Thursday 31 December 2015

My Top Ten Clues 2015

top-ten-crossword-cluesA selection of my favourite clues from the crosswords I attempted in 2015. Enjoy solving! Wish you a very happy new year 2016.

Times 26295: PIN number? (4,3) D___ __G

Guardian 26647 (Arachne): Expressing a slight scepticism about old ways of seeing things? (9) G________

Guardian 26632 (Screw): Lead, perhaps, from last 14 letters? (5) __T__

Times 26208: Venturesome sort reaches top of this? (5,7) M____ _______

Times 26096: Fast Spanish fleet runs away — British ships to port and starboard? (7) R______

FT 14998 (Goliath): One might like red mobile phone to be dropped in uncovered toilet (9) O________

Sunday Times 4632 (Dean Mayer): Threw mud? Mud had to be thrown (10) B_________

Guardian 26545 (Nutmeg): Intricate source of visual reception? (5,5) O____ _____

Guardian 26677 (Vlad): To be the boss's squeeze was sheer torture (4,3,8) ____ ___ T_______

FT 15037 (Loroso): Clay, china-like pots (3)

Which clues did you like the most?

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30 comments

Vasant said...

Times 26208: Venturesome sort reaches top of this? (5,7) Mount Everest(venturesome)*+T(top of This)& LIT
Sunday Times 4632 (Dean Mayer):Threw mud? Mud had to be thrown (10) BADMOUTHED(MUD HAD TO BE)*
Guardian 26545 (Nutmeg): Intricate source of visual reception? (5,5) OPTIC NERVE(CD)

Lahar said...

4 is Mount Everest (venturesome, top of (t)his.

5 is Ramadan (fast). Armada, R for runs: away, RN either side of it.

7 is Badmouthed (anagram)

10 is Ali. Cassius Clay.

Lahar said...

6 is Oenophile, lover of (red) wine
Uncovered toilet is 'oile' ,with anagram of phone.

Lahar said...

2 is gaslights.

Lahar said...

9 is wear the trousers.

Guessing from here:

1 is Dead Leg

3 is Actor (C to R is 16 letters, but then..)

8 is Optic Nerve (no clue about the anno)

Chris Philpot said...

I've spotted five so far:

Times 26208: MOUNT EVEREST (anag.)
Times 26096: RAMADAN (ARMADA -R with R[oyal] N[avy] at either end)
Sunday Times 4632: BADMOUTHED (anag.)
Guardian 26545: OPTIC NERVE (anag. of V[isual] RECEPTION - my personal favourite!)
FT 15037: ALI (hidden)

Great choices, as ever. Happy New Year!

Vasant said...

Guardian 26647 (Arachne): Expressing a slight scepticism about old ways of seeing things? (9) GASLIGHT (T)
Guardian 26632 (Screw):Lead, perhaps, from last 14 letters? (5)METAL (M)(ET AL)
Times 26096: Fast Spanish fleet runs away — British ships to port and starboard?(7)
RAMADAN=(ARMADA)*+rN
Guardian 26677 (Vlad): To be the boss's squeeze was sheer torture (4,3,8)
WEAR THE TROUSERS ( WAS SHEER TORTURE)*

Vasant said...

FT 14998 (Goliath): One might like red mobile phone to be dropped in uncovered toilet (9) OENOPHILE=(-T)O(ENOPH)*ILE(-T)
FT 15037 (Loroso): Clay, china-like pots (3) ALI (T)
Times 26295: PIN number? (4,3) DEAD LEG

All wonderful clues I thought; loved MOUNT EVEREST clue the best.

Nadathur Rajan said...

Times 26295: PIN- LEG number (which makes numb) DEAD LEG (CD)

Guardian 26647: ExpressinG A SLIGHT Scepticism GASLIGHTS (T) Defn: old ways of seeing things

Guardian 26632: 1) Lead, perhaps 2) last 14 letters METAL(M et al) (d&cd)

Times 26208: Venturesome*+ T (top of This) (MOUNT EVERES*)(T) (&lit)

Times 26096: ARMADA-R with RN on either side R(A[-r]MADA)N Defn: Fast

FT 14998: PHONE* in [-t]OILE[-t] {[-t]O(ENOPH*)ILE[-t]} Defn: One might like red mobile phone

Sunday Times 4632: (Mud had to be)* BADMOUTHED* Defn: Threw mud?

Guardian 26545: (v+reception)* OPTIC NERVE (&lit)

Guardian 26677: (squeeze was sheer)* WEAR THE TROUSERS* Defn: To be the boss

FT 15037: chinA-LIke ALI (T) Defn: (Cassius) Clay

michael said...

Posting (slowly) in the order solved
Times 26096
Fast (def): R{AMADA}N
Spanish fleet runs away: A(r)MADA -R
British ships to port and starboard?: RN surrounding

Times 26208: *{MOUNT,EVEREST}
Anagrind: sort, fodder: venturesome, semi-&lit

michael said...

Trying to find something more clever for Guardian 26545 than a cryptic def for "OPTIC NERVE," but I think that might be all there is to that clients

michael said...

Guardian 26632 must be very clever... The first 13 letters are A TO M, and lead could be an ATOM. I've seen at least one clue like that before. But these are the last 14, M TO Z, and the enumeration wouldn't be correct, so I suppose it must be a riff on that type of clue.

michael said...

Times 26295, I feel, must be some sort of anesthetic. Although I suppose a needle is different from a pin.

michael said...

Guardian 26632: Lead, perhaps, from the last 14 letters?
{M, ET AL.}

michael said...

Guardian 26647 Expression[G A SLIGHT S]cepticism: fodder
about: container indicator
old ways of seeing things?: GASLIGHTS

michael said...

S Times 4632: Threw mud? (def): BADMOUTHED, as badmouthing is aka "mudslinging" in America and presumably "mudthrowing" in the UK. Or perhaps they thought "thrown" was a better anagrind than "slung" and took some liberties.
{MUD HAD TO BE*}: anagram fodder
thrown: anagram indicator
*{BADMOUTHED}

michael said...

Clay: birth name of famous boxer Muhummad Ali
chin{A-LI}ke: fodder
pots: container indicator

michael said...

Pin apparently is slang for "leg" and so I'm going to have to say Times 26295 (PIN number?) is DEAD LEG. I don't see much about numbness, but there are a few things about numbness in severe cases.
Still one left, hm? Dunno if I'll be able to crack that one...

michael said...

Ah, two left actually

michael said...

Never heard of this word!
FT14998
One might like red: def, wine connoisseur (might like rosé)
mobile: anagrind
{PHONE*}: fodder
to be dropped in: insertion indicator
uncovered: remove the outside letters that "clothe" the word
toilet: (t)OILE(t)
O{*ENOPH}ILE

Shuchi said...

Well solved, everyone.

The consolidated answers first:

Times 26295: PIN number? (4,3) DEAD LEG
Cryptic definition; a 'dead leg' is an injury that causes a temporary numbness in the leg; 'pin' is slang for leg.

Guardian 26647 (Arachne): Expressing a slight scepticism about old ways of seeing things? (9) GASLIGHTS
Hidden in 'expressinG A SLIGHT Sceptisim'

Guardian 26632 (Screw): Lead, perhaps, from last 14 letters? (5) METAL
The last 14 letters are {M, N, O...Z} i.e. M ET AL; 'lead, perhaps' is a D-by-E.

Times 26208: Venturesome sort reaches top of this? (5,7) MOUNT EVEREST
(VENTURESOME)* T[this] &lit

Times 26096: Fast Spanish fleet runs away — British ships to port and starboard? (7) RAMADAN
ARMADA (Spanish fleet) - R (runs), inside RN (British ships). Definition: fast

FT 14998 (Goliath): One might like red mobile phone to be dropped in uncovered toilet (9) OENOPHILE
(PHONE)* in [t]OILE[t]. Definition: one might like red (as in, red wine). This clue also reminded me of Aakash's winner at CCCWC.

Sunday Times 4632 (Dean Mayer): Threw mud? Mud had to be thrown (10) BADMOUTHED
(MUD HAD TO BE)*. Definition: threw mud

Guardian 26545 (Nutmeg): Intricate source of visual reception? (5,5) OPTIC NERVE
(V[isual] + RECEPTION)* &lit

Guardian 26677 (Vlad): To be the boss's squeeze was sheer torture (4,3,8) WEAR THE TROUSERS
(WAS SHEER TORTURE)*. Definition: to be the boss

FT 15037 (Loroso): Clay, china-like pots (3) ALI
hidden in 'chinA-LIke'. Definition: Clay

Shuchi said...

@Vasant: I had read OPTIC NERVE as a cryptic definition too at first. Impressive that the wordplay defines the answer so accurately!

@Lahar: Well-tried with ACTOR :-)

@Chris Philpot: Glad you liked the choice of clues. Happy New Year!

@michael: I enjoyed reading the thought process behind your solving the clues. Thanks for sharing.

BADMOUTHED: 'throw mud at' is standard idiom AFAIK, the dictionaries list both 'sling' and 'throw' versions. Plus of course, the use of threw/thrown has a lovely symmetrical effect on the surface.

OENOPHILE was a new word to me too, but gettable from the wordplay I thought - and one I'm happy to add to my vocabulary!

Vasant said...

Well..well..well!Then for the sheer deviousness Optic Nerve takes the cake..
One other clue that I loved in 2015 was by Mohsin in THCC...Jigarthanda...that was one heck of a clue

michael said...

Fairly gettable, I had to look up "ONEOPHILE" and Google said "did you mean 'oeonphile'?"

Have been working on setting using Crossword Compiler, or attempting to do so. I have had to edit a lot because apparently I made the clues too complicated :p Currently trying to juggle "column", "order", and "charged" to make a double definition clue for IONIC with a military surface...

Nadathur Rajan said...

Solution submitted. Somehow, appear to have been missed.
Once earlier also, it was found that it had gone to the spam folder.

Shuchi said...

@vasant: Do you remember the Jigarthanda clue?

@michael: Making the clues too complicated - that happens :-)

@Nadathur Rajan: Thanks for telling me about it. Found the comment now and published it. All correct answers (except the anno for WEAR THE TROUSERS, which must be an oversight), well cracked.

Vasant said...

The Clue appeared in a Clue Writing Contest hosted by CV Sir:
Subbaraj's latest – a grand hit released on the 1st of August (11)
The word Play is:J:Subbaraj's latest
(A grand hit)*+A
It is a name of a movie directed by Subbaraj & released on 1st of August making it a perfect & LIT

Shuchi said...

@vasant: Brilliant!

STSahasrabudhe said...

Was looking for "My Top Ten Clues 2016" but can't find it. Hope it will appear soon.

STSahasrabudhe

Shuchi said...

@STSahasrabudhe: Didn't solve enough in 2016 to make a top ten list. Sorry about that. 2017 has been more regular solving-wise so far, hopefully there will be a top ten by the end of this year...