Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

A message for everyone who has been baffled by this clue from two weeks ago.

The clue, as printed, read:

17a Rebellion? Show hesitation, deposing leading pair (4)

The answer, as published in The Times on Saturday 7 March, was TINY. This agrees with the general consensus on here (MUTINY without its first two letters), but still lacks a definition.

I've now found out (from a very reliable source) that the clue should have read:

"Small-scale rebellion, deposing leading pair (4)" This makes a lot more sense.

So not only was the clue lacking one element, it also included another ("hesitation") which should not have been there at all. No wonder we were confused!

Hope this helps!

Thanks very much for that. It had everyone baffled at the time and I think we all assumed a mistake of some kind had been made!

Thank you. How strange that a clue should be re-written to make it gibberish. Who did it, I wonder, and why?
I did email The Times about this clue and got the reply: "Thank you for contacting us with regard to one of our solutions. I am glad that you have brought this query to my attention, I am sorry I have not been able to find you with the information provided thus far. Once I do, I would be happy to get your query resolved."
The reply then asked for various details such as my postal address, which I did not answer, and I heard nothing more.

I would suggest that the original clue was probably along the lines of:

Rebellion? Show hesitation, revolutionary wanting very little (4)

[MUTINY - UM