Comments on: Guardian 25,156 / Rufus

By: maarvarq

maarvarq — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 03:34:39 +0000

No-one else had a problem with “shining example” being a rather oblique “definition” for “Great Bear”? I liked 1ac once I realised 45 inches isn’t a cubit

By: scarpia

scarpia — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:45:38 +0000

Hi Otter.
You could try Apollodorus – Library of Greek Mythology,one of the main sources for Robert Graves.
For something more encyclopaedic Richard Buxton’s – Complete World of Greek Mythology is pretty good.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-World-Greek-Mythology/dp/0500251215/ref=pd_sim_b_5

By: otter

otter — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:57:14 +0000

Re Cerberus, my assumption was that it was a reference to the keeper of the underworld gate who gave you a choice – choose right and you could live, wrong and you died – or something like this. As spoofed in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Whether Cerberus or Cerberus’ keeper gave such a choice, whether it was someone else, or whether this was not even part of Greek mythology is not something I can say, as my mythological knowledge is quite sketchy, in spite of attempts to brush up on it in recent years (anyone recommend a good book of Greek mythology which isn’t Robert Graves’s Greek Myths?).

Perhaps someone else can clarify if this is a possible solution to the puzzle of 8ac?

By: Val

Val — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:30:29 +0000

Thanks, scarpia. Not a term I’d heard (with that meaning) but I’ll try and remember it now.

By: scarpia

scarpia — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:28:42 +0000

Hi Val,
Not sure of the derivation but screw is a slang term for wages/pay.See http://www.thefreedictionary.com/screw

By: Val

Val — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:48:50 +0000

Thanks mhl (whose blog I missed when I couldn’t find it at lunchtime) and Rufus (whose Monday offerings I love as something I’ve at least got a chance with).

Why is 18dn a double definition? I’m assuming that SCREW equates to pay but can’t see why.

By: scarpia

scarpia — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:46:45 +0000

Further to comment at 7 – perhaps a better link to explain 8 across.

http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/fowlerjh/chap1.htm

By: Davy

Davy — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:04:09 +0000

Thanks mhl,

I have great respect for Rufus as the master of the smooth surface but sometimes find his puzzles a bit boring. However, I really enjoyed this puzzle and found the mix of clues to be more interesting than usual. I especially liked PROPELLER and WAGERING but thought that EYES and TENET were weak. Overall though, pretty good.
Thanks Rufus.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:42:15 +0000

Thomas99,
thanks for clearing that up.
And absolutely fine, no doubt about that.
But there is still something in me [sorry] that says: it’s just not enough as a definition in a crossword clue. “It may be held” for TENET?

Even with your explanation [which I will not doubt, because it is as you say] I am not sure whether it is a sufficient or even fair definition for TENET.
Chambers gives us “Any opinion, principle or doctrine which a person holds or maintains as true”, which is a bit more specific than just “It may be held”, even if you’re fully right with the etymological explanation. That’s why I called it ‘loose’.
Of course, you may disagree

By: Thomas99

Thomas99 — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:22:14 +0000

Sil van den Hoek-
A tenet is literally something “held” as true. That’s what it means in latin – “[he or she] holds”. So I wouldn’t say Rufus is being loose there.