Many thanks to Rob for running WG 59.

Please write a clue for a number, any old number (although it's my birthday tomorrow, so the lower the number, the better). I will not be 69, so no smut.

Please submit up to three clues.

Deadline is midnight, your time, Friday, July 16. l will respond if still reasonably not senile.

Thanks,

Luciano

P.S: I'm 50% Irish, 50% Italian and 100% Scottish, so Forza Italia on Sunday. Apologies to all Englanders, though not really.

Part of hairdo's eventually natural (5)
Number it takes to tango with Oscar? (3)
Blackjack broke, yet went on (6-3)

Bonus:

Crew dined on ears? (5)
Prince's party time puts "Smart Co-worker" on the tail of prime under-twenty (8, 10)

On Saturday, 10 July 2021 at 3:23:07 am UTC+10, Luciano Ward wrote:
> Many thanks to Rob for running WG 59.
>
> Please write a clue for a number, any old number (although it's my birthday tomorrow, so the lower the number, the better). I will not be 69, so no smut.

Head of state put on uniform for Cardinal (5)

On Saturday, 10 July 2021 at 3:23:07 am UTC+10, Luciano Ward wrote:
> Many thanks to Rob for running WG 59.
>
> Please write a clue for a number, any old number (although it's my birthday tomorrow, so the lower the number, the better). I will not be 69, so no smut.

Naughty character? (4)

Legs (6)

On Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at 12:24:49 PM UTC-2:30, David A wrote:
> Legs (6)
Caught out? Possibly, or possibly not (6,3)

Leave zero, pass fifty, and generate a much bigger number (6)

Many thanks to those who submitted clues for WG 60, and apologies for the delay.

The clues are below, with my interpretations. Please comment, if necessary.

??? indicates my puzzlement/density.

Results won't be for a week and a half.

Luciano

---------

Duke:

Part of hairdo's eventually natural (5)
SEVEN: hidden; def = natural

Number it takes to tango with Oscar? (3)
TWO: T + W + O; def = number it takes (by implication)

Blackjack broke, yet went on (6-3)
TWENTY-ONE: YETWENTON anag; def = blackjack

---------

Steve:

Head of state put on uniform for Cardinal (5)
SEVEN: S + EVEN; def = cardinal

Naughty character? (4)
ZERO: as in 'the naughties'

---------

David:
Legs (6)
ELEVEN: ref to number eleven in bingo

Caught out? Possibly, or possibly not (6,3)
??? can't see this

---------

Rob:
Leave zero, pass fifty, and generate a much bigger number (6)
GOOGLE: GO + O...and I can't work out the rest ???

---------

Bonus clues:

Duke:
Crew dined on ears? (5)
EIGHT: ATE homophone

Prince's party time puts "Smart Co-worker" on the tail of prime under-twenty (8, 10)
??? can't see this

> Bonus clues:
>
> Duke:

> Prince's party time puts "Smart Co-worker" on the tail of prime under-twenty (8, 10)

The answer is NINETEEN NINETY-NINE. Perhaps I got that enumeration wrong. The definition is "Prince's party time," referring to the song "1999" by Prince (hey, it's a bonus clue). "Smart Co-worker" refers to the co-worker of Maxwell Smart in the "Get Smart" series: she was Agent 99. That sits on the tail of nineteen, which is a prime number under twenty. The surface is supposed to refer to Prince Andrew.

On Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 8:58:19 AM UTC-2:30, Luciano Ward wrote:

> David:
> Legs (6)
> ELEVEN: ref to number eleven in bingo
> Caught out? Possibly, or possibly not (6,3)
> ??? can't see this

Catcha Twenty Two!!

Result tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

Help with Rob's clue would be helpful.

Luciano

Rob:
Leave zero, pass fifty, and generate a much bigger number (6)
I think it's GOOGOL. Leave gives GO, zero gives O, pass gives GO again, and fifty gives L.

On Saturday, 21 August 2021 at 14:32:02 UTC-5, Duke wrote:
> Rob:
> Leave zero, pass fifty, and generate a much bigger number (6)
> I think it's GOOGOL. Leave gives GO, zero gives O, pass gives GO again, and fifty gives L.

I am a dope. Thank you.

Repeated thanks to those who submitted clues for WG 60, and apologies for the long delay.

My judgments are below. The winner is exposed at the end.

Luciano

---------

Duke:

Part of hairdo's eventually natural (5)
SEVEN: hidden; def = natural
-- Fair enough wordplay and definition. I at first struggled to find 'natural' (noun) as an alternative to 'natural number'. However, 'natural' (noun), I discovered, can also mean ' a throw of 7 or 11 on the first cast in craps'. I know that Duke (or 'The Duke') is a gambling legend in Reno and Atlantic City, and presume that this is the meaning that he intended. With all that said, the surface reading does not read naturally ('eventually natural?').

Number it takes to tango with Oscar? (3)
TWO: T + W + O; def = number it takes (by implication)
-- 'to' isn't doing anything, really, but I like this a lot all the same, even if it is a bit transparent.

Blackjack broke, yet went on (6-3)
TWENTY-ONE: YETWENTON anag; def = blackjack
-- My only beef with this is that I'd much rather 'broke' be 'broken' (though apparently 'broke' is a rather antiquated past participle of 'break').

---------

Steve:

Head of state put on uniform for Cardinal (5)
SEVEN: S + EVEN; def = cardinal
-- For some reasons, my dictionaries smile more on 'cardinal' (noun) for 'cardinal number' than they do on 'natural' (noun) for 'natural number' (as in Duke's clue above). This clue works very well in all respects, not least for the believable surface reading.

Naughty character? (4)
ZERO: as in 'the naughties'
-- Imaginative play on naughty/naughties. 'character' as the other half of the clue doesn't quite please me as much.

---------

David:
Legs (6)
ELEVEN: ref to number eleven in bingo
-- A question mark might have been advised. Otherwise, this is good (on the understanding that the solver knew the theme of the competition).

Caught out? Possibly, or possibly not (6,3)
TWENTY-TWO; ref to CATCH 22 and its paradoxical nature
-- Lots of potential with 22 in this context. I feel that this is just a bit vague, however

---------

Rob:
Leave zero, pass fifty, and generate a much bigger number (6)
GOOGOL: GO + O + GO + L; def = a much bigger number
-- My inability to understand this clue was entirely my (and, of course, Google's) fault. The wordplay is good, as is the definition. The surface reading is a bit hyperbolic (that's quite a leap from 50), but there you go.

---------

Bonus clues:

Duke:
Crew dined on ears? (5)
EIGHT: ATE homophone
-- Very good.

Prince's party time puts "Smart Co-worker" on the tail of prime under-twenty (8, 10)
NINETEEN NINETY-NINE: (agent) 99 after 19; def = Prince's party time (ref 1999 by Prince)
-- Of course, I'm much too young to remember this song, but my grandmother confirmed that it was something of a thing during the last century. A bit obscure with the Agent 99 reference. The surface reading's Prince Andrew allusion is a bit tenuous, though his guilt, as far I see it, is somewhat less so.

--------------------------

The winner is Steve with his 'seven' clue. Duke is second ('two'). Rob is third ('googol')

On Monday, 23 August 2021 at 4:54:21 am UTC+10, Luciano Ward wrote:

> The winner is Steve with his 'seven' clue. Duke is second ('two'). Rob is third ('googol')

Thanks for that. I'm a little pre-occupied at the moment. Would someone else care to take up the mantle for WG61?

Thanks again,
Steve = : ^ )

On Sunday, 22 August 2021 at 19:11:17 UTC-5, Steve = : ^ ) wrote:
> On Monday, 23 August 2021 at 4:54:21 am UTC+10, Luciano Ward wrote:
>
> > The winner is Steve with his 'seven' clue. Duke is second ('two'). Rob is third ('googol')
> Thanks for that. I'm a little pre-occupied at the moment. Would someone else care to take up the mantle for WG61?
>
> Thanks again,
> Steve = : ^ )

'The Duke'?

On Monday, August 23, 2021 at 9:30:51 AM UTC-7, Luciano Ward wrote:
> On Sunday, 22 August 2021 at 19:11:17 UTC-5, Steve = : ^ ) wrote:
> > On Monday, 23 August 2021 at 4:54:21 am UTC+10, Luciano Ward wrote:
> >
> > > The winner is Steve with his 'seven' clue. Duke is second ('two'). Rob is third ('googol')
> > Thanks for that. I'm a little pre-occupied at the moment. Would someone else care to take up the mantle for WG61?
> >
> > Thanks again,
> > Steve = : ^ )
> 'The Duke'?

I'm sure sure why I'm in quotation marks there, but, sure, I'll do it. Give me a day or two, please.
Duke

On Thursday, 26 August 2021 at 2:00:15 am UTC+10, Duke wrote:
> On Monday, August 23, 2021 at 9:30:51 AM UTC-7, Luciano Ward wrote:
> > On Sunday, 22 August 2021 at 19:11:17 UTC-5, Steve = : ^ ) wrote:
> > > On Monday, 23 August 2021 at 4:54:21 am UTC+10, Luciano Ward wrote:
> > >
> > > > The winner is Steve with his 'seven' clue. Duke is second ('two'). Rob is third ('googol')
> > > Thanks for that. I'm a little pre-occupied at the moment. Would someone else care to take up the mantle for WG61?
> > >
> > > Thanks again,
> > > Steve = : ^ )
> > 'The Duke'?
> I'm sure sure why I'm in quotation marks there, but, sure, I'll do it. Give me a day or two, please.

"Thanks!"