Comments on: Guardian 25012 / Rufus

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Fri, 21 May 2010 03:29:34 +0000

For once, I liked the clues I didn’t get. All 7 of them. Nice work, Rufus, and thank you, mhl.

By: Martin H

Martin H — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:41:44 +0000

Mister Sting, very belatedly: I know how 13 and 27 work; I just think they’re not very good. They’re dull.

Nor do I think the pleasure of a clue is directly proportionate to its difficulty. I do think that clues which can be solved very quickly have to have something pretty special about them, have to give you a moment of pleasurable revelation. your ‘Annie’ is pretty good, in large part because of its tone of voice. ‘Bird nuts’, mentioned above, is similar. I don’t think 19a here has that quality.

My wish for the art of cryptic definition is that setters should be use it as one part of a clue, as here, very successfully, in the subsidiary element. The problem with cd’s with no other wordplay is that they rest solely on the sense of humour of the setter. Almost inevitably they are constructed around some sort of pun, and to base the whole clue on a pun risks alienating the solver. Puns are not reliably entertaining.

By: Mister Sting

Mister Sting — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:32:28 +0000

Jan, if you’re still around, ‘suspect’ in 14d is a verb. I’m not convinced that suspecting something and apprehending it are the same, but I’ll let it pass.

And, Martin @20
Automatic literally means self-moving. It’s a sly ‘guns don’t kill people’ comment, I assume.

13dn functions thusly:
Pardon (n) = remission (of sins) + remission means prison sentence is cut. It’s not the best clue, admittedly.

27dn is a dd/semi-&lit

I liked 19ac because an eighth (of an inch) can be a measurement of height – I don’t find the pleasure of a clue is always proportionate to its difficulty.

Here’s another: Silly, silly Annie (5)
It takes about a second to solve, but it’s brilliant.

“if we must have cryptic definitions”…
yes, I think we must, all things considered.

By: Brian Harris

Brian Harris — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:34:49 +0000

Slightly harder than usual for a Rufus, but all very enjoyable with some nice clues. 1ac had us stumped for a long time, until we had all the crossing letters. And I really didn’t know that TOSSPOT was a synonym for drunkard. I thought it was ruder.

A lovely start to the week.

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:31:43 +0000

Thank you for the blog, mhl.

I’m not a fan of double definition clues although I appreciate the clever surfaces. ‘Bird nuts’ for ‘Cuckoo’ still has me chuckling and will do, next winter, when I next fill the peanut feeder. Consequently, I am not a Rufus fan. However, this puzzle was delightful in parts.

Am I the only one to be mystified by the, to me, straight clue for 14d? Am I missing something? I cannot see the double definition.

By: liz

liz — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:27:10 +0000

Martin H – My point was that Rufus brought wit to a *simple* anagram. OK, I solved it about as quickly as you did, but I was able to appreciate the elegance of the clue, which gave me a great deal of pleasure. I didn’t want to have to make the comparison with Rover’s lamentable ‘its terror’ last week, but I will do now

As I understand it, Rufus is supposed to provide a puzzle that eases us into the week and that is on the easy end of the cryptic scale. The fact that he manages to do this week on week with such humour and brilliant surfaces is astonishing.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:55:29 +0000

Although we found it a relatively easy puzzle in places, but with some nice smooth surfaces, we got a little bit stuck in the SW – so Rufus won again.
We thought 21ac had to be USURPERS, but hesitated because the P was not really in the heart of ‘usurers’. And we couldn’t think of something else than REMISSION for 13d – not the best clue today.
Therefore we didn’t find CRESTA.
I remembered that it started with a C – remembered? Yes. Rufus used the same clue (or perhaps a slightly different variant of it) in the FT (13,241 – 3rd Dec 2009) as his alter ego Dante.
[although both Dante and Rufus bear clearly Mr Squires' signature, I always wonder why I find Dante more challenging than Rufus (which doesn't mean that I don't like Rufus)]
So, I’ve seen CRESTA before, and I had another dejà vú when I saw 4d (TOSSTOP) – was too lazy too find out when and where.

Clue of the Day must an anagram: maybe PHONETIC (11ac), though 8ac, 19ac and 20d came close.

By: Martin H

Martin H — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:58:35 +0000

Thanks for that John. I’d read ‘one’ as referring back to ‘kiss’. So withdraw gripe on that one.

By: scarpia

scarpia — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:44:34 +0000

An excellent puzzle from Rufus.I found this quite a bit harder than usual,which is no bad thing.
I’m not a big fan of the cryptic definition but Rufus does come up with some gems and the surfaces of his clues are always spot on.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:36:59 +0000

Masse? Misspent youth? Guilty as charged.

Pleasant after dinner relax this one. Was too busy trying to less sedantary. 8 months since the colloapsed vertabrae restricted things and still 15 mins is all I can walk without a sit down. Getting bored with this. And nothing here to be grumpy about to get it out of the system, sigh.