Clue-Crafting Open

Does DH get a free entry with 27-across from today's SMH??!!

Crosswords have a history of doing such weird things, Anthony.

For next week's Wordplay column, I happen to mention shiitake mushrooms, and what was awaiting at 16-Down in yesterday's Times? No, it wasn't KOHLRABI.

SKIRL - Scream downhill on both hands!

BALDACHIN - Ornate covering requires less stubble by ear?

QUONDAM - Former status group not initially an obstruction.

IRENIC - Anger never is conducive to start fostering peace.

Here's hoping our English judge is au fait with our Aussie icons:

VELLEITY: Hope Vanity Fair drops an expo about the body.

BOGART: Humphrey Bear got cute pants?

Nepenthe: One pen, the pens that wipe memory

BALDACHIN: Alec, now internalises finite pain under canopy.

Bogart: Rick Fencraft

OCHE: Neither yellow earth nor dart line....

MYRMIDON - Loyal soldiers continued to mutter vociferously.

DUENDE - Expected awful end from demon.

PARAPH: Father, Lauren, Noel finish with a flourish.

DUENDE:

Demon gives this to the Devil around death.

BOGART - Spooner supporting Simpson soak up spotlight.

JEJUNE – explaining things in over-simplified terms; childish; dull; lacking substance

BALDACHIN: Cruelly nab a child for protective cover.

Sorry, scrub JEJUNE there, I'm still working on it. BALDACHIN stays though.

Oche: Throw line is brown ... no, red.

Virga: Free Viagra ! Not a hint of drizzle.

IRENIC: 'Fire'n'Ice' holds the key to peace.

Signature flourish beyond base measure?

sorry, that was for PARAPH above

WELTANSCHAUUNG - Achtung! Lawn use improper in my opinion.

WELTANSHAUUNG: IMHO,a sore article hangs about "W".

WELTANSCHAUUNG: Unique view throws most of Newcastle (a uni) in suspense?

PARAPH: Old man hit hotel with a flourish

BOGART:As an extra, go back inside and act tough.

JEJUNE: Cup winner sucks in a joint but stays straight.

VELLEITY: Weak will to change the french levity.

The first one is southern hemisphere-specific:

Jejune: It's dull in France. I'm at the start of winter.

Duende: Dude swallowed a measure of spirit.

Zaftig: From last to first, gift assortment is full-bodied.

This one needs some work but:

SUSURRUS: Half-certain left out of slur, repeated back whispering

PHERNUDGE: Barge-arse catches her knight cheat at marbles.

Some dandy nominees already - well done. Just remember: by late Thurs we need to shortlist our own stuff down to the 3 Best Clues each, just to be fair to our mystery magistrate.

JEJUNE: At the Bastille, maybe, I get 30 days for being facile

SUSURRUS: Murmurring shame-facedly, we both admit you are right.

SKIRL: Risk lawful pipe din
(or)
Piped in the Highland sound

USUFRUCT - Suffer with iron deficiency and bad cut after you are read legal right.

Slight modification (Belgian jokes are always good value):

Jejune: It's dull in Brussels. I'm at the start of winter.

CHATOYANT: Catch a toy ant-farm changing colours.

Chatoyant: Talk about kaleidoscope, say, an optically variable.

MYRMIDON: Dandy stuck in Rimmon Rock adherent

USUFRUCT: Apparently you cut furs poorly, right?

Seigniorage: Returned soldier in old age creates monetary gap

BOGART: Gobsmacked, Garfunkel was looking at Ingrid

MYRMIDON: One at Achilles' heel, or my mind's confused
[[ps A was never in that horse!!]]

Irenic: Peaceful ? Characteristically, the opposite - meaning drugs for nothing.

OCHE: Pseudo Echo on the pub floor.

For some reason, this one seems to have hit the filter bin:

Susurrus: ... whispers "America! America!" (backrolls) "America!"

Curious, Mr X. One word of America in recession, and cyber-spooks gather the missive. Your X status may soon be unmasked! Meanwhile:

IRENIC - Calming hearts of flirts, mens' pick

NEPENTHE:

Drug-bearing penthouse - hideous.

ZAFTIG - Plump knight out of vim - caught behind

Late to the party...some great ideas already out there (love the Pseudo Echo, Boniface. Dammit)

JEJUNE: In Paris, I twice ran over a pedestrian

IRENIC: "Fire and Ice" fade-out was serene

SUSURRUS: Whispering, the three of us assembled around Rolls Royce

SPURTLE: Odds on the first military submarine losing time, getting the wooden spoon?

or

Odds on turtle losing headstart, getting the wooden spoon?

Welcome SK, and agreed. Some pearlers in-house already. Pedestrian, BTW, is a great sneaky definition for JEJUNE.

ZAFTIG: Plump behind pinched by old clown

[Not one for a UK judge.] So perhaps:

ZAFTIG: Plump behind disrupts drive out north

CHATOYANT: Sing about a fool- "Like a Chameleon"

WELTANSCHAUUNG: Breaking gun laws, each nut displays inner beliefs

I was working an idea for seigniorage until I saw Mr X beat me too it (and did a better job). Double dammit. So here's another angle-

SEIGNIORAGE: Ego is in tatters, anger over money-maker's margin

SEIGNIORAGE: Coining profit from Georges, ain't I -- no end of profit!
[Treasure Island reference .. "Take the Georges, Pew ..."]

Some ideas for the taking...

OCHE - Oche is contained in lost of words such as biochemistry, brooches, ricochet and crochet.
DUENDE - Duende hides END inside DUE.
SKIRL - Skirl could be made into a clue using the first letters of the words, starting with Scottish kilts.
SEIGNIORAGE - Seigniorgae can be made into an anagram with the fodder being, 'Easier Going' or 'Going Easier'.

HAFIZ: Half is spoken but all is memorised by Koran scholar.

MYRMIDON: Change my mind, or be a mindless follower?

VIRGA: To begin with, very insignificant rains grabbed attention!

Let's see, who's feeling left out and insulted...?

CONTUMELY = Crazy maniac overwhelmed by stunning insult

USUFRUCT: Property rights even buy slum for our city

AMPSTER = Cockney pet heard to wet himself at the circus, even though he knew better.

Yes, it could be shorter, but with such an obscure term, I thought 'greater definition' was kinder...

CONTUMELY: High arrogance in fairground nut.

SPURTLE: Let off after egg on spoon?

AMPSTER: Con tampers!

CONTUMELY- Scorn only cut me.

IRENIC- Incinerate cyanate alloy to help allay?
[Yeah. Worst set ever.]

PHERNUDGE- Marble cheat measures neutral whilst meddling run inside edge.

Taking a note from Alec Ihm...

SKIRL- Leading Scottish kilts intone really loudly.

SEIGNIORAGE: Evenly skewing, nail our jangled coin price.

SEIGNIORAGE: Egg roe is in a peppermint cream?

SKIRL: Scream instructions for slalom course?

Some fine-tuning that (hopefully) improves the surface-

SEIGNIORAGE: Egg (roe) is in a peppermint cream?

SKIRL: Yell instructions for slalom course?

USUFRUCT: Generous property rights even buy slum for our city

CHATOYANT: Song about a doll- "Like a Chameleon"

Question- Come sundown tomorrow, when everyone selects their 3, will DA intervene at that point with a timely "you must be joking, I reckon your clue for X is much better"? I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I'm often surprised that some of the things I submit get a podium finish, while other ideas I'm proud of end up on the cutting room floor. So maybe we should each put up a preliminary list of our 3 faves (with reasons) for the group to hurl tomatoes or brickbats at?

BOGART: Outrage Greta Garbo, cast hog the limelight

CONTUMELY: Scorn cult money suspect

QUONDAM: Former Queen of Crime’s “N or M” edited. Cut mire scene for cover setter.

Good idea, SK. What say we put forward our top 5 or 6 clues - by Thurs sundown - and invite dabblers to conduct a quick straw poll across the Friday?

Boniface, been dwelling on your sly & sexy use of 'hideous' [dazzling stuff] and thought you could improve the clue thus:

Drug one, heading off to penthouse - hideous.

Just a thought, as bearings [N? SW? SE? W?] is a little too vague in light of a generic definition. And this redraft evokes a more sinister felony too, which IS hideous.

Of course, wink-wink, all this good work may end up on the judge's 'cutting room floor'.

NEPENTHE: Tackle the Nepean without a drink to forget.

Hi DA

Agreed - it was of course the other Penthouse that I was originally trying to work into the mix. And just a further refinement:

Drug one topped by penthouse - hideous.

OCHE: Wherein to check pub thrower's limit.
[or]
Bristow's bar in pub, so cheers!
[or]
[somethng could be done with Mr Rochester's heart?]

Ampster: Villain's henchman is quietly in the grasp of a wicked master.

AMPSTER: Sly sideshow tramps terrible admission.

QUONDAM: First quarrel for Batman duo is water under the bridge

Has anyone had a go at this one yet?

KAROSHI: Sees out coach, risk annihilation due to pressure

DUENDE: Denude frantic evil spirit.

Karoshi: Deadly workload jumps shark, I need oxygen.

skirl: The sound of bagpipes, kilts, hurling, not locking in the heart of Inverness.

A bit of a tweak for:
Karoshi: Deadly workload jumps shark, I inhale oxygen.

KAROSHI: Hara-kiri, so air gone - stressful death!

PHERNUDGE:
Stranger quietly hungered for shoot-off

Or if you can use copper = p then?

Upset copper hungered for shoot-off

HAFIZ: Koran master of mixed faith,not with quiz finalist.

Hafiz: Scholar centred through a fizzy cola.

Also late in, but here are a few "hopefuls" (especially since I'm a clue newby!):

Skirl: Famous Aussie model follows short skirt with bagpipe rendition (5)

Ampster: A real carnival decoy this headless rodent embedded with a person's head (7)

Quondam: Was, maybe still is, barrage in the River Quon (7)

Bogart: Play the tough guy? No, sensitive enough to make a stuck 4x4 appear beautiful! (6)

QUONDAM: Moaned about cute Quin in the past.

JEJUNE: "I tell you simply",explained Jesus. Just near the original pair.

PARAPH: The Sun left paragraph for personal embellishment.

DUENDE: Outstanding lair finishing early in flamenco tradition

A cover sense for BOGART that I'm not sure the UK marker will get...

BOGART - Acting legend of billabong drawings

Velleity: Rush to dump "The OC" for the French whim

VIRGA: Less precipitate to drag rival in backwards?

ZAFTIG: Seductively turned heads...Zoe's ample figure, tucked into g-string

I will be caught up for most of the next 24 hours so I will post my "bids" now. Please feel free to comment, critique, and suggest if you think otherwise (although I ask that people refrain from using terms like "You're a moron...that's absolute rubbish").

My top 3 (and why I sort of like them)-

JEJUNE: In Paris, I twice ran over a pedestrian

(French theme throughout, and the sneaky def for surface)

SEIGNIORAGE: Egg (roe) is in a peppermint cream?

(I really liked "mint cream" as a sneaky def, much less clumsy than "the margin between the cost of metals and the face value of coinage", and it gels nicely with "pepper" as a signpost)

USUFRUCT: Generous property rights with an alternate out; slum for our city

(Modified, still trying to get optimal surface. Not sure if I succeeded)

The others I would throw in-

CHATOYANT: Song about a model- "Like a Chameleon"

(Couldn't get the old song out of my head)

WELTANSCHAUUNG: Breaking gun laws, each nut displays inner beliefs

ZAFTIG: Seductively turned heads...Zoe's ample figure, tucked into g-string

There you go. Let me know if you think I'm bonkers. I will try to take it well. And I hope to get near a computer late tomorrow arvo so I can return the favour. Thanks.

PARAPH: Paraphrasing cleft in Twain signature?

You're right about JEJUNE, SK - tres elegant. While that 'peppermint cream' finale is so diabolical it has to be included.

I'd go for the WELT... anag over CHATOYANT, which is cute, though the surface sense is not as silken as you'd want.

Best part about all this? I'm in the same canoe as you. Who knows which way An Ax will fall!

Hi SK (el) et al

I have some comments on SK's list which I hope will help. Feel free to bash me around too, one and all.

JEJUNE: In Paris, I twice ran over a pedestrian

(French theme throughout, and the sneaky def for surface)

BON says: Yep, good clue, I agree with DA on the good surface reading there. Better than mine.

SEIGNIORAGE: Egg (roe) is in a peppermint cream?

(I really liked "mint cream" as a sneaky def, much less clumsy than "the margin between the cost of metals and the face value of coinage", and it gels nicely with "pepper" as a signpost)

BON says: OK, but I'm not mad on full anagrams unless they're really good. The "peppermint cream" combo works very nicely though. If there's some way to fix up the front half, this will be a cracker!

USUFRUCT: Generous property rights with an alternate out; slum for our city

(Modified, still trying to get optimal surface. Not sure if I succeeded)

BON says: I think your original clueing read better, but that might just be me. How about:

Right to use or alternatively, buy slum for our city

The others I would throw in-

CHATOYANT: Song about a model- "Like a Chameleon"

(Couldn't get the old song out of my head)

BON says: Yes, I also toyed awhile with the CH(A TOY) ANT nesting. I struggled to find close synonyms for chant that worked though (I think mantra was the closest), which I think needs to happen given that CHATOYANT is so obscure. Others may have a different view on what's OK here.

WELTANSCHAUUNG: Breaking gun laws, each nut displays inner beliefs

BON says: Yep, that's a good one, one where the full anagram is justified IMHO, and should probably be in your top 3. As a minor point, maybe consider tweaking the end, eg:

Breaking gun laws, each nut shows personal outlook on life

ZAFTIG: Seductively turned heads...Zoe's ample figure, tucked into g-string

BON says: As for full anagrams, I'm not a major fan of codes. But there's probably some latitude here given the toughness of the fodder. Maybe swap awesome for ample... though beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Taking Boniface's suggestion, may I humbly propose 'One egg rose in a peppermint cream'...or I guess, if it's around Easter, it could be 'One rose egg' if you like :)

Here's my lot:

OCHE: Pseudo Echo on the pub floor.

NEPENTHE: Drug one topped by penthouse - hideous.

DUENDE: Dundee Scotch - a wicked spirit!

BALDACHIN: Roughly nab a child for protective cover.

CONTUMELY: Insolence in fairground nut.

HAFIZ: Half is recited by know-all Koranic scholar.

Oh, and I don't think you can use 'cracker' to refer to cream biscuits, only dry savouries.

SK, I think Boniface is right about the chant/song thing. As one who has written both chants and songs, let me vouch that they are *far* from being the same though I have hit their supposed similarity frequently... Chants are more akin to ancient rap/hip-hop style since there's a lot of rhythmical (often repeated) wordage to a single tone (ie. fit music to the words) whereas songs do the reverse: fit the words to a melody (though there is the usual tweaking of the melody if you can't make it quite work!). Having said all that, I'd guess that most dictionaries will list them as at least potential synonyms... "Mantra" or even "slogan" or "catch phrase" might be accurate though perhaps more obscure to ordinary folk who aren't into this music stuff...

As for the Seigniorage anagram fodder, why not substitute "George" for "Egg (roe)"... same letters but also hints at possible coinage since King George was the previous monarch who obviously appeared on such (but maybe that's also a bit obscure, too???).

Here's my five. I'd be grateful for any feedback, negative included (don't want to disgrace myself)

Velleity:
Wish Aussie beauty lived in Victorian city (but not the capital)

Contumely:
Barb's a fashion nut in pretty clothing

Nepenthe:
A calming agent penned the novel without doing preface.

Skirl:
Donning a short kilt, lad begins to play the bagpipes

Duende:
Urban chap suppresses an extremely elfin spirit

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, everyone. In summary-

- I will stick with JEJUNE

- Not sure what to do about SEIGNIORAGE. The reason I went for a straight anagram, Bon, is that the back end of the clue is devious enough and the word itself is obscure, so I thought if I added a complex anagram the whole clue may get the thumbs down for being too tortured. But agree that "One rose egg..." flows much better. Or perhaps, with help from Eld, "George I, as in peppermint cream?" Not sure. DA, could I ask you to adjudicate, and pick the fodder that you think works best?

- I will go with WELTetc for my third.

Thanks.

ps. re ZAFTIG, the lovely Zoe needs to be "ample" to provide the def. And point taken on chant/song...clearly I'm not a singer.

Will come back later on thoughts for others' entries.

Boniface: my feedback, as requested...

OCHE: Pseudo Echo on the pub floor.
Great - loved it

NEPENTHE: Drug one topped by penthouse - hideous.
Beautiful, although "topped" weakens the surface meaning imo. How can you get topped by a penthouse? Loved use of hideous.

DUENDE: Dundee Scotch - a wicked spirit!
Great - loved it

BALDACHIN: Roughly nab a child for protective cover.
Anagram fits beautifully into the surface meaning but I reckon roughly as a pointer could be improved. maybe Nab a child involved in protective cover, or "unsettled in" or "running amok in"

CONTUMELY: Insolence in fairground nut.
Loved the veiled joining of fair and ground - beautiful - surface meaning works, but not effortlessly

HAFIZ: Half is recited by know-all Koranic scholar.
Clever but relatively easy, and I don't think you need the refining "know-all" at all, given that it's not a difficult clue.

Myrmidon: Greek battler on my right field position

Hope I haven't missed any letters:

Weltanschauung: In my opinion, Sulu, we can't hang around.

Contumely: Outfit changed direction and left you with a snarky line.

Thanks for that valuable feedback, Mauve

With my NEPENTHE clue, I think I'll go back to DA's tweak which was:

NEPENTHE: Drug one, heading off to penthouse - hideous.

Here are some comments on yours:

Velleity:
Wish Aussie beauty lived in Victorian city (but not the capital)

BON says: My clue for this was based on the nested ELLE also, and I had a bit of a struggle clueing the VITY component. I considered velocity (as did Mr X), veracity, virility etc and ended up basing it on Vanity Fair. In your case, clueing V for Victorian might be a bit of a stretch for a Pommie judge and the C deletion is a bit clunky vis-a-vis the surface reading.
Oh, just had a thought - can you work virginity into it?

Contumely:
Barb's a fashion nut in pretty clothing

BON says: IMHO, 'Barb's' is a bit of a leap from CONTUMELY. I think there needs to be an element of contempt conveyed in the straight component but not sure how you do this without wrecking the surface reading...
A pedant might be critical of 'a' as a connector here which really only contributes to the surface reading.
Good use of the CO(NTU)MELY nesting.

Nepenthe:
A calming agent penned the novel without doing preface.

OK - as a minor change to the surface reading, perhaps 'drafting' for 'doing'? If you want to trim the clue, you could also consider dropping 'A calming'.

Skirl:
Donning a short kilt, lad begins to play the bagpipes

BON says: Not sure whether a Scot would agree 100% that a kilt equates to a skirt (that's how I'm reading it), but it's good enough for me and the surface reading is fine.

Duende:
Urban chap suppresses an extremely elfin spirit

BON says: I see that Mr X's rendering of DUENDE is along very similar lines, ie "Dude swallowed a measure of spirit" and must confess that IMHO, his has a better surface reading.

A bit shy of giving comments as the submitted short lists are all so good… here goes in order of appearance:

SK – a great assembly! I agree with the other comments above – I think your JEJUNE and WELTANSCHAUUNG are great, and I think your comments about the surface sense in SEIGNIORAGE helps an otherwise very difficult clue (I don’t think I would have gotten it cold). Seeing ‘sage’ in there, and on a herb theme, perhaps ‘I ignore sage-’?

Boniface – loved OCHE and DUENDE followed by CONTUMELY and BALDACHIN, but the others are good too... a tough choice. I agree with Mauve that while use of ‘penthouse-hideous’ is brilliant, not sure about the overall effect.

Mauve – also a great list, I enjoyed your NEPTHENE and DUENDE, and like your use of Barb in CONTUMELY, but I think the word play needs tightening as does the ‘in’ do the job for ‘clothing’ – or have I missed something? VELLEITY is also a good one, but is ‘Aussie beauty’ too vague – maybe Aussie model?

I think these are my better ones, but after reading above, not so sure!

PARAPH: Signature flourish beyond base measure?
BOGART: Outrage Greta Garbo, cast hog the limelight
VIRGA: Less precipitate to drag rival in backwards?
CONTUMELY: Scorn cult money suspect
QUONDAM: Former Queen of Crime’s “N or M” edited. Cut mire scene for cover setter.

Yes it is a laboured one, but always wondered why ‘n or m’ not ‘m or n’… so thought I’d work it into the clue…

Baldachin: Coverage of blatant China conflict.

Phernudge: Overstep the mark and pop her (nudge, nudge) a bit.

Boniface: Muchas gracias - your suggestions enhance my duende and they contributed to my rewrites below.

Sam: Thanks for the feedback, which also influenced my rewrites below. I too was in two minds about how offering suggestions might be taken, but the favour has returned in spades so go for it, I say.

Velleity:
Wish Aussie beauty lived in Victorian city (not the capital)

......I originally had “Aussie model” Sam, but that YELLS Elle, so I decided to generalise it. BON: I needed “Victorian” for both city and capital so I takes me chances with the Pom (if it makes my top 3)

Contumely:
Barb: fashion nut in pretty outfit

......addressing the “a” problem BON (yes, surface meaning does take a hit but it's purer) and also addressing the clothing problem Sam. Also I like the mischievous misdirection of outfit, which suggests an anagram. BON: imo “barb” does suggest contempt so I’m happy with the def.

Nepenthe:
Calming agent penned the novel without drafting preface.

......BON: both suggestions taken - “drafting” was the word I wanted to find but didn’t - ta muchly!

Skirl:
Donning a short kilt, lad begins to play the bagpipes

......leaving as is. I’m Scottish (kinda) and a kilt is a skirt afaic! I also like the seamless “begins to play”

Duende:
Homeboy suppresses extremely elfin spirit

......Changed to homeboy because it suggests non-elfin, which enhances the surface meaning, and “elfin spirit” manages to avoid the loose “a” before spirit that was required in Mr X’s clue.

Sam: I’m away all day, so I’ll have a look at yours later today.

whoops, loose "of" before spirit, I meant.

PS: Mr X - love your Baldachin - sublime surface meaning

Brilliant Baldachin, X. Suggestion- "Detailed coverage..." could add nicely to the surface and makes the defintion less broad. But either way it's a gem.

Paraph: Embellishment of the ordinary by an acid test.

ps. With the help of everyone's constructive input, I've been trying to make my SEIGNIORAGE clue work, and admit it's not quite there. Can't seem to get over the line with a straight anagram and a decent surface, so I've taken Bon's approach. DA, let me know if you think it is too convoluted-

SEIGNIORAGE: I go green as one peppermint cream

An almost &lit:

Spurtle: Finally, (2-Across) help you stir hot oatmeal porride.

Quondam: Historical queen blew up a mound.

SKIRL - Drunken risk near learner driver causes a shriek (5)

IRENIC - Beheading: seductive and pacific (6) [via (S)IRENIC]

BOGART - Hogwarts Centre is found near a marsh (6)

Some quick votes-

Boniface- Loved your Pseudo Echo (but will a Brit judge get it?), hideous drug, nabbed kid and Scotch.

Mauve- vote for Velleity, Contumely (I really liked "barb" as a def) and your mini-skirted Celt.

Sam- On a quick read, your Bogart is the pick, I think. Nice anagram combo. Haven't had a chance to delve into your others yet...will come back.

ps. My ABSOLUTE last attempt to torture one of mine into something that flows...and I've gone back to the full anagram idea-

SEIGNIORAGE: For ages, I ignore peppermint cream

DA, I will leave it up to you to select any of my fodder variations, or if you think none are worthy then I can live with that. Move on...it's over, let go...

SK, I found something which might work for you:

Georgianise peppermint cream?

Last one!

Usufruct: Turn, surf, cut, rip = product rights.

Now to select a short list. The tricky thing is to differentiate those I enjoyed making from those that solvers might prefer.

The 2 that that gave me the most pleasure in construction were:

Spurtle: Finally, (2-Across) help you stir hot oatmeal porridge.
Weltanschauung: "In my opinion, Sulu, we can't hang around."

The first for its almost &lit unity and the second for the joy of wrangling an outrageous word into what sounds like a believable Star Trek quote.

Next I'll look at my creations from a solver's view point.

For neatness & brevity in construction I'll propose:

Hafiz: Scholar centred through a fizzy cola.
Baldachin: Coverage of blatant China conflict.

Finally, my favourite clue readings were:

Usufruct: Turn, surf, cut, rip = product rights.
Ampster: Villain's henchman is quietly in the grasp of a wicked master.

Honourable mentions to susurrus and nepenthe which had a nice rhythm to them and karoshi for letting me reference "jumping the shark".

I'm looking for a ruling, folks. I was playing around with an idea for NEPENTHE but wasn't sure about anagram/removal etiquette. I remember the issue coming up a little while ago, I think it was in a "Clues of Spring", where it was suggested that you need to separately "mix" the letters to be removed if they are out of order in the fodder...hence 2 anagram signposts in th eone clue. So my idea (assuming this to be gospel) was-

NEPENTHE: Died swimming out in the deep end, hammered after having a drink to forget

Is there a definitive cryptic gods' commandment, or is it one of those (numerous) grey areas?

OCHE: Locally, to throw from beyond this is indeed to cheat
[did someone say "180!"???]

SKIRL: The sound of Ben and Glen, the s-sound of the twist

Sam:

PARAPH: Signature flourish beyond base measure?
......Assuming para is beyond and ph base measure, as in basicity v. acidity. I like its rhythm, but the surface meaning eludes me


BOGART: Outrage Greta Garbo, cast hog the limelight
......Great. Outrage Greta for t is clever as is cast as an anagram pointer. And the newspaperish “Greta Garbo outrage! Cast hog the limelight!” works just as well.


VIRGA: Less precipitate to drag rival in backwards?
......Not sure on the def (it’s light rain, not less rain, isn’t it?) but well-disguised backward container


CONTUMELY: Scorn cult money suspect
......Lovely and tight. Slight stretch for surface meaning.


QUONDAM: Former Queen of Crime’s “N or M” edited. Cut mire scene for cover setter.
......Over 10 words I get reluctant coz there’s too much to play with. I don’t understand this one.

I’d give my votes to:

3. Bogart
2. Contumely
1. Paraph

wow this place has exploded over the summer! just as i come out of hibernation...and it looks like an exciting time to do so! here are my 3, hope they make the deadline

HAFIZ: Report has held back if he's a Koran buff.
NEPENTHE: Elixir recipe: ethene with traces of nitrogen and phosphorus.
MYRMIDON: Sidekick lost my nimrod.

Here's my final cut. Just because I liked them:
QUONDAM: Moaned about cute Quin in the past.
PARAPH: Father, Lauren, Noel, finish with a flourish.
NEPENTHE: Tackle the Nepean without a drink to forget. (Assuming one who is clever enough to compile crosswords can find a major highway on the internet)
HAFIZ: Islamic scholar of mixed faith, not with a quiz finalist.
AMPSTER: Sly tramp's terrible admission.

On the road all y'day, gang, as useful to this workshop as a motorbike ashtray. Not that I seem so needed, as the studio's been sparking with great lists and responses.

I'll form a new Post with the Master List [to send off at 2pm]. This will make our culling a little smoother too.

JD: Of those five, AMPSTER is wonderful, then PARAPH with a gap to NEPENTHE. (Wordplay is sound in HAFIZ - quiz finalist is excellent - but I'm less sold on the surface sense.)

More feedback in coming Post. Thanks for the idea-threshing.

Thanks Mauve and SK for your comments - I agree the surface sense isn't great with Paraph Mauve, I think I had in mind that a florid signature went beyond what was necessary - but like the way it read. I like your rewording of Bogart too - might use that if I may (exclamation marks don't always indicate &lits do they?). SK, not sure about the mixing/outing I didn't indicate it in my Bogart clue as I couldn't work it in with the surface meaning, but it makes sense in your Nepenthe.