveal too much
• Why BENGALI = BENGAL + I doesn't fly

If you wish to keep track of further articles on Crossword Unclued, you can subscribe to it in a reader via RSS Feed. You can also subscribe by email and have articles delivered to your inbox, or follow me on twitter to get notified of new links.