Comments on the clues |
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1. A small crab, battered & fried, with shell lifted. |
1. | anag. of FRIED and L[ifted]D? If so "shell" is not really fair, nor is the redundant "&" | 2. | The wordplay just doesn't work | 3. | The ampersand serves no purpose in the cryptic reading. And "shell lifted" is not the same as "shell *of* lifted". | 4. | Wordplay doesn't quite work – "&" is redundant, "LD" isn't indicated fairly in my opinion. | 5. | The & is a bit of a cheat. It still reads ’battered and fried', which is incorrect wordplay. | 6. | Best and tastiest of all the clues. |
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2. Academic in line before queen, one who bows |
1. | Academic is weak for DD |
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3. Act nervously before meeting King, seen practicing with his bow? |
1. | Very weak using fiddle as part of wordplay | 2. | It should be "practising". I reckon "…practising his bowing" would be a much improved wording. | 3. | This would be better without 'before', or without 'meeting'. | 4. | Fiddle in fiddler and act nervously are effectively the same word, |
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4. Clue-writer’s lead is cut by fellow player |
1. | Fellow = F? I'm with Azed on this one (see slip 2031) – it only works as part of a whole term. Just a merit from me I'm afraid. | 2. | Deservedly! Nice clue, favourite behind 9 |
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5. Con artist clerk takes in cleric |
1. | Just wondering if it is not time to drop DD for cleric as a common abbreviation. | 2. | Neat double-use of "takes in". |
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6. Crossword setter heading off behind female musician (7) |
1. | The surface is a bit contrived – compare with (say) 4. |
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7. D Davis's first in line and right for leader? |
1. | Nice construction and surface. Definition a bit tenuous though. | 2. | Nice idea but not convinced by leader as definition | 3. | Leader too obscure | 4. | 'Leader' is a bit weak as the def. | 5. | A very fine clue. | 6. | By itself, the construction is good. The topicality makes it superb. | 7. | Topical surface |
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8. Dire anger-venting devil, completely heartless, beset by fire when playing? |
1. | This feels over-egged with all those subtractions | 2. | A decent clue, but a little cumbersome! |
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9. Discarded empty rifle shot Kennedy perhaps |
1. | Very nice – full marks. A Steve Randall clue? | 2. | Kennedy connection is done well | 3. | Merit. A nice clue, but an empty gun can hardly shoot a person. | 4. | Nice story on surface but there are too many violinists to define by example in my opinion. | 5. | Excellent surface reading, together with nicely compact clue | 6. | Nicely misleading. |
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10. Do right, like Nero? |
1. | See 3 | 2. | Wonderful. 5 points. | 3. | Short and sweet |
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11. Dr Field cured Dave Swarbrick, perchance? |
1. | I see Dr Field reference – not sure it is as acceptable as, say, Paganini. Never heard of Fairport Convention. |
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12. Dr Field doctored one of fabled king's musicians. |
1. | Another Dr Field reference. |
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13. Dreadful one playing leads to awfully unpleasant scratching! |
1. | Witty but the syntax seems off – scratch is transitive | 2. | Clever & lit. with original anagram idea. | 3. | A neat &lit. However, "leads to" is doing double work in the cryptic reading. | 4. | Slightly contrived, but very clever with nothing wasted | 5. | Good one. |
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14. Fellow can get led astray by primitive instincts – take Kennedy for example (7) |
1. | Strong surface reading. | 2. | Take = R is a stretch . |
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15. Fellow I'd associated with swindler? Not half! |
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17. Field doctor treated French Carpenter, for example |
1. | If you want to anagram DR then write Dr, not "doctor". |
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18. First doctorate in field, lead researcher excited for one who jiggles strings ! |
1. | "Lead Doctorste" doesn't mean the same as "Lead of Doctorate" | 2. | Definition part is patchy – doesn't gel with the rest of the surface. Decent wordplay |
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19. Flier takes a spin around Dallas and Denver. He's a time waster. |
1. | How does 'Dallas and Denver' equate to DD? | 2. | Dallas and Denver for "DD" doesn't seem good. |
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20. Fraud clerk pocketing couple of notes (6) |
1. | Best of the crooked clerks | 2. | Note could be any letter from A to G. | 3. | Beautifully simple |
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21. Freddie, almost livid initially, upset player who takes a bow before performing. |
1. | "Almost livid initially" feels a bit too crossword-y. | 2. | Proper noun in anagram fodder is avoidable. |
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22. Gue master clerk internally gave as a gift. |
1. | Can't get the gift =DD connection |
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23. He might have to bow and scrape to please his auditors (7) |
1. | These are very old crossword puns | 2. | Aren't the two meanings from the same root ? |
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24. He plays if broadcast to orphaned child (7) |
1. | Cryptic instruction isn't really English | 2. | 'Orphaned' means 'left behind', not 'removed', surely? |
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25. Idler goes after female and gets date! |
1. | Even if one accepts that idler=fiddler (I don't), this is not a fair &lit. You can't have only part of the clue doing double duty as def. | 2. | Doing double-duty is a big no-no! | 3. | Idler is doing double duty. |
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26. It's more difficult when
one's missing a player. |
1. | Good surface, original idea | 2. | Well crafted and concise. |
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27. Liberal supporter entertained by recorder musician |
1. | A rather astonishing use of 'liberal'! | 2. | An original clue for DD | 3. | Wordplay for DD brings smiles but a stretch, I think |
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28. Musical man keeping daughters in line, on top of roof? |
1. | Very nice surface reading, though the solution is perhaps too obvious |
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29. Musician time after time immerses into an instrument ultimately getting a hand (7) |
1. | time after time for DD is too indirect, among other issues | 2. | Why not 'day after day'? |
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31. Nero? |
1. | This is not a cryptic clue | 2. | I'm not sure that's really cryptic – it's the thing he's most famous for! | 3. | Not cryptic! | 4. | Not even cryptic. | 5. | Hepple? | 6. | Sorry, not cryptic |
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32. Nero, they say, was essentially muddled, caught in wild fire (7) |
1. | Why is "essentially muddled" exactly DDL? "Wild fire" = (FIRE)*is a neat idea. | 2. | Good one. |
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33. Old pickpocket runs, seizing two diamonds for fraudster |
1. | For doesn't make sense in the surface. |
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34. One bows before God if converted and starts to declare love, ecstasy, rapture! |
1. | The list at the end looks too contrived. | 2. | D=God is iffy. |
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35. One involved in dubious deals, Jared's ultimately protected by loud vain Republican |
1. | A bit unsure about the indication of the D, but this is clever and a worth a good few points | 2. | I struggle with "Jared's ultimately" indicating D – I'd be happier with either "Jared ultimately" or "Jared's ultimate". | 3. | Cleverly topical, albeit a bit convoluted |
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36. One lodging tax return including totals ex tips? |
1. | Best of the &lits – very clever construction though not sure how solvable | 2. | Nice idea. I'd prefer 'without' to 'ex' | 3. | Original thinking |
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37. One who cheats, even when exchanging one note for another. |
1. | This could just as easily be a clue for "diddler"… |
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38. Player out on the tiles? |
1. | A nice CD if the answer were "Fiddler on the Roof" but not really fair just for "fiddler" | 2. | Needs some wordplay |
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39. Rifled barrels, small diameter bores? I use a bow and different strings! |
1. | An original clue with a convincing and misleading surface – well done :) |
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41. Some MPs claimed to be one like Kennedy |
1. | I think this would be too vague for it to be solved. | 2. | Needs to be 'one, one' to make both defs. work |
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43. Swindle king gut-scraper |
1. | A rather unconvincing surface reading |
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44. Tinkerman shifting central midfielder right |
1. | "Central midfielder" for "DFIELD" just about passes muster for fairness for me. One of the more imaginitive clues. | 2. | Great reference |
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46. Twice removed insane cousin who plays the violin has the answer you seek! (7) |
1. | indirect anagrams are a no-no – I don't understand the cousin reference either | 2. | Indirect anagrams really aren't on. | 3. | Indirect anagrams like this are just unsolvable | 4. | Devious!! | 5. | This looks like an indirect anagram to me. | 6. | You need to have your anagram fodder printed in the clue – it's not fair to the solver otherwise. |
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47. Viola masturbates 6th virtuoso!(7) |
1. | I'm not keen on this sort of gratuitous smut | 2. | The rather vulgar surface reading is off-putting. | 3. | Cluing most of FIDDLER by FIDDLE in the same sense is hardly very cryptic, among other objections | 4. | Using viola for FIDDLE isn't very imaginative |
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48. Violinist flirted outrageously with Duke, after dumping tenor |
1. | Good and plausible surface reading |
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50. Wolf in sheep's clothing starts fleecing innocent Dorset's down left next to English river. |
1. | A rather improbable scenario | 2. | A poor surface reading |
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