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A lot of fun clues around MANY, ATOM, MAY NOT and A TOY MAN- Ramki Krishnan wins the contest with 33 points for ‘Head of Academy forced many to study’, followed by Nitish Asthana and Textrous.
Congratulations to the winners and thank you all for participating!

Top 10
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ramki Krishnan | Head of Academy forced many to study (7) | 33 | 12 | Def = study, A (head of Academy) + anagram of MANYTO, forced is anagram indicator | – Nice smooth surface |
| 2 | Nitish Asthana | In case of autopsy, chop up man to study | 30 | 12 | Anagram of \'man to\' inside \'ay\' (case of AutopsY); def\'n- study | |
| 3 | Textrous | Criminal may not hide a body (7) | 24 | 10 | Def: body, Anagrind: Criminal, MAYNOT* around A | – “X hiding Y” or “X hides Y” are grammatically correct ways for saying “X contains Y”. “X hide Y” is grammatically incorrect. – Lovely surface, but I think parse requires "hides" or "hiding". I also used *MAYNOT, similar issues: it needs a verb like put, set or cut (infinitive = participle) |
| 4 | @LowdownCryptic | An elemental unit with unknown structure (7) | 23 | 9 | AN + ATOM (elemental unit) with Y (unknown); Def: structure | – anatomy and atom have the same root |
| 5 | Aashirwad | Nuke NATO may build (7) | 19 | 8 | Anagram of NATO MAY, with “nuke” as the anagrind. “Build” is the definition. “Nuke” means to bomb or to microwave something. Both those meanings indicate some level of transformation that is required of an anagrind. Clue clinic lists “blast” as an anagrind in the imperative form, and “nuke” has a very similar meaning. | – Very nice although the def is borderline |
| 6 | @qpheevr | Senator Klobuchar accepts military alliance framework (7) | 17 | 6 | A(NATO)MY: Senator Klobuchar = AMY; military alliance = NATO; framework = ANATOMY (in an abstract or metaphorical sense) | |
| 7 | Manish Jhaveri | Analysis of bodies found in a moat running through city | 15 | 7 | Definition: Analysis of bodies; [found in] is the connector; anno: A MOAT* (anagram indicator is running) going through NY (city) | |
| 8 | Karol S | Composition studies for organ scholars? (7) | 14 | 6 | Cryptic def. Musical surface reading (Oxbridge college organ scholars studying composition) but for “scholars of organs”, composition studies = anatomy | – Interesting misdirection with the cryptic definition – Neat! |
| 9 | Guy Norman | First sip of alcohol may not upset your tummy etc. (7) | 14 | 5 | A (First sip of alcohol) + anagram MAYNOT (may not upset) = definition \"your tummy etc.\" | – “First sip” doesn’t mean first letter |
| 10 | Nathan Townshend | Cutter's course from Guyana to Myanmar? | 13 | 5 | Cutter's course = def (hopefully surgeons study anatomy) from = hiddendicator | – Nice cryptic definition |
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated.
Over to Ramki Krishnan for the next contest.
Here’s the link to the full results
Also Check out the Leaderboard for 2026.

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