Comments on: Guardian 25,096 – Rufus

By: Dozer

Dozer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:34:18 +0000

Well I managed to solve 5ac straightaway, but had no ideas for any of the rest, so came here. With hindsight, could maybe have solved a few more, but 9ac – ‘everyone is absorbed in the trial case’ => EACH TEST => TEACHEST – I don’t think I’d have extracted ‘each’ from ‘everyone’!

23ac – VIGO+UR – how does one go about learning that there is a place in the world called Vigo?

I was feeling quite proud for solving the cryptic crossword in my local paper last week but it seems that even a ‘very simple’ Grauniad crossword is several leagues above!

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:41:39 +0000

Worrying that this was supposedly easy. I found it very difficult to begin (much harder than some of last week’s crosswords). What’s wrong with me?!

By: tupu

tupu — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:10:22 +0000

Hi Mister Sting
A puzzling comment. I am not sure whose or what ‘character’ it is in. Also what does ‘either side’ refer to?

But that aside, one does not have to don a hair shirt, or generalise about who are or are not ‘savages’, in order to realise or assert that ‘savagery’ does not begin or stop with the development or adoption of more powerful weaponry. It does however tend to become more far-reaching and effective.

By: Mister Sting

Mister Sting — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:00:53 +0000

To return to the savages debate…

Of course it’s an outdated term, but it’s describing an outdated world. It’s an in-character reference to the past.

I haven’t noticed a lot of conflicts involving spears on either side, so I think we can spare ourselves the hairshirt “we are the savages” charade.

By: Scarpia

Scarpia — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:13:32 +0000

Thanks Andrew.
Another pretty straightforward puzzle from Rufus.Although I usually find it a very quick solve there are always enough witty clues to make it enjoyable.
I share MartinH’s reservations about 5 down,as he says it only does half a job,the second part of the answer being totally unclued.I didn’t know PPE but fairly obvious with checking letters in place.My favourite clue was 7 down,very clever I thought.Also liked SATISFACTION for it’s archaic surface.
I agree that having puzzles of different levels of difficulty is a good thing.My wife has only recently started attempting cryptics and she was much encouraged by cracking some of the easier puzzles and can now get to grips with some of the more difficult setters.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:44:56 +0000

That’s probably why it was “front of mind”!

For one strange moment, when I saw my name there, I thought we were in for something esoteric about web authoring. I’m cracking up.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:29:47 +0000

Hi Derek

We had ‘A perfect beginner?’ [6] in the Quantum puzzle last Wednesday.

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:17:12 +0000

The reason we have Rufus on Mondays is simple, it is the editor’s stated policy to start the week easy and wind up the pain as the week progresses. Sometimes one might query the order of appearance, but there is no point querying what is stated policy except directly with the editor.

I had a nightmare afternoon trying to adapt my website code to a different piece of web composing software which seemed hell bent on being contrary, so I pleasant romp before tea with a Rufus was much appreciated. Perhaps the more expert should leave the Monday crossword till they are knackered and in no mood to think, it may seem more fun that way.

What a shame the answer to 1ac wasn’t NO+VICE The clue doesn’t quite hang together then, but the thought amused me at the time.

By: stiofain

stiofain — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:48:26 +0000

No nautical refs from Rufus today unless you count the tenuous ports. Im another who likes the varied difficulty levels and if it wasnt for successes with Rufus in my early days of solving I might not have stuck with cryptics.

By: otter

otter — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:43:31 +0000

I enjoyed this rather more than I usually do Rufus’s puzzles. It wasn’t too hard, but I found the surface readings particularly neat in a lot of cases, and I don’t think there were any I disliked in a crossword way (although like some others I was a little discomfited by the use of ‘savages’ – neat word play, but a little dubious ethically).

I gained particular satisfaction from 20a (sorry), which was a lovely cd, I thought. I got the sense of it straight away but was thinking along the lines of ‘quo vadis?’ etc, did smile when I got it. A few weaker clues, eg AIR BED and DODO, but I didn’t mind them too much.

Agree with the comments above that the weekly spread of crosswords should offer something for solvers of different degrees of skill; if I’d known that Monday=Rufus=more doable when I’d been starting on the road to crossword solving, I’d probably have improved a lot more quickly rather than for years staring at puzzles and usually giving up.