A few weeks ago I mentioned that if you ask people for their favourite cryptic clues the likely response will be either a cryptic definition or an &lit. This is also true when people are asked for ANY examples of cryptic clues – mainly for the same reason – they are easy to remember. So let’s try an exercise: I’d like to know one of your favourite two-part (wordplay/definition) cryptic clues and the reason(s) why. At this point I’d like to acknowledge that I don’t have favourite clues (of any type) and I don’t write down any clues that particularly take my fancy. In any given puzzle I’ll usually be tickled by a couple of clues that are written well, have good surface, and have some aspect of cleverness about them, either in the wordplay or the definition. To me such clues are all at the same level: top-notch, and there’s very little between any of them.
I will say that there’s one aspect of clues deemed “the best” in a puzzle (as stated by blogging solvers) that confounds me. Why are super-hard clues, ones that need to be explained by others, or those could never by solved by the wordplay ranked so highly? It’s a mystery to me. As a setter a feel as though I’ve failed if I’m guilty of writing such clues and as a solver the clues leave me disappointed. I guess we are all different.
| Across | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | SUTURED | |
| Uterus, damaged by doctor initially, is stitched up (7) | Anagram of UTERUS + (D)OCTOR | |
| 5 | BOTCHER | |
| Dodgy repairer is caught in difficulty (7) | C inside BOTHER | |
| 9 | AMBIT | |
| Scope a minute piece (5) | A + M + BIT | |
| 10 | SPRINKLED | |
| Soft piece of ice, covered in snow, vehicle sprayed with water (9) | (P + RINK) inside SLED | |
| 11 | CLEAR OUT | |
| Leave auditor in authority (5,3) | EAR inside CLOUT | |
| 12 | STICKS | |
| Wood glues (6) | Double Definition | |
| 14 | MIFF | |
| Male admitting female’s minor quarrel (4) | M + IF + F | |
| 15 | BANKRUPT | |
| Failed outlaw backed Turk holding power (8) | BAN + (TURK reversed outside P) | |
| 18 | CONVINCE | |
| Bring round French wine stocked by clubs in the past (8) | VIN inside (C + ONCE) | |
| 19 | DEAN | |
| Study divided up by a school head (4) | DEN outside A | |
| 22 | RETORT | |
| Come back with a quantity of claret or tokay (6) | claRET OR Tokay | |
| 23 | COLLAPSE | |
| Cooked local pies, missing one ingredient, crumble (8) | Anagram of LOCAL PIES minus I | |
| 25 | SAN MARINO | |
| Oarsman prepared outside in European republic (3,6) | Anagram of OARSMAN outside IN | |
| 26 | ALLOT | |
| Earmark vote not initialled? (5) | B(ALLOT) | |
| 27 | SISTERS | |
| One showing external signs of stress disturbed family members (7) | I inside anagram of STRESS | |
| 28 | SWELTER | |
| Horses at the back race and suffer in the heat (7) | HORSE(S) + WELTER | |
| Down | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | SEARCH ME | |
| I don’t know cunning medium embraced by witness (6,2) | (ARCH + M) inside SEE | |
| 2 | TABLE OF CONTENTS | |
| What’s inside broken bottle can soften (5,2,8) | Anagram of BOTTLE CAN SOFTEN | |
| 3 | RETURN | |
| Bring in deranged intruder with no ID (6) | Anagram of INTRUDER minus ID | |
| 4 | DISTURBING | |
| Is burnt badly in mine doing shiftwork? (10) | Anagram of IS BURNT inside DIG | |
| 5 | BARE | |
| Sound of stomach that’s empty (4) | Sounds like BEAR | |
| 6 | TINCTURE | |
| Temperature maintained in can to preserve flavour (8) | T inside (TIN + CURE) | |
| 7 | HELICOPTER PILOT | |
| Rich IT people distributed group’s flyer (10,5) | Anagram of RICH IT PEOPLE + LOT | |
| 8 | RADISH | |
| Only half of okra recipe is vegetable (6) | OK(RA) + DISH | |
| 13 | INDECOROUS | |
| Unseemly one represented coder captured by intelligence? (10) | I + (anagram of CODER inside NOUS) | |
| 16 | OVERTAKE | |
| Leave behind plain cake after first slice (8) | OVERT + C(AKE) | |
| 17 | INVERTER | |
| Flipper tangled river net (8) | Anagram of RIVER NET | |
| 20 | CRISES | |
| Leading member of cabinet comes up with serious problems (6) | (C)ABINET + RISES | |
| 21 | CLEAVE | |
| Cut through stick (6) | Double Definition | |
| 24 | OILS | |
| Well-rounded character is framing large paintings (4) | O + (IS outside L) |
I’m with you, David. I like to have a chance of solving the clue via the wordplay.
My favourite two-part clues are the ones with clever or amusing definitions. For example, in #72:
* 2dn: What’s inside = TABLE OF CONTENTS
* 4dn: Doing shiftwork = DISTURBING
I also enjoy wordplay components such as in 24dn: Well-rounded character = O.