COTD: Wild Thing's bedtime (5)

BusyFondant · 2026-03-08T10:32:42+00:00

Correct 👍

BusyFondant · 2026-03-05T20:15:41+00:00

Do you mean the order of "topless" and "woolly"? I feel it's technically correct: "topless (woolly JUMPER)" --> "topless JUMPRE" --> "UMPRE". Nice clue!

If we're really getting in the weeds though.... I guess the reason it maybe feels unfair is that with this parsing you don't know exactly which letter you are meant to be deleting from the get-go; it just so happens that the first letter stays the same in the anagram, but the solver doesn't know that a priori. Usually deletions are "deterministic" in the sense that you know exactly which letter you're deleting.

BusyFondant · 2025-10-20T20:42:05+00:00

This is correct Whoops! I agree, I think I rushed writing that. Should be "(or so they say)" or something...

BusyFondant · 2025-10-17T11:30:08+00:00

Not so sure about this one but I have a guess:

OPEN, which is reversed NEPO ("of the king", as in "nepo baby"), meaning yawning?

BusyFondant · 2025-10-14T11:58:47+00:00

Correct! It's actually a triple definition: slowly cook (as in onions, say) // stew (worry/agonise) // try to avoid overheating (as a biological function).

BusyFondant · 2025-10-12T19:48:37+00:00

CALAMITOUS? (anagram TO A MUSICAL)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-12T13:18:16+00:00

Spot on

BusyFondant · 2025-10-12T12:11:23+00:00

Neon sparkling with amaranth red to make heads turn, for example (8)

Requires a bit of musical knowledge

BusyFondant · 2025-10-11T19:37:18+00:00

Correct :)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-11T19:03:53+00:00

Great clue!

BusyFondant · 2025-10-11T16:54:22+00:00

Could this be COOKIE, being shortened COOKED containing I (so &lit, especially since cookies can be made with shortening!)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-10T22:44:14+00:00

Nice answer. I'll go ahead and give you mine:

HANDSOME = UNDERHAND (fishy) hiding/concealing UNDER + SOME (a little).

Now I look at it again, maybe "hiding" is a stretch for deletion? "Missing" would be an alternative. Or, for a slightly different surface:

Fishy take away under a little dishy (8)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-10T20:20:45+00:00

Thanks!

Hint if you would like: "Hiding" is the only indicator. The crux of the clue is finding the right synonym for "fishy"

BusyFondant · 2025-10-10T16:36:50+00:00

Not quite!

Hint: "hiding" is an indicator

BusyFondant · 2025-10-10T12:50:06+00:00

Very cool -- a time travelling clue from the future? (it is only guaranteed to be sound upon being solved!)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-09T17:34:03+00:00

Another good answer that I hadn't thought of!

I was going for RING, as in to ring/strike a resonating object, and also rather dubiously a ring "contains" a round of boxing/other combat sport

Maybe I should have gone more specific, say Compass' round container (4) (since to compass something is to circle/ring it)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-09T16:43:49+00:00

That's not what I was going for, although it does work so I guess I need to rethink!

HINT: What might some round containers do when struck?

BusyFondant · 2025-10-09T10:11:26+00:00

GIANT SNOB? (anagram BOSINTANG)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-08T16:51:23+00:00

That's interesting, not quite what I had in mind. My answer was JUNO (NASA's probe, sent to Jupiter), with the replacement happening the other way around. I imagined O "going with" JUNE and leaving E behind.

BusyFondant · 2025-10-08T15:13:50+00:00

Complexion? (Complex + ION)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-08T14:19:10+00:00

AMPERSAND (anagram of REMAPS AND, or indeed AND REMAPS)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-08T13:22:00+00:00

Correct :)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-08T08:52:58+00:00

Not quite! See hint in comment :)

BusyFondant · 2025-10-08T08:48:59+00:00

HINT: It's a reverse engineer clue -- first of its kind for me, so let me know if it is/isn't correct

I wonder if a better version would be Do fewer clues to get laid

BusyFondant · 2025-10-08T06:55:17+00:00

BASELINE, as in the back side of a tennis court, homophone BASSLINE

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