Comments on: Guardian 24,594 – Rufus

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:03:25 +0000

Some of you were discussing my LILY THE PINK clue.
Smutchie’s explanation was correct, but I have to admit that Paul, I fear, made some minor changes to my original clue, which was: Who made pictures of her, the singer, topping the charts at Christmas 1968. So, pictures: plural (essential!), and without a question mark at the end (I think, essential as well).

By: Barnaby Page

Barnaby Page — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:04:35 +0000

Loved BAKED BEANS, LOT’S WIFE and NOAH’S ARK.

Some friends had BREN instead BOER, which I think is a kind-of-justifiable alternative. (It’s a boy’s name, albeit an uncommon one, and a type of gun.)

Still in gunnery vein, while I did opt for PELLET in the end, I thought BULLET was almost as good a solution for 6d – perhaps a bit too easy to go wrong there?

By: don

don — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:06:47 +0000

Ralph, diolch am hynny. Yn wir, mae llawer o geiriau Ladin yng Nghymraeg (e.e. meddyg = medic), ond nid yn croeseiriau Saesneg, os gwelwch yn dda!

By: Hector

Hector — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:30:56 +0000

I’m only familiar with “scurvy knave” thanks to Disney’s (amazing!) ‘Robin Hood’ — Lady Cluck delivers it with a gorgeous Scottish rolled ‘r’ in a game of badminton.

I thought ‘Edna’s kebab’ was a lovely anagram for baked beans. Might have to start using it…

By: Ralph G

Ralph G — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:35:14 +0000

For those interested in double cognates I’ve posted a note at #10 of 24,587 (Saturday’s blog). Don, and Latinists possibly, might be interested in an instance of yr elfen Ladin yn yr iaith Gymraeg.

By: rightback

rightback — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:00:33 +0000

I enjoyed this but agree with Ian that ‘from’ alone is a questionable anagram indicator; ‘that might come from’ is probably fairer and would have fit the surface reading of this clue.

I didn’t know ‘Lot’s wife’ and spent a while confused over this before guessing ‘late wife’, so am pleased to have been educated here, thanks Ciaran!

By: steven

steven — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:25:22 +0000

I love EDNAS KEBABS.I can imagine Sid James saying it in a carry-on film.Saucy

By: muck

muck — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:07:44 +0000

Ciaran said: “12ac Viable: Initially thought DOABLE and spent a while puzzling why DOLE=scurvy.”
And me too. Good puzzle from Rufus, though it now seems sometimes to take longer to read and disentangle all the 15sqd comments than it did to solve the puzzle!

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:31:04 +0000

Sorry it’s taken a while to reply to the various replies I got. I was visisting the hospital. At long last they have decided the bone fragment is dangerous so the are trying to book me in for an op later this week, probably Thursday, and may keep me in overnight. So I shall probably only be here 2 more days this week. So anyone who fancies a good humoured verbal punch up had better get their orders in

Forgive me declining the invitation to break a leg, been there, done that LOL.

Apart from that, points taken.

By: Brian Harris

Brian Harris — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:02:26 +0000

Didn’t get 24 across or down.

But really enjoyed 18dn – LOTS WIFE. Brilliant cryptic definition. One of my favourite clues for a while.

The rest were all fairly easy, but enjoyable. Quite a few CDs, but I’m a fan of the CD, especially when it’s Rufus. And 13 down is a very entertaining anagram of BAKED BEANS.