Tuesday, 30 December 2014

My Top Ten Clues 2014

Top Ten Crossword Clues 2014 My pick of ten outstanding clues from 2014. Which clues were your favourites this year?

Guardian 26373 (Nutmeg): Like Mum and Dad, I complain vigorously about doctor (11) P__________

FT 14737 (Alberich): A tall tree tumbles, trapping one? That will do (10) A_________

Times 25800: Bodywork with bumper off finally exposed (8) W______T

Guardian 26295 (Pasquale): Embarrassed about sexes sitting next to each other, ensconced on sofa? (5) C____

Sun Times 4605 (Dean Mayer): Put too much money into space travel, do I? I must be mad (15) O______________

Clue by Mohsin @ 1ACross: (twelfth of seventy-eight) + (fourth of five) + (eighth of eighteen) (3) 

Azed CWC 2170 (T.C.Borland): Utter it leaving terminal in Tokyo Narita? (8) S_______

Times 25906: Flying Gulf Air, one goes into Economy? (6)

FT 14778 (Redshank): Somehow deflecting praise, suppressing ego (4-11)

Guardian 26182 (Paul): Intercepting express, criminal is armed, one holding up a train (10) B_________

Best wishes to you for 2015 – have a fantastic new year!

[Answers next week.]

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18 comments:

  1. Hi Shuchi,
    There is one clue which is & will be my favourite clue is Mohsin's clue in 1Across :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guardian 26373 (Nutmeg): Like Mum and Dad, I complain vigorously about doctor (11) P__________
    PALINDROMIC (anagram of I COMPLAIN around DR

    FT 14737 (Alberich): A tall tree tumbles, trapping one? That will do (10) A_________ ALLITERATE ( anagram of TALLTREE with I )

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  3. Without much ado, I think the number of clues asked, the short answer to one of them, the math behind it, the movie (and the actress) it reminds me of and the maximum score on a normally used scale, all point to the most favourite clue from my recent vizinho

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  4. @Kishore: For a moment I thought you meant the 2005 film Dus.

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  5. My ref was to the Jovian moon ...

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  6. Guardian 26295 (Pasquale): Embarrassed about sexes sitting next to each other, ensconced on sofa? (5) C____
    COMFY ( CO MF Y )
    Clue by Mohsin @ 1ACross: (twelfth of seventy-eight) + (fourth of five) + (eighth of eighteen) (3) ( As Kishore said the answer is the number of clues in this post ;) )

    FT 14778 (Redshank): Somehow deflecting praise, suppressing ego (4-11) SELF-DEPRECIATING ( anagram of deflecting praise -i )

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  7. Sun Times 4605 (Dean Mayer): Put too much money into space travel, do I? I must be mad (15) O______________
    OVERCAPITALISED ( Anagram of space travel do I I )
    Times 25906: Flying Gulf Air, one goes into Economy? (6) FRUGAL ( anagram of gulf air -i )
    Azed CWC 2170 (T.C.Borland): Utter it leaving terminal in Tokyo Narita? (8) S_______
    SAYONARA
    Guardian 26182 (Paul): Intercepting express, criminal is armed, one holding up a train (10)B_________
    BRIDESMAID ? (Just a guess :( anagram of is armed inside BID ? )

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  8. Along with Mohsin's sensational clue, I really love the Times 25800 clue - brilliant misdirection.

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  9. Top ten certainly these are. At least one deserves 10/10.

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  10. Guardian 26373: PALIN(DR)OMIC*

    FT 14737: ALL(I)TERATE*

    Times 25800: Bodywork with bumper off finally exposed (8) W______T

    Guardian 26295: CO(M+F)Y

    Sun Times: OVERCAPITALISED*

    Mohsin: T+E+N = 6.5 + 1.25 + 2.25 (Ten out of ten, for this!)

    Azed CWC 2170: SAY(utter) + tokyoO + NAR(it)A &lit

    Times 25906: FRUGAL* - I

    FT 14778: SELF-DEPRECATING* - I & lit

    Guardian 26182: B(RIDESMA*)ID

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  11. Happy New Year to you too. I could solve 5, very good clues.

    FT 14737 (Alberich): A tall tree tumbles, trapping one? That will do (10) ALL{I}TERATE*

    Guardian 26295 (Pasquale): Embarrassed about sexes sitting next to each other, ensconced on sofa? (5) CO{M F}Y

    Clue by Mohsin @ 1ACross: (twelfth of seventy-eight) + (fourth of five) + (eighth of eighteen) (3) T E N

    Times 25906: Flying Gulf Air, one goes into Economy? (6) FRUGAL* - I

    FT 14778 (Redshank): Somehow deflecting praise, suppressing ego (4-11) SELF-DEPRECATING* - I

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  12. Nicely solved everyone. TEN looks like the unanimous favourite of this year.

    Consolidating the answers:

    Guardian 26373 (Nutmeg): Like Mum and Dad, I complain vigorously about doctor (11) PALINDROMIC
    DR in (I COMPLAIN)*; D-by-E

    FT 14737 (Alberich): A tall tree tumbles, trapping one? That will do (10) ALLITERATE
    (A TALL TREE)* around I; D-by-E semi-&lit

    Times 25800: Bodywork with bumper off finally exposed (8) WHODUNIT
    Cryptic definition

    Guardian 26295 (Pasquale): Embarrassed about sexes sitting next to each other, ensconced on sofa? (5) COMFY
    COY (embarrassed) around M F

    Sun Times 4605 (Dean Mayer): Put too much money into space travel, do I? I must be mad (15) OVERCAPITALISED
    (SPACE TRAVEL DO I I)*

    Clue by Mohsin @ 1ACross: (twelfth of seventy-eight) + (fourth of five) + (eighth of eighteen) (3) TEN
    [seventy-eigh]T + [fiv]E + [eightee]N = 6.5 + 1.25 + 2.25, &lit

    Azed CWC 2170 (T.C.Borland): Utter it leaving terminal in Tokyo Narita? (8) SAYONARA
    SAY + [toky]O + NAR[it]A &lit

    Times 25906: Flying Gulf Air, one goes into Economy? (6) FRUGAL
    (GULF AIR)* - I

    FT 14778 (Redshank): Somehow deflecting praise, suppressing ego (4-11) SELF-DEPRECATING
    (DEFLECTING PRAISE)* - I &lit

    Guardian 26182 (Paul): Intercepting express, criminal is armed, one holding up a train (10) BRIDESMAID
    BID (express) around (IS ARMED)*

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  13. The WHODUNIT answer. Do bodywork and bumper relate to a 'corpse' and 'murderer' resp. in a murder mystery?

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  14. @Raghunath: bodywork = 'work (novel, play, etc.) that features a body'

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  15. ...and 'bumper off' = 'one who bumps off i.e. kills'

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  16. all brilliant! i got 7/10, after much pencil-chewing and hair-pulling. my favorite, for elegance and compactness, was COSY... was stumped my BRIDESMAID (kicking myself now, of course),WHODUNIT (truly cryptic) and PALINDROMIC (which i still can't quite parse...).
    well done, Suchi.

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