Comments on: Guardian 24630 – Rufus

By: Barnaby Page

Barnaby Page — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:50:27 +0000

Richard – at one point I was thinking along similar lines but chief executive (officer) is nearly always CEO rather than just CE…and how would we explain the word “Italian” in the clue?

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:42:36 +0000

1dn – De + Du + CE (Chief Executive)? That’s how I read it anyway. Enjoyed this one a lot.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:00:15 +0000

Strangely 23 and 19 were my last two. OK, it proves I’m wierd, but y’all knew that! Failing to remember what Suede is made from really didn’t help, sigh.

By: muck

muck — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:53:46 +0000

13a NIHILISTS: Chambers 2008 gives ‘extreme scepticism’ under ‘nihilism’. So this clue isn’t even cyptic: but I liked it because I had thought of NOVELISTS as a possible answer.

By: ray

ray — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:34:40 +0000

The only vague cryptic implication I could see in 13a was that it had the polar extremes at its own extremities – I’m sure that’s probably coincidence though. Drerw a blank on 23a even with the crosses in – hope its just one of those blind spots, not the beginning of the end for the brain.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:28:41 +0000

Comment on 1dn – DUCE was never one of the usual Italian words for ‘leader’, which would be ‘capo’ or ‘direttore’. It was a historical term for a commander in the (ancient) Roman army, until Mussolini adopted it. Therefore it is different from ‘Fuehrer’ in German – a previously unremarkable word for ‘leader’ which has become so tainted by association that Germans now always use ‘Leiter’ instead.

By: muck

muck — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:13:54 +0000

Good puzzle from Rufus, as usual.
13ac NIHILISTS and 11dn WHEELBARROWS were my last solves, but I like them!

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:54:56 +0000

Straightforward but elegant as ever. Fewer than usual cd and dd clues, which I liked. 13ac didn’t seem cryptic at all to me, which was a pity, but more than compensated for by the lovely 18ac

By: manehi

manehi — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:54:28 +0000

Smutchin – you give me too much credit I missed the palindrome completely..

By: Will

Will — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:51:00 +0000

I thought 6dn was a good cryptic definition, and since when I look up nihilist it says ‘extreme sceptic’ or something close, I can’t see any crypticism at all in 13ac. But I liked the puzzle.