BATES MOTEL (“beat molest” anag.)
Presidential candidate beats all others. (5)
TRUMP ( 2 meanings)
×××
Takes too many drugs after progressive lady oversupplies (6)
FLOODS (Flo + OD’s)
Small lake has unique start, provides money (5)
POUND (Pond + u)
We hear twins shave (4)
PARE (pair)
…
Namath is confused and Brown is past it. So drink! (9)
MANHATTAN (anag Namath, brown is tanned past tan)
Five to four on chain store for great composer (7)
VIVALDI (V + IV + ALDI)
Takes aboard garden tool on feet (5)
A hint, maybe? I’m thinking something like LIFTS or HEFTS with an FT in it.
Shoes (Ships are designated SS, so to be on board one is to put a word inside. Hoe is a garden tool, hence ShoeS)
The German tough appears in this movie (3,4)
Die Hard (Die = The / tough = hard).
Congratulations on a boring job completed (4,4)
WELL DONE
I complain about one of the Judds (5)
(There have been some clues over the years I thought were really clever, but I can’t remember any of the great ones now. Should have saved them.)
Naomi (anag. I moan).
Speak evasively about private care (11)
Yep. I remember when I first encountered the “Takes aboard” thing in a clue. I had to look up the answer to the clue and then it still took me a moment to get it. And I prefer ships to Nazis when going for “SS” anyway.
Nice &lit clue, BTW.
More specific than an anagram, I’d say. “I complain” becomes “I moan”; turn it about and it’s “Naomi”. Anagrams are usually hinted at by words that suggest confusion or mixing things up.
A well-crafted cryptic clue can be very subtle and precise. I still miss the puzzles they used to have in The Atlantic; thought their constructors were excellent.
Having gotten dinged on this once in another thread (by Ximenean no less) when I did something similar, I feel it should be mentioned that anagrams should never involve words not explicitly in the clue if you want to be a ximenean compliant cryptic.
ETA: Seeing Robot Arm’s post, I do see that he was going for straight reversal, not anagram, which is ximenean compliant. Though I would argue that “about” seems to be more often used for anagrams than reversals. (And there are really only three Judds to pick from anyway, only one of which fits the letter length.)
Cox and Rathvon do a monthly variety cryptic puzzle for the Wall Street Journal similar to their great Atlantic puzzles. They are available free at the WSJ web site.
PREVARICATE*
×××××
Famous Robin tells (8)
Prevaricate (Anag)
Sadist slips backwards through gate leaving room for interpretation (10)
(Thanks, HoopyFrood!)
Takes aboard garden tool on feet (5)
I know “takes aboard” is a clue for putting something before or within something, but don’t you need something for “ship” in the clue?
This news pleases me.