u/PizzaLord13

For me there's lots of contenders. What makes the perfect clue in my view is:

– understandable and grammatically correct definition that's either funny or simply captivating

– wordplay that uses interesting and creative techniques, but is not too far out there or convoluted

– definition that's interpreted in a different way in the surface and makes you think "Damn, that's clever."

A clue that checks all of these boxes for me would be:

Two women briefly take wedding vow when one's husband is late (5)

However, I have yet to get a membership meaning I couldn't play all of the clues yet. I'm excited to hear what you think though!

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Hint 1: >!This clue is a double definition. You'll need to find a word to correspond to what's being described in both parts of the clue.!<

Hint 2: >!The definitions are area and it's indicated by A ?. While the first one is a straightforward synonym, the latter requires you to think slightly outside the box. It's important to note that most of the time, if a word is spelled in caps, that has no meaning in Cryptics. It's regarded as the same word it would be with a lower-case letter.!<

A cheeky one

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Indicators: >!unfinished, without, visually, pointless ("unfinished" and "without" are deletion indicators. One guides us to delete the end from a word and the other tells us that some fodder has left other fodder. "Visually" is a homoglyph indicator, so a neighboring word will be substituted by something that looks similar to it. "Pointless" is also a deletion technique meaning something that could be considered a "point" is again missing from fodder)!<

Fodder: >!dress, bow, to (we'll need to find a substitution for one and use it with the letters of the other, as directed by the indicators)!<

Definition: >!fall asleep (our definition will be something that means, or describes the process of "falling asleep")!<

I actually really like this one. It's definitely challenging, but if you can get behind the techniques applied here, I'm sure you can crack it.

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Indicators: >!screwup (this is an anagram indicator)!<

Fodder: >!it was a (this fodder will need to be altered according to our indicators)!<

Definition: >!lies ahead (our definition will correspond to this phrase)!<

A quick and easy one, but the first clue of mine I really came to like! (especially the surface)

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Indicators: >!faces (this is simply an indicator telling us how to arrange the fodder) !<

Fodder: >!Star Wars protagonist, what it's like in the desert of Tatooine (both of these will need to be substituted for different words in order to give us our final answer) !<

Definition: >!showing no commitment (our definition will be something that means that)!<

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Indicators: >!startled, followed by, leader jumping forward from own seat (one of those is an anagram indicator, the other is a linking word telling us how the parts of our answer will be arranged, and the last one is a selection indicator paired with a special technique in order to alter selected fodder)!<

Fodder: >!shogun, samurai (these words or parts of these words will help us construct an answer)!<

Definition: >!loud noise likely ("likely" suggests the definition is not "rigid", therefore our final answer might just be an example of our definition)!<

"Money acquired: One grand" exchanged by ape rowdies secretly opening primate pubs (6,4)

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Indicators: >!acquired, exchanged, opening (one of those being an insertion indicator, the other being a substitution indicator, telling you to replace neighboring fodder with something else, and another being a selection indicator)!<

Fodder: >!money, one grand, by, ape, rowdies, secretly (all of these will help you make up an answer as guided by the clue's indicators)!<

Definition: >!primate pubs (the definition is exactly as stated, although slightly unexpected)!<