Clues of Repute
Over the month of Jan I’m aiming to build an elongated Hall of Fame. All entries are those cryptic clues I’ve come across in my 20 years of obsessive crossword solving - the best of the world’s brain-busters.
Inclusion may boil down to elegance, brevity, bravura or sheer novelty. Rather than supply the answers side-by-side, I’ll give you a few days Solving Time (as well as a smatter of sample letters) to see if you can’t match wits with the all-star compilers.
Coz that’s the thing. By and large I’m unable to afford each clue the due credit. Listing my pet clues over the years I’ve failed to tag each specimen with the compiler responsible. Mea culpa, even moreso as a remote colleague. But fair to say most hail from UK papers, with the occasional colonist - here and US - thrown in.
Second, in future incarnations, I’ll vow to credit the appropriate inventor.
Come Feb, once I return from a seaside sabbatical, I’ll look to introduce a cryptic clue competition, as well as other verbal and interactive puzzle recipes, and general lingual posts in league with an offbeat twist of travel. Till then, enjoy the Hall of Fame:
1. Green people put out green bins (9) B _ _ _ N _ _ _ S
2. Row of houses (8) _ O _ E _ _ _ _
3. Tenor Domingo’s first break (5) _ _ _ _ T
4. Sound of hooter wrapping up semifinal (5) _ _ I _ _
5. Do time and make light of it (6) _ E _ C _ _
6. Light planes near a jet flying north (8,7) _ A _ A _ _ _ _ / _ A _ T _ _ _
7. Remaining stock still? (6) U _ _ _ L _
8. Rugby posts create problem, given field size? (7) _ _ C _ A _ _
[Answers + More COR Friday]