We had 24 clues and 28 voters.
2 of the setters did not vote and had points reduced according to the rules.
Many CHUCKLE-worthy clues this time. And a very close result!
5th place to Sampath with 21 points – one of the 2 which spotted the chunk of CHUCKLE in Huckleberry
Excerpt from the classic Huckleberry Finn evokes a quiet laugh (7)
4th place to Samit with 23 points –
Funny clue keeps cruciverbalist happy, for starters – elicits a laugh (7)
3rd place to Mona Sogal with 24 points
Get rid of extremely large crow (7)
2nd place to Abhay with 25 points
Drop extremely loathsome expression of amusement (7)
And the winner with 26 points is Aashirwad with an innovative definition word
Charlie – he has bad luck, lol! (7)
Thanks everyone for playing. Over to you Aashirwad!
Top 10
| # | Name | Clue | Points | Voters | Anno | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aashirwad | Charlie – he has bad luck, lol! (7) | 26 | 12 | C (Charlie) + H(LUCK*)E; with lol as definition. | – This is evocative! Take points for Peanuts! (Pundit JEE) |
| 2 | Abhay Phadnis | Drop extremely loathsome expression of amusement (7) | 25 | 13 | Charade of CHUCK (drop) and LE (extremely LoathsomE); definition: expression of amusement (chuckle as a noun) | – That's sound advice. Take points. (Pundit JEE) |
| 3 | Mona Sogal | Get rid of extremely large crow (7) | 24 | 12 | Get rid of is chuck/ extremely large is L and E/ crow is the def | – Nice. Take points. (Pundit JEE) |
| 4 | samit kallianpur | Funny clue keeps cruciverbalist happy, for starters – elicits a laugh (7) | 23 | 11 | [Clue + k + c + h]*. Funny = anagrind. For starters = 1st letter selection ind. Elicits (causes) = connector. Def = a laugh (noun) | |
| 5 | Sampath Srinivasan | Excerpt from the classic Huckleberry Finn evokes a quiet laugh (7) | 21 | 9 | Telescopic clue; Def = quiet laugh; Excerpt from – hidden word indicator; | – IMO "the" and "Finn" are superfluous in this construction (Abhay Phadnis) – I thought about doing something along these lines, but worried that “Finn” had no role in the wordplay. Will be interested to see what other voters think (@qpheevr) |
| 6 | @LowdownCryptic | Laugh head off, collapse after side-splitting ache (7) | 18 | 8 | Def: Laugh [head off, collapse = (b)UCKLE] after [side-splitting ache = (a)CH(e)] | |
| 7 | @qpheevr | Ohio’s busiest airport briefly detains young Finn for a laugh (7) | 14 | 5 | C(HUCK)LE: CLE = Ohio’s busiest airport, briefly (IATA code for Cleveland Hopkins International); HUCK = young Finn (as in Huckleberry); detains = containment indicator; a laugh = definition | – I like the audacity of cluing CLE with "Ohio's busiest airport"! (verlainex) |
| 8 | Shobha Nayak | Laugh when half of hens cluck wildly | 13 | 7 | Anagram of HE + CLUCK | – There's definitely some &lit there lurking… But, take points. (Pundit JEE) |
| 9 | Textrous | Cryptic clue hack delivers a laugh (7) | 11 | 7 | Def: laugh; CLUEHACK* ("cryptic" is the anagrind) – a ("delivers" is the deletion indicator) | |
| 10 | Kalyan Bandyopadhyay | Cryptic clue hack without answer? That’s a laugh (7) | 11 | 6 | Anagram (Cryptic) of CLUE H(- A = Answer)CK. Def.: a laugh |
Congrats to the toppers and all those who participated.
Over to Aashirwad for the next contest.
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