| Comments on the clues |
|---|
| 1. A Roget possibility for "ratbag" |
| 1. | Good spot! | | 2. | For an &lit you need "possibility for 'ratbag'" to be an anagrind. | | 3. | Simple but effective. | | 4. | 'possibility' anagrind has grown on me |
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| 2. A rogue, tramp to a T, not posh! (6) |
| 1. | I don't think tramp is a very good anagrind. NB Explanations don't need to be so elaborate, perhaps |
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| 3. Angry Top Gear presenter initially dismissed for annoying person |
| 1. | The surface doesn’t make much real-world sense | | 2. | "Agitated" (for example) might be a better anagrind |
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| 4. Awful rat with ego, perhaps |
| 1. | I almost entered a very similar clue but felt that a toerag was as likely to lack ego as to have ego | | 2. | Not a convincing definition | | 3. | For an &lit you need one anagrind, not one at the start and another at the end. |
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| 5. Bad egg, rat, good-for-nothing |
| 1. | Nice idea but i’d expect good-for-nothing to replace nothing with good rather than good with nothing | | 2. | Nothing-for-good, surely? | | 3. | Good-for-nothing would signify replacing O by G, not the opposite | | 4. | Lovely construction. | | 5. | The wordplay would be properly clued "nothing-for-good". This doesn't quite work. | | 6. | Nice idea but good for nothing is G for O not O for G |
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| 6. Base one's composition on note about love |
| 1. | Great definition but what does the surface mean? | | 2. | Love the misleading def, but not convinced by composition=RAG |
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| 7. Bum got sorted – about time! |
| 1. | ‘Got’ needs a reversal indicator | | 2. | Some eye-watering interpretations of the surface possible here! |
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| 8. Bum note organist played in tons edited out (6) |
| 1. | Clever wordplay but surface doesn't make enough sense | | 2. | Really like the 'bum note' but rest of surface doesn't mean anything to me |
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| 9. Canter before Grand National leaves Ornate unsettled |
| 1. | Cleverly done, but it's a very obscure definition | | 2. | Good but to be great needed Ornate to be a Grand National horse | | 3. | Wrong type of racehorse, unfortunately – Ornate is a flat racer | | 4. | I'd like this more if Ornate was a well known Grand National contender | | 5. | Complicated |
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| 11. Contemptible type shot goat when Brenda came in |
| 1. | This only happens in crossword clues | | 2. | ER for Brenda is rather obscure if you don't read Private Eye (perhaps even if you do) | | 3. | The (Private Eye?) 'Brenda' substitute doesn't add much to this already strange surface | | 4. | I don't think it's fair to use Brenda = ER. Not widely known except amongst PE readers. |
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| 12. Cummings, say, reported by FT for inappropriate frottage (6) |
| 1. | Definition is rather broad and surface story is unlikely | | 2. | Loopy surface aside, 'reported by' as link/padding and 'inappropriate' grind don't work for me |
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| 13. Despicable fellow manhandles garrote heartlessly. |
| 1. | The spelling of ‘garrotte’ is new to me, but I see it’s in Chambers as (US) | | 2. | Don't think you'd "manhandle" a garrote – the intended victim perhaps | | 3. | 'manhandles' doesn't quite work in the context of the surface, something suggesting deliberate or sneaky handling would be better |
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| 14. Despicable man creates outrage, not classy. |
| 1. | Are all toerags men? And I'd like to see the back of the whole U / non-U business anyway (not just in crossword clues) | | 2. | The wordplay creates the answer, not the other way round? |
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| 15. Despicable person misbehaving at orgies is kicked out (6) |
| 1. | My favourite of the ‘despicable’ clues | | 2. | Best of the "despicable" clues. |
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| 16. Despicable person omitted essential truth from manufactured outrage (6) |
| 1. | Not convinced 'essential truth' can mean U |
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| 17. Dog got ear treated (6) |
| 1. | Neat 4 word clue! | | 2. | Nice, simple, and tells a believable story | | 3. | Nice short clue |
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| 18. Down and outer insult quickly turns to rage |
| 1. | Would work better without ‘insult quickly’ | | 2. | Presumably the definition is "down and outer insult", which seems OK, but why quickly? | | 3. | I don't get the surface sorry | | 4. | "Insult quickly" seems unnecessary? |
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| 19. Dr. Scholl’s dressing for a bum foot? |
| 1. | Rather weak as a joke or a clue, I think | | 2. | Not sure that bum foot = bum's foot | | 3. | Some nice ideas here, but can't see how whole thing is a definition for TOERAG | | 4. | The podiatrist is back, I see! |
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| 20. Epithet describing nameless one? Right! |
| 1. | Neat but unconvinced by definition | | 2. | Not quite &lit to me – TOERAG is not an epithet for someone nameless. |
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| 21. Go thee roam, homeless vagrant! (6) |
| 1. | The "home" element needs a separate anagrind | | 2. | The most unnatural-sounding clue of them all! |
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| 23. Great wins Oscar after playing villain (6) |
| 1. | I can’t see how ‘wins’ means ‘takes in’ | | 2. | Who's 'Great'? Is this someone I should have heard of? |
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| 24. Greta nastily laid into by old bum |
| 1. | The Trump reference isn't particularly obvious |
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| 25. Heel of digital sock. |
| 1. | I question whether digital sock (clothing for a foot) = toe rag (clothing for part of a foot?) | | 2. | Concept of 'digital sock' glove/sock hybrid amuses me, but strongly suspect it's invented for purpose of this clue! |
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| 26. Heel, part of the foot to make fun of |
| 1. | Almost brilliant, but a heel is not an obvious target for humour |
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| 27. Heel-and-toe leg-pull |
| 1. | "Toe" in plain sight in the clue makes the answer too obvious | | 2. | I don't understand the surface |
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| 28. Horrible man got back without maturity (6) |
| 1. | TOAGEG? I imagine this started out as GOT reversed around ERA, but the setter later got confused and changed ERA to AGE | | 2. | TOAGEG? TOEGAG? | | 3. | Surface reading doesn't make much sense to me. Got back where? Got back at someone? | | 4. | The surface sounds unconvincing. |
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| 29. Horror books sent back by online newspaper |
| 1. | Like the surface, but not convinced by e-rag. | | 2. | Not a fan of the "online"="E-" trope. Has anyone ever called an online newspaper an "E-rag"? |
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| 30. Initially, Tories' ousted "expert" ranted against Government. Is he someone to despise? |
| 1. | Quite like the acrostic itself, but the indicator feels forced |
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| 31. Labour's leader can quit tolerating party that's down and out! |
| 1. | I like this – very ingenious, although you have to mentally adjust it to "Labour's leader AND can…" | | 2. | TO(L)ERA(TIN)G is a good spot, informal 'party' has dictionary support, but surface a tad strained | | 3. | Nice idea. |
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| 32. Love great wobbly bum |
| 1. | One point for the giggle | | 2. | A welcome relief from some of the more elaborate efforts | | 3. | Another neat 4 word clue! | | 4. | lol my favourite of the GREAT+O clues | | 5. | Fun | | 6. | Easy winner for me – inventive humorous wordplay and in only 4 words – bravo. |
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| 33. Lowlife features in great novel about love |
| 1. | Good surface story and wordplay. |
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| 34. MOBO finally awarded to 'great' Dizzee Rascal (6) |
| 1. | Great idea to use Dizzee Rascal | | 2. | Nicely done, albeit I don’t think historically accurate as he won first MOBO in 2004 | | 3. | His name would need to be "Dizzy" to be an anagrind | | 4. | Inverted commas around 'great' seems needlessly snarky! |
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| 35. No fellow of great rank |
| 1. | The neatest of the & lit. clues | | 2. | Not necessarily a toerag – could be the man on the Clapham omnibus of legal fame, for example |
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| 36. Nobody is exceptionally great about nothing (6) |
| 1. | The double negative makes for a very confusing surface | | 2. | Is the surface meant to be nonsense? |
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| 37. Nothing great about him! |
| 1. | As in 35, the definition is too broad |
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| 38. Oik celebrated job at tabloid newspaper |
| 1. | Funny but a little obscure I think | | 2. | It's a bit much to expect solvers to recall an obscure 1992 tabloid headline | | 3. | Funny (after seeing explanation), but even with help from 'tabloid newspaper', I'd never get TOE from 'celebrated job' | | 4. | I didn't understand this. | | 5. | The reference is much too obscure! |
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| 39. Old foot-wrapper for a vagrant? It's Tagore's version |
| 1. | What has Tagore got to do with it, though? |
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| 40. One who grates is maybe nothing great (6) |
| 1. | Crossword puns need to be a bit more subtle, I think |
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| 41. Outrage when university expelled drunken miscreant |
| 1. | Best of the outrage anagrams |
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| 42. Primarily tramp, or even rather a git? |
| 1. | Acrostics have to sound completely natural. 'Or even rather' doesn't. | | 2. | Primarily, the word 'primarily' is used to write unnatural-sounding cryptic crossword clues! |
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| 43. Queen has toga adjusted to cover bum |
| 1. | Funniest clue! | | 2. | A bit too silly? (And lèse-majesté?) | | 3. | Pretty Cheeky! | | 4. | WE are amused! |
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| 44. Rascal Paddy’s first to be dropped from ‘Top Gear’ revamp |
| 1. | Marginally prefer this of the Top Gear clues | | 2. | He wasn't | | 3. | Lovely stuff great clue | | 4. | Different surface story and wordplay. |
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| 45. Rascal's got reformed over time |
| 1. | ‘Got’ needs a reversal indicator |
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| 47. Reverend Spooner's file name for a despicable sort of fellow (6) |
| 1. | "File name" or "filename" usually refers to computer files these days, I can't see its relevance for Spooner | | 2. | The problem with Spoonerisms is that you have to mention Spooner….. |
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| 48. Rogue badger follows beginnings of trail outside earth |
| 1. | Not convinced that badger = rag, or that a trail can have more than one beginning | | 2. | Does rag mean badger?? |
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| 49. Saw troubled Greta Garbo becoming a worthless person |
| 1. | 'Saw' seems redundant. Nice idea for garb O | | 2. | "Saw" doesn't seem to be doing anything in the wordplay, and "Garbo" can't reasonably be interpreted as "garbs O" | | 3. | 'troubled Greta Garb o' clever, but shouldn't it be 'garbs o' or 'garbing o'? 'characters of Greta Garbo' maybe? |
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| 50. Schmo that ends up with gear in tatters? (6) |
| 1. | One of the best! | | 2. | Nice down clue, although "Schmo who" would be more natural if it didn't ruin the wordplay | | 3. | Joint first place for me. | | 4. | It's not a good enough story |
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| 51. Scoundrel got hauled up – about time! (6) |
| 1. | Best of the GOT* around ERA clues |
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| 52. Sort of rogue with a striking uniform for end of feet? |
| 1. | What on earth does this mean? |
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| 54. Tagore’s composition – “Beggar Woman” (6) |
| 1. | Very hard for the layperson but a great clue | | 2. | Great spot | | 3. | Nice find. Def needs a ? I think | | 4. | A beggar woman is not thereby a "despicable character", certainly not in Bhikarini, or anything by Tagore, I imagine | | 5. | Great find, but def needs a question mark unfortunately. |
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| 55. Tatty footgear’s revealing of me |
| 1. | Not usually keen on comp anagrams but this is really nicely done | | 2. | Joint first place for me. | | 3. | Nobody likes these things! | | 4. | Good to see a comp anag that’s relatively simple. Very neat &lit. My favourite clue |
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| 56. The content of a Hirohito era gyoza is despicable (6) |
| 1. | Uses an adjective to define a noun | | 2. | Despicaable is an adjective. Toerag is a noun. | | 3. | A tad forced? |
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| 57. Tory leader suffering rage after latest fiasco – contemptible person (6) |
| 1. | I don't like "latest fiasco" = O | | 2. | Not convinced by 'latest fiasco' for O | | 3. | I don't accept 'latest fiasco' = O. 'End of fiasco' would work. |
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| 58. Tramp around area of land obtained outside (6) |
| 1. | Neither "obtained" nor "outside" seem to make much sense here | | 2. | Surface not special enough to justify obscure 'are' | | 3. | ARE is a usage that I really don't like. |
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| 59. Tramp's dog biting Old English and Rottweiler's tail |
| 1. | "Old English" on its own won't do – (sheepdog or bulldog, etc?) | | 2. | Old English is a language. Did you mean Old English Sheepdog? |
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| 60. Travelog: Avoiding Romans, touring heel. |
| 1. | Interesting wordplay idea, but I can’t find any evidence that ‘Romans’ = Roman numerals | | 2. | 'avoiding romans' new to me, but I quite like the idea – surface doesn't quite click though | | 3. | The surface unfortunately makes no sense. |
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| 61. Unfortunate bubbly shortage quietly buried |
| 1. | Very good misleading surface | | 2. | Nice different clue – just feel there ought to be a better deletion indicator (for the surface story) than 'buried'. |
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| 62. Vagabond captured in revolution served several years inside |
| 1. | Nice surface reading, although several years = ERA is a little weak |
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| 63. Vagabond going through large tin shed (6) |
| 1. | Satisfying clue, wordplay requiring a bit more thought than many others | | 2. | Excellent wordplay, although it's unclear what the vagabond is up to, so I prefer the same idea in 31 |
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| 64. Who actually makes random call at your gate? |
| 1. | Clever comp anag, though definition a bit vague | | 2. | A rogue trader, prospective MP, religious campaigner etc? | | 3. | definition works for door-to-door salesman, but a bit weak for TOERAG | | 4. | Nice anagram find, but the surface doesn't mean much to me. |
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| 66. Wretched heartless goadster! |
| 1. | I like the anagram-of-outer-letters device, but surface/def not quite convincing enough for me, sorry |
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