Winning the contest with an &lit acrostic, Ramki Krishnan secures 35 points for
Creature often contaminating kitchens, running over appliances, creating havoc primarily (9)
In 2nd Place with 26 points is Anne de Pimodan for
Source of protein in chicken and fish (9)
In 3rd place with 25 points is Aashirwad
Police catch crook leaving Thailand – one regularly evading domestic SWAT operations! (9)
In 4th place is Manish Jhaveri with 24 points
Creepy six-footer played rock in bus [9)
In 5th place is Textrous with 16 points
Caught a rich cook viciously squashing one bug (9)
Thank you all for the clues and votes. Over to you Ramki.
Top 10
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ramki Krishnan | Creature often contaminating kitchens, running over appliances, creating havoc primarily (9) | 35 | 12 | Acrostic with the whole clue being a def for cockroach | – Nice acrostic! (Sampath Srinivasan) |
| 2 | Anne de Pimodan | Source of protein in chicken and fish (9) | 26 | 9 | Globally, two billion people eat insects, including cockroaches which are extremely high in protein. Cockroach flour is, in fact, surprisingly delicious. | – Nice, clean clue (Aashirwad) – Trying to control my gag reflex as I vote for cockroach protein š – what might have been routine wordplay becomes an excellent surface thanks to the inventive definition you have used. (Abhay Phadnis) – Trying to control my gag reflex as I vote for cockroach protein š – what might have been routine wordplay becomes an excellent surface thanks to the inventive definition. (Abhay Phadnis) |
| 3 | Aashirwad | Police catch crook leaving Thailand – one regularly evading domestic SWAT operations! (9) | 25 | 9 | Anagram of CATCH CROOK, minus T (leaving Thailand), with āpoliceā as anagrind. The cryptic definition hints at cockroaches being household pests that may be hard to swat. | – Nice use of SWAT! (Abhay Phadnis) – Iām not sure about āpoliceā as an anagrind (@qpheevr) – Nice def! (Ramki Krishnan) |
| 4 | Manish Jhaveri | Creepy six-footer played rock in bus [9] | 24 | 9 | OCKR* (played rock) in COACH (bus). Def: Creepy six-footer | – For some reason, I imagined Buckethead playing 'For Mom' on a semi-acoustic in a Willie Nelson bus, and for that, take full points. I would give you all 10 points if I could. (Pundit JEE) |
| 5 | Textrous | Caught a rich cook viciously squashing one bug (9) | 16 | 8 | Def: bug, Caught:C, ARICHCOOK* – I, anagrind: viciously, del ind: squashing, one: I | |
| 6 | Sampath Srinivasan | Spooner's music trainer turns out to be a pest! (8) | 13 | 7 | Spoonerism of Music (Rock) and Trainer (Coach); def = pest | |
| 7 | Guy Norman | Get ready to shoot at heart of approaching creature | 13 | 6 | COCK (Get ready to shoot, as in cock your gun) + ROACH (at heart of appROACHing) gives solution from definition [creature] | – Kudos on the unusual components of the wordplay! Sadly, in my view, the whole clue doesn't quite work as is – the "at" seems out of place in the wordplay. Also, "creature" by itself seems too broad a definition. (Abhay Phadnis) – Kudos on the unusual components of the wordplay! The "at" seems out of place, though. Also, "creature" by itself seems too broad a definition. (Abhay Phadnis) |
| 8 | Karol S | Prick with fancy car starts to honk ā obnoxious pest (9) | 13 | 5 | COCK (āprickā, in case you didnāt knowā¦) + (CAR H(onk) + O(bnoxious))* [anag: fancy]. Pest = def. The cockroaches best known for getting into kitchens to steal food carry diseases and are difficult to control – matching the definition of āpestā. | – Points for the evocative pen picture! (Abhay Phadnis) – Funny! (Sampath Srinivasan) |
| 9 | Amrita Majumdar | New party bus keeps playing rock! (9) | 13 | 5 | New party = DEF, COACH (bus) around ROCK* | – The political party in question is called āCockroach Janata Partyā, not āCockroachā. (Aashirwad) – I don't think "new party" suffices as the definition – its name is not just "cockroach". Nice surface, though. (Abhay Phadnis) |
| 10 | @qpheevr | Spoonerās geology tutor is a real pest? (9) | 13 | 5 | āgeology tutorā ā ROCK COACH, spoonerizing to COCKROACH |
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated.
Over to Ramki Krishnan for the next contest.
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