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The goal is simple: solve the cryptic clues to get a Only-Connect wall, consisting of 16 words, which then must be grouped into 4 groups of 4 words each sharing a common property.
Investigate the beginnings of combinatorics (4) Clean the dirty leader Donald Trump around us (4) Learn muddled stream (6) Look for StackExchange curve (6)
A dove-cat confuses lawyer (8) Domestic animal behind vehicle that lies on the floor (6) Source of life; for example, great leader (3) Overflow cuisine, around fifty (5)
Wild fleas know small piece of ice (9) Talented metalloid returning in America (6) Notice broken post (4) Option: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and ice (6)
DNA, mouse or producer (9) Tart is crazy painter (6) Bunch of steps reportedly gaze at the situation (9) A fruit begins life in modern Europe (4)

Also, this is my first try at cryptic-clues, so I welcome feedback!

bobble
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Ankoganit
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3 Answers3

20

I got the easy ones:

COMB, DUST, MASTER, ?
ADVOCATE, CARPET, EGG, ?
SNOWFLAKE, ?, SPOT, CHOICE
?, ARTIST, ?, ?

Note: The cryptic clues have been completely solved in M Oehm's answer with detailed explanation. The wall is :

 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 |    COMB    |    DUST    |   MASTER   |   SEARCH   |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 |  ADVOCATE  |   CARPET   |    EGG     |   FLOOD    |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 | SNOWFLAKE  |   GENIUS   |    SPOT    |   CHOICE   |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 | GENERATOR  |   ARTIST   | STAIRCASE  |     LIME   |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+

I think Group 1 is:

FRACTALS (Cantor COMB, Cantor DUST, Koch SNOWFLAKE, Sierpinski CARPET)

Group 2:

LIGHT (SPOTlight, LIMElight, FLOODlight, SEARCHlight)

Group 3 (from Paul Evans):

DEVIL (Devil's ADVOCATE, Deviled EGG, Devil's STAIRCASE, Devil's CHOICE

Group 4:

ANAGRAM (Anagram MASTER, Anagram GENIUS, Anagram GENERATOR, Anagram ARTIST) (http://www.anagrammy.com/resources/generators.html)

Community
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JMP
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19

Partial answer for the cryptic clues, definitions in bold:

COMB: Investigate the beginnings of combinatorics - first letters of COMBinatorics
DUST: Clean the dirty leader Donald Trump around us - DT (leaders of Donald Trump) around US
MASTER: Learn muddled stream - anagram (muddled) of STREAM
SEARCH: Look for Stack Exchange curve - charade of SE + ARCH (curve)
ADVOCATE: A dove cat confuses lawyer - Anagram (confuses) of A DOVE CAT
CARPET: Domestic animal behind vehicle that lies on the floor - PET after CAR
EGG: Source of life; for example, great leader: EG (for example) + G (leader of Great)
FLOOD: Overflow cuisine, around fifty - FOOD (cuisine) around L (fifty)
SNOWFLAKE: Wild fleas know small piece of ice - Anagram (wild) of FLEAS KNOW
GENIUS: Talented metalloid returning in America - GE (chemical symbol) + NI (reverse of IN) + US ✻
SPOT: Notice broken post - anagram (broken) of POST
CHOICE: Option: Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and ice - C + H + O (chemical symbols) + ICE
GENERATOR: DNA, mouse or producer - GENE (DNA) + RAT (mouse, sort of) + OR
ARTIST: Tart is crazy painter - Anagram (crazy) of TART IS
STAIRCASE: Bunch of steps reportedly gaze at the situation - STAIR, a homophone of STARE (reportedly gaze), + CASE (situation)
LIME: A fruit begins life in modern Europe - first letters of "life in modern Europe" ✻

✻ contributed by f''. Thank you!

The wall is:

 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 |    COMB    |    DUST    |   MASTER   |   SEARCH   |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 |  ADVOCATE  |   CARPET   |    EGG     |   FLOOD    |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 | SNOWFLAKE  |   GENIUS   |    SPOT    |   CHOICE   |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
 |            |            |            |            |
 | GENERATOR  |   ARTIST   | STAIRCASE  |     LIME   |
 |            |            |            |            |
 +------------+------------+------------+------------+
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M Oehm
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  • Is this still a partial answer? It looks completed. – wizzwizz4 Aug 18 '16 at 07:55
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    @wizzwizz4: Well, it's still missig the second step, the Only Connect wall: to sort the 16 words on the wall into 4 groups of 4 so that all members of the groups share a certain quality. Jon Mark Perry has given two examples in his answer. – M Oehm Aug 18 '16 at 08:05
13

A possible group?

Devil - Devil's Advocate, Deviled Egg, Devil's Staircase and Devil of a Choice

Paul Evans
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  • Seems to all fit, but I've never heard of the last one. – dcfyj Aug 18 '16 at 12:23
  • Another right group! Just left to figure out the connection in the last! Well, my original intention was Devil's choice (which according to some sources mean a choice between to equally bad things), but yes, that's a bit obscure. – Ankoganit Aug 18 '16 at 12:33