Guardian 25,120 / Rufus
Posted by mhl on September 20th, 2010
A nice puzzle to start the week with. There are three clues which have rather tricky words in them (9a, 3d and 7d) but otherwise I think this should have been pretty straightforward. I particularly enjoyed three of the simpler but very elegant clues: 19a, 23d and 25a.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 9. | ANCHORAGE | Double definition: |
| 10. | AGILE | I L = “I left” in AGE = “time” |
| 11. | CALL OUT | Double definition |
| 12. | DEAD END | Double definition |
| 13. | DRIVE | DIVE = “Plunge” around R = “right” |
| 14. | FAT CHANCE | Cryptic definition |
| 16. | EGG AND SPOON RACE | Cryptic definition |
| 19. | STREAKING | An entertaining cryptic definition |
| 21. | ISAAC | [v]ISA “Numberless Visa” + AC = “bill” |
| 22. | RONDEAU | (AN ODE)* in RU = “game” |
| 23. | TEAR GAS | (GREAT)* + AS = “when” |
| 24. | CRASS | ASS = “fool” after CR = “credit” |
| 25. | FISHERMAN | SHE in FIRM = “company” + AN |
| Down | ||
| 1. | FANCY DRESS | FANCY = “Desire” + DRESS = “clothing” |
| 2. | SCALPING | Cryptic definition |
| 3. | MOROSE | MORSE = “Walrus” around O[ysters]; a nice reference to “The Walrus and the Carpenter” |
| 4. | BAIT | I = “one” in BAT = “club” |
| 5. | HEADSTRONG | (THE DOGS RAN)* |
| 6. | MARATHON | Double definition |
| 7. | PIGEON | Double definition: the first part is tricky – one of the definitions of “pidgin” (with “pigeon” as an alternative spelling) is given in Chambers as “affair, concern” |
| 8. | NEED | Last letters of “on the one hand” |
| 14. | FISTICUFFS | Cryptic definitions |
| 15. | EXERCISING | EXCISING = “cutting” around ER = “hesitation |
| 17. | NEAR EAST | (AN EASTER)* |
| 18. | AWAY GAME | Cryptic definition |
| 20. | RENTAL | Cryptic definition: “letter” as in “one who lets [a property]“ |
| 21. | IMAGES | I’M + AGES = “a long time” |
| 22. | RACK | Double definition |
| 23. | TASK | A very neat clue: Odd letters of “ThAt’S oK” |
September 20th, 2010 at 8:28 am
i failed on rental but must admit it was an excellent way to spend half an on bondi beach
September 20th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Very many thanks mhl I found this somewhat trickier than the usual Rufus and I guessed PIGEON because nothing else seemed to fit.
Until I had got some crossing letters, I had at first assumed that 9a would have been a city in the UK.
September 20th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Thanks mhl. I guessed ‘morose’ and ‘pigeon’ without any idea why they might be right until your blog. Both seem a tad obscure for a Monday puzzle, though admittedly neither held up solving the rest of the grid. Thought the 14s were both quite cute, if not exactly LOL.
September 20th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Thanks for the blog, mhl.
We can usually expect at least one nautical reference in a Rufus puzzle. He introduced us to this meaning of ‘road’ in the Bank Holiday puzzle: he clued INROADS with ‘hostile incursions where the fleet lies at anchor?’
I knew the expression, ‘It’s not my pigeon’ but I don’t think I’ve heard it for a while.
September 20th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Ah, thanks for the INROADS reminder, Eileen – I thought we’d had something similar recently, but couldn’t place it.
Bryan: similarly, I thought NEWCASTLE might be possible for 9a until crossing letters ruled it out…
September 20th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Thanks, mhl. Took a while to get going with this one, but once a few fell into place the rest was reasonably straightforward. Many excellent surfaces as usual; I thought 25ac was the best.
I too guessed MOROSE and PIGEON. In French,’un morse’ is a walrus, but I’d never come across the word used in English. A day that goes by where you don’t learn something is a day wasted, as our mam used to say.
September 20th, 2010 at 11:46 am
rrc@1 I failed on RENTAL as well, but a wet Cumbria is a rather less attractive location
September 20th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Thanks, mhl and Rufus.
Last to go in was ‘pigeon’, and I needed the blog to understand it. I’d also forgotten that meaning of ‘road’ for ‘anchorage’.
Other than that, no problems with this Monday stroll, and more than a few smiles. I particularly liked 14ac and 21ac.
September 20th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Thanks for the blog mhl. BTW the capital of Alaska is actually Juneau.
September 20th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
John: d’oh! Of course – thanks, I’ve corrected that.
September 20th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
One can but agree on the above. Strangely my last one in was BAIT because I went completely brain dead re club/bat. Sigh, ring those nice men in the white coats!
September 20th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Thanks mhl. I only remembered that Eileen previously pointed out that ‘road’ could be ‘anchorage’ after spending ages on 9ac. Hopefully it will stick now! 3dn and 7dn were also unfamiliar.
My favourite was 25ac — very elegant.
September 20th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
A nice light start to the week and only the definition of Pigeon eluded me (although it had to be the only realistic answer – having dismissed Wigeon as a potential alternative)
September 20th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
‘Headstrong’ was a nice anagram, and there were one or two smooth bits of wordplay, but really it was all rather dull. I like your comment on ‘streaking’, mhl: ‘an entertaining cd’; well, if you say so, but you at least imply that most of them aren’t; and we did get a bumper crop of Rufus’s old turnips this week – plough them back in, I say.
September 20th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
I’m a complete beginner to cryptic crosswords and managed to solve most of this puzzle. After reading through these explanations of the answers, I understand them all bar one.
22ac – I’m struggling to see how RU = “game”, can someone explain this to me?
September 20th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
You’ll kick yourself, Rugby Union!
September 20th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Pete M: RU is “Rugby Union”. Something that looks like a two letter game is often RU or GO. (I can’t think of any other common ones at the moment.)
September 20th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Thanks for the help, seems so simple now! Have noted these down for future reference.
September 20th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
I live in Anchorage, but spent a long time staring at 9A and trying to think of cities in northern England . . .
September 20th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Why does Morse = Walrus?
September 20th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I too, put in MOROSE without knowing why – morse=walrus was new to me – I wondered if it was something to do with the Inspector…
Also failed to parse 25a, thinking that the ‘She’ from the clue was the HER in the clue, meaning that ‘company’ had to be FISM !
I’m surprised that PIGEON as in ‘it’s not my pigeon’ caused such blankness – as it’s expression I use quite often at work. Especially in that particular phrase
September 20th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
PnP (@20) – The Imperial Reference dictionary gives ‘the walrus’ as one meaning of MORSE. From the Finnish, apparently. As K’s D says, you live and learn…
September 20th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
The old ‘means of communication with walrus’ gag, eh? All right, pop pickers.