| Comments on the clues |
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| 1. Adolescent gigolo, wanting briefest case, went back for quizzing |
| 1. | Quiz is an old name for a yo-yo, but quizzing isn't | | 2. | I'm afraid the surface story doesn't make sense | | 3. | The gigolo/case/quiz gloss is quite random |
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| 2. After cutting consumption, toyboy's back to half his former size! |
| 1. | I can't accept that "half his former size" indicates "toy" | | 2. | Great surface but don’t buy the indirect definition | | 3. | I don’t get it. An indirect definition? | | 4. | 'half (toyboy's) former size' arguably works as wordplay for TOY, but would any solver really expect wordplay-for-def instead of a def? |
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| 3. American cellist leaves mother for such plaything? |
| 1. | Surface doesn't sound very natural | | 2. | Maybe it's just me, but I've never heard of Yo-yo Ma |
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| 4. Bounce back from Year Zero, not once but twice |
| 1. | To yo-yo means to go up and down or fluctuate, not just to bounce back |
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| 5. Cellist's first toy? |
| 1. | Sound and concise. I don't think it needs the question mark but it's still my top choice | | 2. | Is first sufficient to indicate first name? |
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| 6. …compared to last year (COVID's second wave) |
| 1. | Financial reference is rather obscure, and wave as a synonym for yo-yo (verb) is not convincing | | 2. | I don't think 'wave' is a good enough definition for yo-yo | | 3. | … ellipsis separated multiple-clue-surfaces are nice to see in puzzles, but aren't much fun on their own. I like the unusual yoy abbr. |
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| 7. Could this lead to walking the dog for a stupid person on the other side of the pond? |
| 1. | Good, but rather a long clue for such a short word | | 2. | This made me want to find a yo-yo to see if I can still walk the dog… | | 3. | I think both definitions are fair, but combined result in a surface that doesn't make much sense to me |
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| 8. Disc player I heard repeatedly in Spain |
| 1. | Why ‘heard’? | | 2. | It's not fair to use Spanish | | 3. | I like the use of (basic) Spanish but the 'heard' in the wordplay is a bit superfluous |
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| 9. Double helping of starters for you? That sort of diet will rebound |
| 1. | Great surface | | 2. | Nice wordplay | | 3. | Nicely misleading and sufficiently original. |
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| 10. End of lanky old Willey’s last over produces swing and bounce |
| 1. | Good to see a different take on this although surface slightly strained | | 2. | Rather loose definition |
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| 11. Fool returned toys without wrappers twice (2-2) |
| 1. | Wordplay is fine but surface story doesn't make much sense |
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| 12. Frisky toy boy, no thoroughbred, but one providing satisfying ups and downs |
| 1. | Credit for coming up with an original definition, and risqué clues seem to do well here | | 2. | Hmmm I don't think you can get away with tb = thoroughbred |
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| 13. Go back and forth, beginning in Yokohama and back to Tokyo |
| 1. | Wordplay needs "starts" in Yokohama and "ends" in Tokyo but then it's hard to find a workable definition | | 2. | Strictly speaking 'beginning' and 'back' should refer only to one letter not two |
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| 14. Going up and down, the solver misses the last vowel twice |
| 1. | Clues yo-yoing instead of yo-yo | | 2. | I like the YO(U) YO(U) wordplay, but the surface isn’t very convincing |
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| 15. Grandchildren back and forth? (4-4) |
| 1. | Perhaps grandchildren refers to boys, but something has gone wrong here, and not just with the enumeration | | 2. | Is this a ref. to oy = grandchild? Explanation needed | | 3. | This clue requires an explanation! | | 4. | Baffling. Would love an explanation. |
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| 16. Hey – you dropped something, Ma! |
| 1. | Very slick but it depends on knowing who Yo-yo Ma is! |
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| 17. Hugs and kisses when males become females, realizing it has its ups and downs |
| 1. | Males usually have XY chromosomes and females XX, so shouldn't it be "when females become males"? | | 2. | If this refers to chromosomes then X to Y (or rather XX to XY) is female to male | | 3. | I really don't get this |
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| 18. Hyponym of 'intermittently popular toy' |
| 1. | I’ll buy this as semi &lit | | 2. | My favourite wordplay idea, but thanks to the quotes it doesn’t quite mean what it says | | 3. | Now I know what a hyponym is – thanks! |
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| 19. I go into a spin when toys are returned decapitated |
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| 20. I may be associated with string-playing (solver shortly should get doubling up!) |
| 1. | Construction is a bit too clumsy | | 2. | ‘Doubling up’ is a stretch for defining yo-yo |
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| 21. I'm highly strung. Life is so full of ups and downs. |
| 1. | First definition is weak and second seems incomplete (Life is so full of ups and downs for me?) |
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| 22. It's thrown when walking the dog |
| 1. | Good cryptic definition, but perhaps needs wordplay to help out | | 2. | I like this a lot but it would be very difficult! | | 3. | A nice CD |
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| 23. Kind of diet my body so regularly rejects |
| 1. | Very smooth surface, so true! | | 2. | Not sure what ‘rejects’ indicates here | | 3. | Neat clue with a good surface reading |
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| 24. Ma raised two sons without boundaries (2-2) |
| 1. | Well constructed and great surface. Is Ma sufficient as a definition? | | 2. | Needs to be ‘Ma perhaps’ | | 3. | Maybe it's just me, but I've never heard of Yo-yo Ma |
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| 25. Ma starts yelling out your orders |
| 1. | I'm not convinced that starts can apply to ALL the words. "Ma starts to yell out your orders", perhaps? | | 2. | Needs to be ‘Ma perhaps’ | | 3. | Nice smooth surface but hinges on general knowledge | | 4. | I think "…starts to…" would be clearer |
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| 26. Many who try to take finals go through ups and downs |
| 1. | Well disguised! | | 2. | Sound and concise | | 3. | Best of the last letters clues | | 4. | Nice definition and great context for 'take finals' instruction |
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| 27. Ma’s entertainment for kids |
| 1. | Needs to be ‘perhaps Ma’s’ | | 2. | Neat |
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| 28. Oaf moving up and down ( 4 ) |
| 1. | Clues yo-yoing instead of yo-yo |
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| 29. One bouncing back is round after years without love |
| 1. | Slightly unnatural surface reading |
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| 30. Pair of old Y-fronts concealing what goes up and down. |
| 1. | I'm not convinced by the Y-fronts wordplay | | 2. | I’m all for a risqué clue but not convinced by the wordplay | | 3. | Points for filth ! | | 4. | ‘Y-fronts’ doesn’t mean ‘Y fronts’ | | 5. | oy oy? But amusing. |
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| 31. Perhaps Ma is wound up and strung out |
| 1. | This is equivalent to "Yo-yo is wound up and strung out", which doesn't quite work | | 2. | The only clue that recognises there Yo Yos who aren’t Ma |
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| 32. Plaything doubling back, bouncing time and time again! |
| 1. | This is the one (t)oy clue that I like | | 2. | 'bouncing time and time again' a lot of fun. My favourite of the tOY<<x2 clues. | | 3. | Cleverly constructed |
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| 33. Plaything of intense emotion – down first, then up – all over again |
| 1. | Where did the "j" go? | | 2. | Maybe 'first down' would be a better deletion indicator than 'down first'? |
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| 34. Retro toy oyster reveals another toy (2-2) |
| 1. | I was sceptical, but Dr Google reveals that toy oysters really do exist |
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| 35. Spinner Lyon , with covers removed, takes Yorkshire openers |
| 1. | Well constructed with interesting surface | | 2. | Good wordplay, but definition "spinner" is a bit vague | | 3. | One for cricket fans, but lost on me, I’m afraid | | 4. | Nicely consistent cricket references | | 5. | A clever crickety clue. Itching to close up that space after Lyon! | | 6. | One of my favorite clues |
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| 36. String- player makes dashing appearance in Tokyo-Yokohama |
| 1. | I don't understand "makes dashing appearance in" when simply "appearing in" would work | | 2. | Bit of a mismatch between 'string-player' and what sounds like a bike race | | 3. | I like the 2-defs-in-one 'string player' but I don't think 'dashing' pun adds much to surface or wordplay |
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| 37. Stringed instrument this top cellist may have toyed with when young? |
| 1. | Good idea, but I prefer the same idea in 5 | | 2. | 'Stringed instrument' makes this my favourite of the cellist clues |
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| 38. Synonym of “evenly fluctuate” (2-2) |
| 1. | Clever but not convinced by extended def so I marginally prefer the “hyponym” clue | | 2. | Very clever idea, although I'm not sure if the quotes are necessary, so I'd be interested to see other comments | | 3. | Excellent clue | | 4. | Great idea, but thanks to the quotes it doesn’t quite mean what it says | | 5. | Not convinced by the 'extended' definition, but 'fluctuate' is fair enough |
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| 39. Synonym of regularly coming and going |
| 1. | The whole clue, read as a definition, clues yo-yoing instead of yo-yo | | 2. | I'm not fully convinced by the definition – even used as a modifier it feels a bit of a stretch to me | | 3. | The synonym of regularly coming and going would be yo-yoing not yo-yo | | 4. | Best of the alternate letters ideas |
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| 40. Throughout the Andes I repeatedly go up and down |
| 1. | Worth a merit but depending on knowledge of Spanish is a bit much | | 2. | This works well in retrospect but I think the Andes reference is too cryptic otherwise | | 3. | Original and disguises and misleads to very good effect. |
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| 41. Timeless amusement, which repeatedly turns up! |
| 1. | Not convinced by the idea that a yo-yo keep turning up, in the sense of occurring randomly or just happening |
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| 42. Timeless plaything repeatedly spun around? (2-2) |
| 1. | Good but maybe lacking the disguise that similar clues have |
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| 43. Timeless toy repeatedly making a comeback? |
| 1. | One of the better clues of its type – would be better with a synonym of toy I think | | 2. | This works so well on many levels! | | 3. | The 'comeback' goes well with the 'timeless', which feels slightly arbitrary in other clues |
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| 44. Timeless toy, returning repeatedly |
| 1. | Efficient version of common construction – would prefer it if synonym of toy was used | | 2. | A very similar idea to what I was working on, got to be worth some points |
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| 48. Tokyo yoga centre – it is flexible (2-2) |
| 1. | Very weak definition, and why should centre of "Tokyo yoga" be yoy rather than just o? | | 2. | It’s not quite at the centre unfortunately | | 3. | I don't get your definition | | 4. | Nice concept. Quite a lot of things are flexible! Also, it would work with a hidden indicator but 'centre' implies yoy or o |
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| 49. Toy beginning to go up and down briefly over there |
| 1. | The 'briefly over there' is nice wordplay, but I'm not keen on it being part of the definition |
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| 50. Toy boy loses his head and falls head over heels again(4) |
| 1. | Clever surface | | 2. | The fitting romantic storyline makes this my favourite of the 'toy boys' |
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| 51. Toy boy spins endlessly? |
| 1. | I don't think "endlessly" can delete BOTH final letters | | 2. | Clever double use of toy |
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| 52. Toy boys essentially spun repeatedly |
| 1. | There seems to be a convention that "essentially" can indicate the centre of a word, but I think it's misplaced | | 2. | It's a pity you used 'essentially' which is a giveaway indicator | | 3. | 'essentially' & 'repeatedly' stick out, and used together don't sound very natural to me |
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| 55. Toy that goes up repeatedly after thread at the top is pulled (2-2) |
| 1. | Refreshing variation on a theme – too easy though? | | 2. | 'after thread at the top is pulled' makes a nice change from all the 'timeless' clues | | 3. | One of my favorite clues |
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| 59. Toy you used twice – no fun essentially |
| 1. | Straightforward but satisfying |
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| 60. Turkey embryo yolk envelops |
| 1. | Good idea but the yolk (yellow bit) is in the middle, it doesn't "envelop" anything | | 2. | Why does this make me feel so queasy? | | 3. | Quite a bizarre surface reading! |
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| 61. Two lads lost their heads over this toy. |
| 1. | Simple and straightforward but deserving of points. |
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| 62. What may be projected to fall in revolution? |
| 1. | Too difficult with no wordplay to help out | | 2. | The best of the CDs. |
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| 63. Why do, say, cockapoo tails swing to and fro? |
| 1. | Clever wordplay with well-disguised solution, but not entirely convinced by the definition – it's more "go up and down" | | 2. | Nice surface reading which gave me a broad grin |
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| 64. "Why oh why", we hear, primarily of American fool |
| 1. | Not really a homophone since yo-yo is not pronounced as its individual letters (and the quote needs a question mark, sorry) |
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| 65. You interminable self-absorbed backward fool! (4) |
| 1. | Interminable does not mean without an end in the sense of being cut short – the opposite, in fact | | 2. | I think this wordplay gives OOYY not YO-YO | | 3. | Very ingenious wordplay gets some points from me |
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