Comments on: Guardian 24,904 – Rufus

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:44:30 +0000

Carolyn, I know teachers work hard (I am one myself), but please take some time off for today’s Orlando. He’s worth it!

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:06:32 +0000

I really struggled with this one. I guess my self tutoring has only got me so far! Probably put into a negative mind set with the first clue. Golf! Bah!

I’m skipping tomorrow’s and I’ll see how I am for the rest of the week in terms of time – teachers do work hard you know!

By: C. G. Rishikesh

C. G. Rishikesh — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:53:41 +0000

“Pay court [to someone]” (in the sense “to woo or flatter”) was not new to me.

That is perhaps because my knowledge of the English language is bookish and I must have come across the expression in some novel of decades or even centuries ago.

As Rufus observes, “pay court to” is not in the Chambers dictionary but it is in the electronic version on my machine.

By: MartinB

MartinB — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:57:06 +0000

I thought “pay court” too obscure. Disliked Agio, also obscure, i thought.

By: Radchenko

Radchenko — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:21:50 +0000

Yes, nice puzzle. Thanks for that and the blog. 28a and 16d very good.

(Altogether much more ‘accessible’ than last week! Or rather, I could get into it this time…)

By: Mr Beaver

Mr Beaver — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:08:24 +0000

Some good clues as mentioned, but I hardly think 4d is a cd. To me, it’s one of those clues that often appear on a Monday which is a straightforward definition ostensibly made ‘cryptic’ by the addition of a question mark.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:12:54 +0000

Re #13: Only one (minor) quibble …
[I meant, of course]

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:11:44 +0000

Just to say that, we thought, 15d (OBSTINATE) deserves a special mentioning.
Two uses of ‘stubborn’, of which one forms a natural combination with ‘stain’,
which is subsequently part of the anagram.
Although I doubt that everyone finds ‘removed’ a legitimate anagrind,
this was a chance not be missed – and Rufus took it. Great clue.

Only one (minor) about this gentle crossword: 26ac & 19d.
Both words, KENDO and BRENDA have the same construction with even the same word (‘end’ inside something else) – and they cross …….

By: Colin Greenland

Colin Greenland — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:02:38 +0000

>>If the court-paying was successful, you might end up saying 16dn!

After she’d made her final 18a, perhaps?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:50:05 +0000

Rufus, thanks for the clarification – that is pretty much how I read the clue, but perhaps my explanation wasn’t clear. I would have thought that the expression “pay court to someone” was reasonably well known, though perhaps unlikely to be used other than in a historical context. If the court-paying was successful, you might end up saying 16dn!