First of all, nice to see Buddy's name again and sorry that Drdubosc decided to withdraw. Thank you to all who took part.
It's hard not to be repetitive, but once again a great selection of great clues. I thought Amej #13 yard was the best of the synonyms for garden and a good clue overall. Can't mention everybody but Jono, Tyke, Paul, Sam and Simplesimon also all had clues under consideration for the top spots.
In third place I have Darla #58 and Aristo #40 - two identical structures giving two very different surface readings, both of which are brilliant and impossible to separate
Second place goes to Buddy at #32 for an ingeniously crafted subtractive anagram, where the smooth surface reading ties elegantly to the definition
It has been a bit of a dilemma picking the winner this evening, but judging solely on the merits of the clue, I feel it is perfectly executed - a concise and effective surface with the wordplay smartly disguised and no redundant words. First place in this week's Clueless goes to Raffles @49
Queer end to paperback’s plot (6)
Congratulations Raffles. I look forward to your use of
bold,
italics and maybe even some upside down writing (which is beyond me) next Monday!
Kent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1fZtCLfWx0&ab_channel=KentVEVO
Kent and Sussex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWU6VHYECDM&ab_channel=AgePosthumus
Herts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao7IjW1nlWQ&ab_channel=HertsVisualArts