To add to the debate, I think it’s worth noting that for every puzzle tricky enough to satisfy a seasoned solver (your average Enigmatist, say), there are many others who might complain about the excessive difficulty, but who are reluctant to appear ignorant.

Long may we debate.

Many thanks to Rufus for the puzzle, and thanks to manehi for the blog.

And thanks to Sil for your excellent analysis of the situation. To Mr. Whiting, I appreciated your comment the other day praising a puzzle – at this time of night I can’t be bothered to look up which -, but in my opinion, criticism is only useful if it’s constructive.

Nothing to add to the comments on the puzzle itself, except that at 9d I confidently entered “violin strings”

RCW himself and Eileen made it clear last Saturday:
“If a solver finds a puzzle too difficult sh/e has two options: go and find an easier one, there are plenty; or persist until you succeed” (RCW).
“If a solver finds a puzzle too easy – and s/he knows that Rufus Monday ones, by definition, will be – why not give them a miss?” (Eileen).

In both situations one should be tolerant and not dismiss the puzzle as ‘crap’. Although I see where RCW comes from (which I really do understand), I do not see why he keeps on showing his disdain for solvers who are looking for something else.
I didn’t find this crossword one of Rufus’s best, but even in a situation worse than that I would never have posted a comment like the one @7. “No comment”?

Dear RCW, I am beginning to think that your main problem is that The Guardian is your favourite newspaper [it is mine too, btw] while at the same the crosswords have gone in a downward spiral (that is, in your opinion).
I think, the good thing about Guardian crosswords is the variety in difficulty. Setters have a pseudonym, and once you “know” them you know what to expect. Well, more or less.
Unfortunately, this means that you cannot have your daily challenge six days a week.
I fear, if you really want something that is more appealing, you will have to turn to the more consistent Indy offerings. But that is not your newspaper – see, that’s your problem.

Please stop burning down crosswords that are not up your street.
And surely, Rufus doesn’t deserve this.
[He is probably laughing at all this right now with a glass of delicious wine in his hand]

Rufus. Rufus? Who?
As I said, not one of his best – but alas.
I am pretty sure that I saw a similar clue for ADVENT (22d) only recently, but I am too lazy to figure out where.
Although I am not a fan of double definitions, I must say that 18d (BOOKING) reads very smoothly.
And in 3d I took “I go round” as “I am in a turn”, therefore “I in TURN”. Knowing that Rufus did things like this before, it could be it. But manehi (thx!), your more simple explanation is just as good. Or better? I don’t know.
Oh, and the surface of EGGNOG (12ac) is quite good, isn’t it?

A puzzle from Rufus that I actually sailed through which is unusual, as I usually fail on two or three. Having a poor memory, I usually struggle on the DDs or CDs but not today. My favourite clue was STRING QUARTET which I thought was reasonably obvious but also amusing. Other clues I liked were QUALIFIER, PHRASE, LASSIES and DRESS SUIT.

Thanks Rufus. I appreciate that your brief is to produce an easyish crossword on a Monday but some people do not seem to understand that no matter how many times it is reiterated !.

Anyway, I see I’m being accused of debating the number of angels on a pinhead, so I’ll stop there.

Yawn…….