Three-Lettered Race

Forlorn one leaves back of dais.

SIC: That's what he said when the crook finally left? No good!

Tweak: can I leave it at the crook finally left?

BYE: Ball past you and the keeper
DRY: Boring like Van Gogh is boring
ENT: Wooden? Tolkein?!
GOB: Setter leaves desert to spit
RED: Incredible colour
SPY: Maybe bond with agile loser

Jessica Mauboy trims down for Gay Pride.

Lyricist refines air.

Essex reportedly left the Native Americans in debt.

IOU: Essex reportedly left the Native Americans in debt.

TOO: Supper with eggs at the same time!

Forlorn one leaves dais, backing out
Jessica Mauboy trims down for Gay Pride
Lyricist refines air

PLY: Exercise: From the start, subtract 5/8X

SAD: Forlorn one leaves dais, backing out
JOY: Jessica Mauboy trims down for Gay Pride
IRA: Lyricist refines air

Maths purists might object to the deliberate capital X,which was the deception. Alternatively:
PLY: Exercise: From the start,subtract 5/8X(the remainder)

SIC: That's what he said when the crook finally left? No good!
IOU: Essex reportedly cancelled the Native Americans' debt.
PLY: Exercise: From the start, subtract 5/8x
ARK: Shipwreck at crowcall.

I'm a maths purist, but I don't object to the capital X because I don't understand the clue!

SHY: timid throw

PAT: convenient cash

HIT: best-selling sock

RM Definition or wordplay? Ply your trade etc. It's in the thesaurus. Take the first 5 letters from multiply. I thought that was pretty clever. Should I leave (the remainder) in for extra help and/or deception?

BTW I like your offerings, esp the Van Gogh one.

I like it Criseyde. And I think "Exercise: subtract 5/8x" is good enough - without the "from the start"

cay: sounds like a guide for the island

mum: The emu man has the word!

Mauve, thanks for the feedback. So it isn't mandatory to indicate exactly what's deleted? The short version is much punchier but I thought it might be going too far. I can always give you the credit .. if DA rejects it. :)

Like your double defs.

Flu: we hear the bird travelled with a virus

I have a question about the clue that inspired this challenge - COS: Island in Mediterranean often associated with sin (3).

What are the two parts of the clue? I can see the definition, but the rest of the clue doesn't stand alone, it's missing an object. Unless, of course, the object is the definition part of the clue, which can't be right.

Stig

Thanks, Criseyde, I like it. I agree with Mauve that the shorter version is better (though obviously too hard for me!)

It's trigonometry. sin is an abbreviation for sine, cos is an abbreviation for cosine.

Hex: Don't start the unknown spell

Aim: Am I changing direction?

@RM "It's trigonometry". sin/sine, cos/cosine are functions, and therefore nouns. "often associated with sin" doesn't lead to a noun, it leads to an adjective. As I said in the previous post, the secondary part of the clue lacks an object.

Stig

I like your 'shy' Mauve!

JUS: Simply reduce sauce
AWL: Speaker’s nothing but a boring tool

MSO: Drum solo in big band
GAM: (down clue) Group of whales read Cosmo upside-down

DA, forgive the Cosmo borrow - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Or am I suffering from cryptomnesia?

@Stig, I don't agree.

cos is often associated with sin
therefore
"often associated with sin" = cos

FLY: Escape from Louis, perhaps

Tidy:

FLY: Escape Louis, perhaps

@Em: According to Mortein, his name is spelled "Louie"

@RM It's not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of language. "often associated with sin" doesn't = cos, just as "running on a track" doesn't = train and "in a kitchen" doesn't = oven.

This clue seems employ the ultimate double-duty, where you need to plug in the answer in order to make sense of the whole thing.

Stig

GUN: Expert on spineless penguins

Thanks RM! Third time's a charm - yet another cliche, and yet another tidy:

FLY: Escape Louie, perhaps

CUT: Snip edge of cuticle

PIP: Knight's associate on playing card

@Stig, I still disagree. I also disagree on what double-duty means. Here's DA's Farifax crossword last weekend:

1A: Momentary lead, if in close match (9)

which is M IF IN in SEAL = SEMIFINAL, i.e. "in" is both indicator and fodder - double duty.

P.S.

Found in kitchen on about May 8th (4)

Not for the first time, we may have to agree to disagree. I see your point, but the wit occludes the nicety. It's like saying:

Euro nation often associated with Xmas = turkey (not as droll, but the same quip by association)

As for the reduction rule Criseyde, it's a ticklish topic. Unless (elegantly) stated, a reduction should be one letter only, in the position suggested.

And please provide you sols with clues. Some neat stuff, with brevity usually the true eye-catcher.

IMP: Spirit stored at 145psi?

PS and let's keep that semifinal clue off the table, as much as I appreciate the contribution, only because it arguably lacks a container marker.

Besides, I'd rather this forum celebrate invention rather than contention. Let's have some fun here.

@DA: That wasn't intended as an entry, but as an example of double duty for my off topic discussion with Stig. I'm not sure who would have the nerve to enter one of your clues into your competition, but it's not me!

@DA2 No, wit doesn't excuse poor cluing. Skilful compilers can write witty clues without ignoring fundamental principles of language.
@RM It's the same double-duty - the secondary part of the clue makes no sense with an object that the definition provides.
@RM What's the answer to your clue? "culinary" is too long, and it's the only adjective I can think of that could mean "in the kitchen".

Stig

@RM Sorry, "with" should read "without"

Stig

@RM/Stig...I am guessing:

Found in kitchen on about May 8th (4) = MUMS

@Stig: Skilful compilers can write whatever amuses their readers and themselves. They're clues, not definitions.

cos *is* often associated with sin, and my oven *is* found in the kitchen. I find those sufficient statements of equivalence for the purpose of a crossword clue. Maybe you and Bill Clinton should have a chat?

@RobT: It was a direct response to Stig Helson at 12:16PM. He suggested the word and the definition.

Would it help if the clue said May 8th 1945?

@RM. No worries.

Is this a Ximenean spat...? If so, "no good will come of it..."

@RobT: It seems to be. I'm quitting now before DA kicks us out.

Not sure which one of these makes more sense (wish it could be ‘printer out of black ink’):
JET: Black ink taken out of printer
JET: Colour printer out of ink?

@RM: I am going over to quidnunc where the true butt-inskis live.

Can ‘tip’ be used as a homophone indicator?

URN: Collect tip-jar

NIX: Duck back in ten?

TIN: Container for outer skin

@RM "They're clues, not definitions" Oh, right, so how do you work out the answers? How do you know what's amusing the compiler? No definition: not a cryptic clue.

"I find those sufficient statements of equivalence for the purpose of a crossword clue".

Sorry, an adequate definition is the least a solver should expect. It can be fanciful, indirect, or even a little fuzzy, but at all times equivalent in language to the answer.

Stig

Stig, are you related to Blakey from On The Buses? There's something there.

Thanks Stig. Your point has been made.

Now getting back to the game - here's one from the Times:

CAW: Control action wide on one flank, as rook does

PAL: Friend of Analogue Television

Hmmm....here's a couple of dodgy homophones-

ELS: Golfer who sounds like he is just starting out?

DUO: Couple heard to double up on debt

And the next two came to mind when reading through this thread. They are not great clues but just seemed to fit together...

PED: Even spread of soil

ANT: A new model; he's a six-footer

USA: Uncle Sam's home every other Tuesday

... or even in Russia!

...but he wouldn't want to "outstay" his welcome

DOB: Roughly tell one's age?

COL: He dropped in and made a pass

EGO: I say nothing

(From the UK archives)

SOS: Regularly espouse alarm

FIB: FBI mix-up led to deception
CAT: Indelicate creature!

Exc. mark because I am a dog person. If you're a cat person, replace it with a question mark. And take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror ;)

Final three from me:

MSO: Drum soloist features in big band
CUT: Snip end of cuticle
CAT: Indelicate creature!

GAS: Unreal number

AWE: Wonder-Woman deposes legend in time

OAR: Paddleboard material

(DA- not sure if that last one flirts with your Hookworm Syndrome?)

ADD: Total inability to concentrate
TIC: Odd twitch!
JOB: Workbook

LOX: Sixty holding love-in for cured salmon
CUE: Herald clue left out
BAR: Tavern ban
HOB: Stove Losotho-born, partially
HIT: Smack killing
ROB: Astro Boy hides loot

Copy original?
She cooks spring rolls!
Oomph? Au contraire!

WAS: Used to be dishwasher content

ORD: River or dam opening

NAG: Selena Gomez's mid-section complaint

Oops, mine are for APE, POH and ZIP.

LEO: Sign the French order

KEY: Cardinal in a Beehive?

EYE: Look both ways

EWE: sounds like you but either way it's us.

EWE was me.

COB: The inner male?

AXE: guitar break

ETA: letter's due?

TEW: beat wetback.

WAG: Miss he plays up for?

Three-letterers make me go a little mad for &lits

TEN: It leads to eleven next!
HEN: It goes berserk when headless!
GOD: St Bernard rose to meet Him!
EON: Time no man lasts!
EGG: Key part of getting preggers!?

My 3 for submission:

IMP: Spirit stored at 145psi?
PIP: Knight's associate on playing card
GUN: Expert on spineless penguins

OVA: finished your eggs?

NAG: Middle manager is a workhorse

CAY: sounds like a guide for the island
MUM: The emu man has the word!
NAG: Middle manager is a workhorse
OVA: Finished your eggs?
HEX: Don't start the unknown spell
AIM: Am I changing direction?
FLU: We hear the bird travelled with a virus
KEA: Inside joke about a bird

Here are my three, I think:

JUS: Simply reduce sauce
NIX: Duck back in ten?
SOS: Regularly espouse alarm

TOE: Noisily pull appendage

(titter)

GOD: Cupid's bitch is back

A topical one...

SOB: We cry: "Jobs lost, no justice!"

DAW: Hunk flipping bird

Thanks for those cluers who have already filed their best trios - as that's part of this Storm's challenge, a spot of self-culling.

My three then:

SOB: We cry: "Jobs lost, no justice!"
NAG: Middle manager is a workhorse
AIM: Am I changing direction?

Here's my quarter-dozen.

HEN: It goes berserk when headless!
EGG: Key part of getting preggers!
TEN: It leads to eleven next!

My triptych:

DAW: Hunk flipping bird
GOD: Cupid's bitch is back
ROB: Astro Boy hides loot

ELS: Golfer sounds like he is just starting out?

GAS: Unreal number

COL: Guy cut in and made a pass

A last minute change-

ELS: Golfer sounds like he is just starting out?

GAS: Unreal number

LOG: Record "Get Smart" without Ninety-Nine?

JOY: Jessica Mauboy trims down for Gay Pride
COB: The "inner male"
AXE: guitar break

My 3 (apologies for being late, French time and all)

KEY: Cardinal in a Beehive?

EYE: Look left and right

FAD: It comes and goes, pretty much

Some great ideas right across this storm, and with the 3 clue quota many have had to leave quality on the cutting-room floor. Smart move to impose the limit DA!

At the death I was trying to come up with a Get Smart trilogy, but couldn't quite make it stick. Was going to add the following but thought MAX=TOP might be a bit obscure...

TIC: Problem for Control as Max and Ninety-Nine blow operation

Also, it's a pity "Max" magazine never took off, otherwise Max and Ninety-Nine would have been magic :)

Missssed by that much, eh SK?

Yeah, I had to do the three-clue quota to streamline voting - mine AND yours. Let me post my pick on the w/end, and then feel free (all players) to pick your own pick for Popular Choice.

Look for the results late Saturday - or Sumday AM. Thanks for such a zestful Storm,