The Crossword Centre Clue-Writing Competition

CCCWC April competition voters’ comments
 
Clue no. 28: "I hope not!" hides a secret that everyone knows

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A clue to OPEN.
2 comments refer to this clue (from 2 competitors, 0 others)
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Here is the text

Comments on the clue
1.To be strict, definition is for "open secret" not "open"
 
Comments on the competition
1.
If there are too many almost identical clues it becomes extremely arbitrary to choose, so I'm afraid I removed all shOP ENtrance hiddens and NOPE anagrams before considering the rest. It doesn't necessarily mean they were poor clues, just uninspired. Does this happen more with a very short word to clue?
Lockdown surfaces I also felt were too specific to make a lasting good clue. And as ever there's no excuse for a meaningless surface.
Hidden clues with redundant words 9, 28, 44 are not good practice.
Also I personally feel it's unacceptable to be too indirect, not just with anagrams, which is a big no-no, but with removals (eg 8, 18). Even 4 which is another nice idea, just fails this one.