![]()
We have an outright winner in the contest.
Confused voters are in doubt
Nitish Asthana with 35 points
In 2nd spot is
Swing voters are in doubt
@qpheevr with 27 points
3rd place is shared by three clues with 20 points each
Quota ratios never fixed
Shobha Nayak
Abnormal rate revision ignored top investor’s concern
Venkatesan P
Doubt Indians feel at home here
Verlainex
Thank you all for your time. Over to Nitish Asthana.

Top 10
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nitish Asthana | Confused voters are in doubt | 35 | 15 | Anagrind voters are in. Defn– doubt. | – Even better (Pundit JEE) – We had the same idea! (@qpheevr) |
| 2 | @qpheevr | Swing voters are in doubt (11) | 27 | 13 | (VOTERS ARE IN)*; anagrind “swing”; def. “doubt” (as in “I have reservations about this proposal”) | – Best (Pundit JEE) |
| 3 | Shobha Nayak | Quota ratios never fixed | 20 | 9 | Anagram of RATIOS NEVER | |
| 4 | VENKATESAN P | Abnormal rate revision ignored top investor's concern(11) | 20 | 9 | (RATE+REVISION -I)". Top investor – I (top being letter selection indicator). Abnormal – Anagrind. Ignored – deletion indicator. Definition – Concern. | |
| 5 | verlainex | Doubt Indians feel at home here | 20 | 7 | Double def: doubt ("I have some reservations") / (American) Indian home | |
| 6 | Ramki Krishnan | A lot of investors are dithering in doubt (11) | 17 | 9 | (INVESTOR + ARE) anagram, "a lot of" -> tail deletion indicator, dithering = anagrind, doubt = def | |
| 7 | @LowdownCryptic | Republican votes are in terrible doubt (11) | 17 | 8 | R + (VOTES ARE IN)* anagrind: terrible; def: doubt | – Good (Pundit JEE) |
| 8 | Nathan Townshend | Foreign voters are in a specially allocated area | 15 | 7 | VOTERS ARE IN * Foreign = anagram indicator | – Better (Pundit JEE) |
| 9 | N Anantakrishnan | Voters are missing regularly in SIR, arousing scepticism (11) | 12 | 5 | [voters are (-i)n(-S)I(-R)]* Arousing – anagram indicator. Def – Sceptcism | – Very nice topical connection, but I don't think "arousing" as anagrind works after the fodder (Abhay Phadnis) |
| 10 | PunMadMan | Difficult NRI averse to advance booking (11) | 11 | 4 | (NRIAVERSETO)* Difficult – Anagram indicator; NRI averse to – Fodder; advance booking – Definition. (Note for non-Indian voters – NRI is a commonly used short form for 'Non-Resident Indian') |
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated.
Over to Nitish Asthana for the next contest.
Here’s the link to the full results
Also Check out the Leaderboard for 2026.

We love to hear from you..Let us know what you think..