Comments on: Guardian Cryptic N° 25,473 by Rufus

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:30:50 +0000

Thanks PeterO and Rufus.

I didn’t find this one straigtforward, I had to resort to ‘aids’ to finish the NW corner. Enjoyable, and more cryptic than usual from Rufus.

By: stumped

stumped — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:13:26 +0000

Thanks Rufus for a very enjoyable puzzle & PeterO for explanations.

Took ages to get 1a & 3d. Persisted in thinking ‘inaccurate serve’ was a “let”.

Got 22a right away but couldn’t justify it to myself.

Favourite clue 24a.

By: MikeC

MikeC — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:12:02 +0000

Thanks PeterO and Rufus. I’m in the “not so straightforward camp” – found this not one of the easiest Monday puzzles. Re 3, I parsed it as “out” plus “do=ditto”, meaning a double-fault. Wrong again (though it would have worked had the clue been “inaccurate serves . . . “). Ah, well . . .

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:39:27 +0000

Thanks PeterO, and like others said this was not that ‘particularly straigtforward’ to us.

I’ve been away for a long weekend in the Norfolk Broads, taking a print-off of Tramp’s crossword with me. I quite amazed myself to solve that one (except one word in the SW) while lying in bed after having a great meal in The Windmill Arms in Sheringham. And the following day I championed the Times puzzle without aides. It really boosted my self-confidence as a solver!

But then there was Rufus … [no, nothing cynical about this]
We had some trouble in the North, REPROVING (1ac) being one of our last entries – initially we considered it to be an anagram of ‘Carpeting’, and isn’t this one of the things that Great Cluing is about?

In 3d we entered OUTDO, but we didn’t fully understand it.
OUT could just as well have been “Inaccurate serve” [tennis], so we were looking for a justification for DO. Well done, Rufus.

Also well done in 10ac (BAMBOO), 19ac (HOUNDS), 14d (DIAGNOSES), 18d (SCHERZO) and 22d (AISLE) which was a fun allusion to ‘bridle path’ [quite familiar to me as a Sunday walker).
As I said on earlier occasions, it’s not always about clues being hard or challenging. When I think of Rufus/Dante crosswords, it’s the word ‘natural’ that springs to mind.
Which is something I like.

Good crossword.

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:23:24 +0000

I’m glad to see others agree that this was not the normal easy Monday offering.

Entertaining but definitely not “straightforward” in my book.

50 mins 53 seconds in fact. (well above my previous Rufus average of 26:55.) (Sad. I know!!!)

By: Wolfie

Wolfie — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:31:02 +0000

Hello Rufus – thanks for dropping by. I enjoyed the puzzle and agree with you that (at least in my part of the world – Liverpool) ‘caulk’ and ‘cork’ are pronounced identically.

Thanks for the blog PeterO.

By: Allan_C

Allan_C — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:24:17 +0000

A little deliberate misdirection in 26a? ‘A flier’, as well as being a description made me think ‘bird’ and wonder if the explorer’s name was spelt with an I or a Y. 13d settled it of course and it was only then that I got the significance of ‘by the way’. A perfectly formed clue!

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:11:12 +0000

Thanks all
Rufus is unfailing in producing these puzzles.
It would be ‘one member’ olite to add any more.

By: Posterntoo

Posterntoo — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Here in the U.S. (and on dictionary.com), caulk rhymes with hawk, and cork rhymes with fork.

By: JohnH (not the setter)

JohnH (not the setter) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:06:35 +0000

I agree that CAULK and CORK are pronounced the same.

I have never heard anyone say cawel-k for the former.

Thinking about it a bit more I just realised that I pronounce the L so for me it is corl-k or call-k.

As Feynman said, the easiest person to fool is yourself.

Good crossword, based on my “binary taxonomy of crosswords” rule. If I can finish them they are good. If I cannot start them they are bad and are just the setter showing off. So this Rufus is a good one but that grid crossword in the Sunday Times is just some lexicographer showing off (last time I checked the answers there were 24 words out of 32 that I had never heard off).