Clue contest No 24
Sun 1 Dec 2024, set byFez
Introduction
As it's December, the word for the month is ... HUMBUG. Good luck!
Submit your best cryptic clue for
HUMBUG
Results
# | Setter | Clue | Pts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christmas crossword? Hard – I'm not certain to bother (6) H + UM + BUG | 5 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 21 | ||
| 2 | Sweet smell starts to become unpleasantly gamey (6) HUMBUG (sweet) = HUM (smell) + first letters (starts to) of [B]ecome [U]npleasantly [G]amey | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 18 | ||
| 3 | Regularly turned in grubby mouths? (6) &lit. Alternating letters of "grubby mouths" in reverse. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 13 | ||
| 4 | Hospital Units probed by doctor close to exposing quackery (6) Def: quackery; H (hospital) + U{MB}U (Units probed by doctor) + G (close to exposing) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | ||
| 5 | Stink over Bud Light introducing bit of gender nonsense? (6) HUM ('stink') + ('over'; down clue) BU[d] + G[ender]. Def= 'nonsense' | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 6 | Lose tip of digit, extremely unsurprising for cobblers (6) Def: Cobblers. HUMB (Thumb (digit) -t (losing tip)) + UG (ends of unsurprising) | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 7 | ||
| 7 | Sweet kid (6) DD: type of sweet / deceive | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 8 | Sweet description of cricket? (6) Double / cryptic definition: Sweet (mint humbug) and description of cricket (hum bug) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 9 | Sweet Spooner’s spoon! (6) Def: sweet. Spoonerism of spoon (in bed, ie bum hug) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 10 | Baloney made from portion of thumb, ughh! (6) baloney = def; made from = link word; portion of = hidden; tHUMB UGhh! | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 11 | Sweet embrace, pinching bum awkwardly (6) HUG (embrace) around (pinching) BUM* (awkwardly) - def: sweet | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | ||
| 12 | Rubbish H&M clothing you found with defect (6) H(U)M+BUG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 13 | Prat cycles into the bulk of enormous bull! (6) HU(BUM>MBU)G[e] | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 14 | A lot of huge bum cracks - sweet (6) *HUG(e)BUM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | ||
| 15 | Complaint after bad smell causes rot (6) BUG after HUM | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | ||
| 16 | Arse grip according to the reverend is crap (6) Spoonerism (according to the reverend) of Bum Hug (arse grip) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 17 | Half of Labour falls for disorder in comedy hoax (6) half of Labour>OUR falls for(replaced by) disorder>BUG in comedy=humour HUM(our>BUG) def hoax | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 18 | Mercurial pause but short and sweet (6) UM (pause) BU (but short) in HG (mercurial, of mercury). Def, sweet | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 19 | Sweet smell to be annoying (6) Def: sweet, HUM + BUG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Trick sucker? (6) DD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 21 | This segment of thumb. Ugly rubbish! (6) Def: rubbish. Hidden (tHUMB UGly) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Rubbish Henry possibly fly-tipped with hesitation! (6) H + BUG after UM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Hark! Unimpressed miser's 'Bah!': unseasonable grumbling's beginnings (6) Acrostic (beginnings); clue as definition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Scrooge's Christmas hitch: faceless, unpleasant ghoul just the beginnings (6) def: "Scrooge's Christmas" / (T)HUMB (hitch, faceless) + U(npleasant) G(houl) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 25 | First to hear uni doctor's getting the boot reportedly for fraud (6) Charade with (H) +(U)ni + MB (doctor) + ('s getting) homophone UGg (the boot reportedly) = fraud | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Moonshine my bruv's regularly in bed drinking (6) Def: moonshine = humbug; MBU (my bruv's regularly) (in - link word) drinking/container BED=HUG (to bed/to hug "to engage in sensuous caressing and touching") | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Scrooge’s saying “Drop pretence!” (6) Triple def | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Smell creepy crawly? Bah! (6) Smell (Hum) + Creepy Crawly (Bug). Bah humbug! | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Sing without words will irritate! It's hypocrisy! (6) HUM (sing without words) BUG (irritate)=Humbug Def=Hypocrisy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Scrooge finding fault after mostly suppressing humanity (6) BUG after HUM(anity) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Murmur with passion utter nonsense (6) HUM (murmur) + BUG (passion) = definition (utter nonsense) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 32 | Sweet embrace outside dance inside (6) H(rUMBa)UG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Trash person with Italian whip striking topless Latina model (6) Def: Trash; HUMAN + BUGATTI - ATINA T | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |