| Comments on the clues |
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| 2. A fair selection returned by a biased one (not half!) (4) |
| 1. | Nepotism<>a biased one. Is this a lurker or a deletion? No real need for both. |
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| 3. A welcome sign in shop entrance |
| 1. | Very smooth and natural | | 2. | Open's written on the sign but it isn't the sign, according to dictionary. Otherwise good clue | | 3. | 'welcome' is redundant |
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| 4. Affair destroying relationship? Not if marriage is this! |
| 1. | Wordplay is clever but too difficult | | 2. | Such a good idea! But affair for operation? Hmmmmm | | 3. | "destroying" sounds more like an anagram indicator than a deletion indicator |
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| 5. Ambiguous…nope! |
| 1. | non (nope) ambiguous is the opposite of open? | | 2. | Probably the best of the short anagrams |
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| 6. Available work space |
| 1. | It's concise and technically perfect but won't make anybody laugh or cry! | | 2. | Isn't "workspace" usually one word? | | 3. | workable clue |
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| 7. Bellhop enjoys hiding in plain sight |
| 1. | Send him back to the USA |
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| 8. Bid first for forgotten poetry rewritten by original poet |
| 1. | "Original X" doesn't give first letter of X. "Rewritten by" doesn't mean "overwritten by". Loose def. | | 2. | Original definition. It's spoilt by 'rewritten' and I'm not sure one should indicate P by 'original poet' | | 3. | Oversee<>overlook, even though oversight carries the right sense. P selection lax. |
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| 9. Bob Hope never hosted this golf tournament! |
| 1. | Not keen on past tense wordplay. The cryptic reading applies in the present. | | 2. | "Bob" is extraneous | | 3. | A great clue but Bob doesn't serve any purpose. Unless one regards BobHope as an entity… | | 4. | The hidden word indicator shouldn't be in the past tense | | 5. | Nice context; "this" golf tournament needs a little more distinction | | 6. | What's Bob doing here? Past tense awkward in cryptic reading. |
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| 10. Bolted? Nope |
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| 11. Captain returning positive for maiden to begin to appear |
| 1. | 'Captain' = 'Nemo' would be just about acceptable en clair, but reversed with a substitution is too indirect. | | 2. | What does the surface actually mean? |
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| 13. Copenhagen stores free of restrictions |
| 1. | Topical and probably the best of the hidden clues |
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| 14. Currently a sign rarely seen in shop entrances. |
| 1. | a more topical twist to win the "shop entrance" category. |
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| 15. Deceitful? Nope |
| 1. | No anagrind | | 2. | Just shaded by no 5 |
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| 16. Even go up teeny cut |
| 1. | 'Even' alone doesn't mean 'even letters of' | | 2. | "Even X" doesn't mean "even bits of X." I don't understand the surface | | 3. | Letter selection not accurately indicated. Definition questionable. Surface meaning unclear. |
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| 17. Every other character in underplot turned round, undisguised. |
| 1. | Surface a bit unnatural | | 2. | What's an underplot? Subplot? |
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| 18. Exposed bust and bottom after stripping (4) |
| 1. | While technically fine, the wordplay has so many ambiguities that it would be frustrating to verify OPEN unaided. | | 2. | I don't think this is fair on the solver! | | 3. | Nice try but a stretch too far with 'bust' for me. |
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| 19. Frank leads orchestras playing every night |
| 1. | "Leads X" doesn't mean "leads of X" | | 2. | Letter selection not accurately indicated. | | 3. | Preposition needed in cryptic grammar after 'leads' |
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| 20. Frank's oddly Orphean (4) |
| 1. | I don't think 'oddly' quite works for 'odd letters of' |
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| 21. Frank's working without training (4) |
| 1. | best of the franks | | 2. | 'without' = 'outside' doesn't do it for me any more | | 3. | "Without" archaically means "outside" like "I left the bins outside" not in the sense of surrounding |
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| 22. Free content of online porn going up |
| 1. | Original hidden clue | | 2. | Ever so slightly unnatural surface, but very imaginative and cheeky | | 3. | Picky, but something free can't go up without first imposing a charge. | | 4. | Nice surface |
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| 23. Free from Europe now? |
| 1. | I love the tone of this clue! | | 2. | Where is the hidden clue indicator? |
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| 24. Free love – it's mightier than the sword |
| 1. | Stand out clue for me – the (brief) mantra of the 60s! Original and well-disguised clue. |
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| 26. Head of PPE goes missing: there's no holding back spread |
| 1. | Cryptic grammar needs "it" after "holding" which ruins surface. Nice topicality |
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| 28. "I hope not!" hides a secret that everyone knows |
| 1. | To be strict, definition is for "open secret" not "open" |
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| 29. Jimmy sometimes played at St. Andrews |
| 1. | best of the golfing clues |
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| 30. Leader of outrageous American prison is exposed |
| 1. | 'outrageous' jars – surely there is a better 'o' word? |
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| 31. “Lift restrictions” starts off public euphoria at end of lockdown |
| 1. | Letter selection not acurately indicated: starts off obscene public etc, or similar? | | 2. | pse see comment on no 33 – cyptic 'of' missing after 'starts' |
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| 33. Manifest comprises initials of passengers embarking now |
| 1. | "Of" is unfairly doing double-duty; "initals X" doesn't mean "initials of X" even if X begins with "of" | | 2. | 'of' seems to be doing double duty here | | 3. | Letter selection not accurately indicated: initials of obese passengers etc, or similar? | | 4. | cyptic grammar 'of' missing after 'initials' if existing 'of' is being used for its first letter – additional 'o' word needed | | 5. | Well-worked initials |
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| 34. Misanthrope never surfaces, with human contact few and far between. |
| 1. | Definition doesn't sound right somehow | | 2. | Surfaces a stretch as containment indicator. Few and far between needs a plural. | | 3. | The definition is too indirect and vague |
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| 35. Move in with otolaryngologist? (5) |
| 1. | Not a clue to OPEN! | | 2. | Nice idea, but clueing the wrong word. | | 3. | Is this a clue to OPEN or ENTER? | | 4. | "ENTER" was not the clue word but the prompt to enter the competition. Creative clue though | | 5. | ??????????? | | 6. | You're thinking of an otorhinolarygnologist. | | 7. | Oops. |
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| 36. No jail doesn't have a lock! |
| 1. | "No" for "O" is probably a bit too indirect |
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| 38. One policeman about to smuggle crack (4) |
| 1. | I enjoy a clue that could be a headline to a story. | | 2. | hidden word indicator in wrong place | | 3. | Good surface, and reversing hides the obvious nicely. |
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| 39. Patience exhausted, stopping working for free (4) |
| 1. | "Exhausted" means "used up" not "contents are used up" – the ketchup is exhausted, not the ketchup bottle | | 2. | 'Stopping working' sounds clumsy, too many ings. Could have been 'stops' | | 3. | Has a reasonable story and works for me |
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| 40. Peony needs replacing. Why not, when it's straightforward? |
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| 41. Permitting all to come out in public widely spaced (4) |
| 1. | Great surface. Not sure about definition 2 | | 2. | Topical and using 4 defs allows a reasonable story to be told |
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| 42. Postpone or possibly stop tournament |
| 1. | From this wp I wouldn't know to remove "stop" and then rearange "pone". | | 2. | Nice idea, but doesn't quite say what the solver needs to do. | | 3. | Further consideration if "this" tournament | | 4. | Implicit anagram not really indicated. Need to indicate "anagram of definition + fodder X = Y" more explicitly |
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| 43. President is abducted by one rebel general (4) |
| 1. | "X rebel" doesn't really indicate "anagram of X" | | 2. | Not sure about "rebel" as an anagram indicator |
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| 44. Public confined inside forever? Hope not! |
| 1. | What is ‘forever’ doing in this clue? | | 2. | Is "forever" really allowed to be there? | | 3. | "forever?" is extraneous | | 4. | Very nice, but 'forever' seems to be there purely for the surface reading | | 5. | good hidden indicator | | 6. | What's forever doing here? | | 7. | 'forever' is cyptically redundant |
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| 45. Remove cap from end of Biro before writing |
| 1. | A slightly different way of using ‘pen’ puts this clue above other similar ones | | 2. | Writing = "the pen", the article is quite important in this case | | 3. | Reads nicely as a cohesive instruction, although writing is not synonymous with pen. So, …then write instead of …before writing, perhaps. | | 4. | pen does not equal 'writing' (but write and writer) | | 5. | Lovely surface, cleverly done. |
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| 46. Repeatedly postpone sports during return to kick off |
| 1. | inventive but "sports" confuses the WP? | | 2. | The first three words and definition are superb. I don't think "during" is quite right, and while there is a clear topical theme in the surf | | 3. | During seems to be padding. Return: what part of speech is intended? | | 4. | Clever device to hide letter sequence. Surface not quite perfect for full marks. |
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| 47. Set around nine polar bears free |
| 1. | Nice surface and clever use of ‘bears’ | | 2. | Very clever use of 'bears' | | 3. | Great wordplay. Decent surface |
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| 48. Set free after one actively seized power. |
| 1. | Like the idea. Surface doesn't quite cut it. |
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| 49. Shop entrance has to display this. |
| 1. | Not really, it's not a requirement. |
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| 50. Sign working stores place externally |
| 1. | Some nice double meanings | | 2. | P & E unindicated selections (or idiosyncratic abbreviations). | | 3. | Open's written on the sign but it isn't the sign, according to dictionary. Otherwise good clue |
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| 51. Spend this to go destroy public access. |
| 1. | Destroy (imperative?) doesn't work as anagram indicator after fodder. |
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| 52. Take off top in public (4) |
| 1. | "Take off top of" equals "open" in your example – you need the "of" | | 2. | Neatly put together |
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| 53. "Take the top of a jar," said Frank (4) |
| 1. | Presumably meant to be 'off'? In the Sunday Times comp recently a good clue lost out because of a spelling error! | | 2. | Should "of" have been "off"? | | 3. | Very clever, but surely "of" needs to be OFF | | 4. | Make that 2 defs, with (admirably succinct) wordplay in between. Bonus definitions can seem like padding (as here) where WP included. |
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| 54. This note or that one, not even Orphean Choirman hits harmonic. |
| 1. | Not even is ropey as selection indicator. Function of choirman anagram unclear. Hits doesn't work as anagram indicator. Ingenious idea. |
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| 55. To be frank, this could cause writer's block. |
| 1. | My favourite, full marks! | | 2. | Writer's block is just too specific and not related to no pen whereas ' writer difficulty' would have earned points |
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| 56. Two pairings playing together in top English golf tournament (4) |
| 1. | Playing together suggests something other than juxtaposition. | | 2. | I like "pairings" but "playing" suggests an anagram, ruining the wordplay. |
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| 57. Unoccupied work space |
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| 58. Vacant expression when referring to book which is easy to read |
| 1. | "Open" is part of the expression, not the whole expression "(an) open book" | | 2. | Does the 2nd def work? The figurative open book collapses in on itself when applied specifically to a book. |
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| 59. Vulnerable and old shut inside with no end date |
| 1. | 2 defs surrounding WP feels like padding. Works pretty well without 'Vulnerable and'. 'Old, and shut etc'? |
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| 60. Willing to accept twopenny piece (4) |
| 1. | Clever use of unusual pronunciation to hide the obvious |
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| 61. With zero confinement? (4) |
| 1. | Like the idea. Perhaps could use a more polished surface. |
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| 62. Word displayed in shop entrances (4) |
| 1. | no def – 'pent' and 'hope' are also a 4 letter words displayed in the clue |
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| 63. Word you may see in shop entrance |
| 1. | Very similar to mine, so I particularly appreciate this clue | | 2. | Pse see comment for no 62 |
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| 64. Working? Nope, broke! |
| 1. | Anagrind doesn't work (broke doesn't equal broken) |
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| 65. Yawning contest? |
| 1. | I just like the word yawning for open then the sensible second definition. | | 2. | Creates a potential story and disguises the defs |
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| 66. Yawning in public |
| 1. | Neat double def. | | 2. | I just like the word yawning for open then the sensible second definition. | | 3. | Just shaded by no 65 |
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