Guardian 25,509 / Rufus
Posted by Eileen on December 19th, 2011
Since I started blogging, just over three years ago, this is the third Rufus pre-Christmas puzzle that has fallen to me and, once again, Rufus has managed to include a seasonal allusion in every one of the clues, which is no mean feat, and it raised a few smiles.
It seemed to take me rather longer than usual, especially the top half, but, looking back, I’m not quite sure why. It’s the usual mix of anagrams and double / cryptic definitions but there’s lots here to enjoy, I think.
Many thanks, Rufus, for this and for all the entertaining puzzles throughout the year – and a very Happy Christmas!
Across
7 THRASH OUT: THRASH [party] OUT [unconscious]
8 SNIPE: double definition
9 ASIA MINOR: an amusing anagram [cooking] of MARIAN’S [or, rather, MARIAN IS - thanks Roger: another instance of not looking back at the clue when writing up the blog] and O [duck]
10 COMET: double definition; this was one of my hold-ups – I didn’t know / remember the complete list of Santa’s reindeer
12 ASTERS: anagram [wrongly] of ASSERT: there’s a cryptic element for us here in the ‘wrongly’, too, as asters are summer flowers, but I realise our Antipodean friends may well have asters at Christmas.
13 PERTNESS: anagram [swapping] of PRESENTS
14 NOWHERE: NOW HERE – two more meanings of ‘present’
17 ALADDIN: A LAD [a boy] + odd letters of DjInN – &lit
20 SNOWBALL: double / cryptic definition: I first thought of this as a charade but I’m happier to think of a ‘snow ball’ as a winter dance than to take ‘snow’ as synonymous with ‘winter’
22 ORCHID: anagram [spoilt] of CHOIR + D[eck]: I really laughed at this one, because ‘Deck the Halls’ was one of the items in our choir concert on Saturday evening: fortunately, everything went well this time! I loved the use of ‘blooming’ and would defend it as a definition by taking it as a noun: it’s not in any of my dictionaries but I’m going to be a bit of a Humpty Dumpty here, becase I like the clue so much. 
24 AMASS: A MASS
25 COMFORTER: double definition, referring to the saying, ‘Job’s comforters’, after the friends of the righteous Job in the Bible, who made his sufferings worse by telling him he shouldn’t complain.
28 ENDOW: E [note] + anagram [new] of DOWN – and a fourth meaning of ‘present’!
27 ADORATION: A DO [party] + RATION [helping]
Down
1 GHOSTS: [toastin]G HOSTS [party-givers]: an excellent surface with the play on ‘spirits’ and also perhaps a whiff of ‘A Christmas Carol’
2 NAZARETH: anagram [using] of TEHRAN A-Z: I know it practically wrote itself in – but it’s a very clever anagram and paints a lovely picture! [Come to think of it, I suppose the Magi had sat-nav. ]
3 CHAINS: anagram [unusual] of CHINA’S
4 RUDOLPH: cryptic definition: ['Rudolph, with your nose so bright, Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?']
5 INBORN: anagram [around] of ROBIN and N: ‘around’ seems to be doing double duty: Edit: no double duty – it’s an anagram of ROBIN + N[oel] – thanks Neil and Andy]
6 APRÈS-SKI: cryptic definition
11 ORAL: [m]ORAL[iser] minus ‘miser’ [ someone like Scrooge]
15 ORNAMENT: cryptic definition
16 REAL: hidden in faRE ALways
18 DECORATE: double / cryptic definition, referring to the ‘decorations’ of, say, Order of Merit or Order of the British Empire
21 WISDOM: cryptic definition
22 OFFERS: [c]OFFERS [boxes] minus first letter [top]
23 ICEBOX: ICE [diamonds] + BOX [present]
December 19th, 2011 at 10:04 am
Thanks, Eileen.
In 5, around doesn’t need to be doing double duty if the “start of Noel” refers to the second N. Actually, I didn’t like that clue very much because of the inclusion “a” before “robin,” suggesting it was part of the anagram fodder.
By the way, you’ve left the choir out of 22…
December 19th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Yes, the Christmas holidays must have started with this gentle workout from Rufus. So cleverly put together yet nothing difficult – my only complaint is it was solved so quickly! Thanks, Rufus and Eileen.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:09 am
Thanks for the helpful blog. I agree, entertaining puzzle. I pursed my lips a bit at ‘blooming’ as a def for orchid in 22a, but not really complaining.
5d I just took ‘around’ as an anagrind of ‘robin’ on the N from start of Noel – didn’t see any double duty.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:09 am
neilW – sorry, crossed.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:12 am
NeilW – re 5d again I thought the ‘a’ was OK – I parsed it as : “It’s natural, to see a ((robin around) the start of Noel)”.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Thanks, Neil [and Andy] – CHOIR restored now.
I did actually see the construction of 5dn when I solved it [honestly!] then missed it in my haste in the blog.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:30 am
Thanks Eileen and Rufus
An enjoyable and typically skilfully composed puzzle by Rufus. I had to look out the reindeer names for 10a, and forgot the well-known song line re guide in 4d though the answer was clear enough.
Like NeilW I did not much like the ‘a’ in 5d.
Lots of ticked clues on the way. Many thanks and seasonal best wishes Rufus,
and may we all enjoy your light touch and easy wit for many years to come.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Thanks for a great post, Eileen, and thanks to Rufus for a delightful seasonal crossword. I found this a little harder than most Rufus puzzles, I think because the consistent Christmas theme to the surface readings made it that bit trickier to see past the surface. Thanks for explaining DECORATE, in particular, which I couldn’t see.
I supposed that “Blooming” was “a blooming”, which seemed OK to me. Also, I wondered whether that was a reference to Raymond Brigg’s Father Christmas, who frequently used “blooming” as a minced oath. (That Wikipedia page is quite interesting.) Merry Blooming Christmas to everyone on Fifteensquared!
December 19th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Oops, sorry for the misplace apostrophe – I meant “Raymond Briggs’s Father Christmas”, of course.
December 19th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Thank you Eileen.
A curiously solver-unfriendly grid, and a couple of perhaps strained definitions, but a fun puzzle to start the week. I too had to look up COMET, but I thought RUDOLPH was a really clever clue.
Many thanks to Rufus for all his puzzles this year, and I echo tupu’s last comment at no 7.
December 19th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Thanks Eileen. I think you’ll find that MARIAN IS and O are cooked at 9a ! Briefly considered PLUCK at 8a for some reason … too many cookery programmes, I expect.
Seasonal greeting to one and all.
December 19th, 2011 at 11:14 am
GreetingS even.
December 19th, 2011 at 11:20 am
In a recession of this magnitude, shurely ‘greeting’ is okay.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Thanks to Eileen for the blog.
I’m kicking myself: for 16d I had REAL as ‘sort of ale’ but had failed to see it was included in faRE ALways
December 19th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
What a lovely lunchtime solve! Good surface reading throughout. In the SE corner we filled in 22d, 18d and 23d first and wondered (with a wry smile) whether there would be a NINA!
Thanks Rufus and Eileen and Happy Christmas to both of you!
December 19th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Nice puzzle in a grid that should be retired.
December 19th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Just to keep up the always has to be different tag, I finished the top half first.
I don’t waste my time remembering nonsense like reindeer names. That is what Wikipedia is for!
December 19th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Thanks Eileen and Rufus. Cleverly constructed and solver-friendly. My COD was 9: the anagram was clearly signalled but the presence of both Turkey and duck sent me off in the wrong direction until I had some crossing letters. Nicely, and deviously, done!
I’m with you, Derek@17, re reindeer names. Life’s too short for some lists.
December 19th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Can someone tell where the definition is in 17?
December 19th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
gasman
It’s an &lit. Djinn is a Genii.
Oh no it’s not.
December 19th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Hi gasmanjack
Just to enlarge on that, in case you’re new to cryptic crosswords and / or unfamiliar with the jargon: ‘&lit’ means ‘and literally so’, i.e the whole clue is both definition and wordplay.
December 19th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Thanks, Eileen! As you say, very clever to have all the clues/solutions linked to the same theme!
Hopefully, the rest of this week’s puzzles will be less thematic or have a different theme!
Regards, Scrooge.
December 19th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
One of Santa’s reindeer — with a long tail? Could not remember the list either and guessed at Boxer, which had the xmas theme and a tail!
December 19th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Can anyone come up with a good acronym for the list of reindeers?
December 19th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Thanks, Eileen. I didn’t get Rudolph!
I remembered all the reindeer except Comet and Dasher and had happily entered VIXEN (long tail – yes?) until I solved 5d.
But, for the first time ever, I have now read the entire poem which starts, “‘Twas the night before Christmas … ”
A Visit from St. Nicholas
December 19th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Hi thanks for this. 19D anyone ?
I’ve got blank L blank O blank D blank
December 19th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
ALMONDS. It’s Rufus, it really is that obvious
December 19th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
Good, seasonal puzzle from Rufus – by next Monday, it will all be over bar the shouting!
Thanks, Eileen; like Derek @17, I did the top half first and found the SW corner quite challenging. 14 was my last in; Rufus had me thinking too much of Christmas presents – neat clue! I also got ORAL before the penny dropped about the miser. My usual lack of biblical knowledge meant that I didn’t know the Job comforter reference (neither the reindeer,) but, as Derek says, that’s what Wiki is for.
December 19th, 2011 at 6:51 pm
19dn: ALMONDS: anagram [cracking] of OLD MAN’S.
Apologies, Tonyc and everyone, for the omission, for which I’m doubly sorry, as I thought it was a cracking clue, with an excellent surface. [Thanks, Headteacher - as you say, typical Rufus.]
[Thanks for the link, Jan.]
December 19th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Thanks Eileen,
Very entertaining Christmas puzzle from Rufus where even the easiest answers had great surfaces. For some reason, I was particularly amused by Tehran A-Z and also liked NOWHERE, AMASS, ENDOW (so simple yet so effective), ORAL and DECORATE. This was also a Rufus that I finished as usually there are two or three that I can’t bring to mind. It was the SE that caused me the most problems today but none of the clues were difficult once the answer filtered through.
All the best Rufus and long may you continue to entertain us.
December 19th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Just back from holiday abroad. No papers or crosswords for over two weeks. Bliss! But read “At Swim-Two-Birds” by Flann O’Brien, which featured with his other major works in a brilliant Guardian crossword a few weeks/months ago. Very Irish in many senses, highly recommended. Today’s puzzle was a gentle re-introduction, though with Christmas upon us, I can’t really afford the time. Like many others, couldn’t, and didn’t really want to, remember the name of “Santa’s” reindeer. I much prefer “Father Christmas” to the Americanised version. Bah, humbug!
Thanks Eileen and Rufus.