Nothing to set the world on fire this month, most of the more imaginative clues being marred by one or more of: unsoundness; slightly iffy wordplay or definition; stilted English; an unconvincing surface.
3 points:
20 This clue would have been a little fairer had, say, “from India” been added after “writer”, but is otherwise simple, neat and convincing . On “in”, see comments on 7 below.
2.5 points each:
18 This is neat, but composite anagrams that include a specific definition in this way seem somehow less satisfactory than those that achieve an &lit using “this”, “thus” or whatever to represent the clue-word.
42 Admirably concise and a good choice of definition to suit a convincing surface. It’s a pity, however, about the unnatural word order of “serve with” for “with serve” in the cryptic reading. A better solution might have been something like “Indian special’s hot? Then serve nan”
63 The best of the Abba offerings, though “hit” is on the borderline as an acceptable a.i.
2 points:
44 An ingenious solution to a reverse hidden for, in that context, a pretty unpromising set of letters. I see from a Google search that there has even been speculation that the Kazakh navy does in fact have submarines, unlikely as that might seem. Nevertheless, the surface is just a little strained and “having” would have been preferable to “has”.
1 point:
50 In the context of an otherwise promising surface (and original definition) , “soul” and even “embracing” seem forced and artificial. One wonders whether “to serve A(merican) President” might not have been exploited in some way. On “in”, see comments on 7 below.
0.5 point each:
7 Several things about this clue are excellent (concise, a good surface, a neat & appropriate anagram), but it is marred by the connector “for”; “in” would have been perfectly acceptable. In my book, SI for Definition is fine, but Definition for SI is not. Logically, it seems to me, the same principle should apply to in – as in 20 and 50, for instance – but SI in Definition is so widely accepted (eg, by Azed) that it would be unreasonable to penalize it. (Vice versa for from, of course.)
32 Another clue with much to recommend it (an original and convincing surface and, with one exception, deft wordplay), but “Hong-Kong-bound” – even with the extra hyphen! – doesn’t seem to me adequate to indicate that HK follows “airbus”; “airbus to Hong Kong” would have been more accurate; “carrier” to indicate BA, even in a surface referring to air travel, is a bit of a stretch too.
35 Admirably concise, a good anagram in a convincing surface, but, with regret, I finally decided that “Mother Russia” as a definition was too inaccurate, even with a question-mark, to earn more than minimum points. |
