Comments on: Guardian 25,407 – Rufus

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:04:47 +0000

I liked 2 down, wonderful misdirection. Sadly, it was the only clue that gave me joy to finally solve.

6 CDs and 6 DDs makes about half the puzzle not truly cryptic at all, they make it so if you don’t simply know the word (MAHOUT in someone else’s case, PUNNET in mine) there is simply no way to finish the clue – at least with a normal cryptic clue one might stumble one’s way through and then research it to confirm. Entering ?u?n?t in OneLook and clicking on the choices until one is a fruit basket is not fun, it’s tedious.

Sorry Rufus, and I recall being very, very pleased with your work last week. I’m sure this is partially a fluke and partially a matter of taste, so thanks anyway. And thanks Andrew for the blog.

By: FranTom Menace

FranTom Menace — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:27:32 +0000

Thanks Rufus and Andrew. We struggled to get going today too. Strange for a Monday crossword. There were also some blanks at the end, namely 5a (hadn’t heard of it), 16d and 19d (which some others had problems with too!)

That’s the second week running we’ve failed to finish a Rufus puzzle. Contrary to some comments, I quite liked 6a. 18a made me smile too!

22a we got, but had the same problem as a lot of others in understanding the whole step=space thing.

By: Rosmarinus

Rosmarinus — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:54:03 +0000

Very disappointing today with too many weak clues. 25 ACROSS was the only one that amused me.

By: otter

otter — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:43:50 +0000

Didn’t like much of this at all. I think I was on the wrong wavelength as well, as I struggled through a lot of this, although I do think this was an off day for Rufus as well: little of his trademark elegance, and some really poor cryptic definitions.

OBOIST was awful; nothing to help at all. (I did think of the woodwind connection, but that didn’t help.) In MAHOUT the word ‘grounded’ complicated things: I thought of elephants, and the people who drive them, but was sure there must be more in the clue that ‘elephant driver’. And ARTERY was simply wrong: my immediate thought was AORTA, as only this and the pulmonary artery lead straight (ie directly) from the heart; the other arteries branch from the aorta, so can’t be said to lead straight from the heart. Once aorta had been discounted, I decided the clue much be referring to something else. TIEPIN also far too weak, FUTURE was a bit ropey and PUNNET too obvious.

I can’t think of any clue which gave me any joy or satisfaction. Glad someone got a laugh out of nanny = butter, but I’ve seen it too many times. ABSTAINERS was probably closest to being a good clue.

Sorry, Rufus, for being so critical, but I really don’t think this was up to scratch.

By: mike04

mike04 — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:47:58 +0000

Hi ofHesselink

When measuring the length of a stride, you need to measure the space passed over in one step.
So in this case you could either “Measure the step” or “Measure the space passed over.”

By: tupu

tupu — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:22:44 +0000

OED gives under ‘step’
The space traversed by the movement of one foot beyond the other in walking or running; a pace. Hence as a measure of length or distance, sometimes vague, sometimes defined, as military step…

So a ‘pace’ is a ‘space’. Not wholly satisfactory but ‘pace’ in the clue would give too much away.

By: superkiwigirl

superkiwigirl — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:53:43 +0000

ofHesselink @ 16: I agree that the Chambers entry looks odd – perhaps, it would make more sense if small “space” were replaced by small (or better, short) “distance”. Then you could use the two interchangeably, as in “it’s only a step to …”

By: ofHesselink

ofHesselink — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:11:13 +0000

And does a mahout have to be a man? I haven’t met one either but surely… Why on earth does Chambers give ‘a small space’ for ‘step’? Can anyone provide a sentence in which the two would be interchangeable?

By: superkiwigirl

superkiwigirl — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:34:55 +0000

Thanks for your usual fine blog, Andrew.

And thanks too, Rufus, for what I thought was an entertaining puzzle – I seem to be in the minority, but I enjoy CDs, and I thought there were some good ones here. I particularly liked FUTURE and PUNNET, as well as ABSTAINERS.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:26:59 +0000

Thanks all
Only if the teeth were already falling out.
Future I liked – just future.