Comments on: Guardian 25,647 – Rufus

By: PeeDee

PeeDee — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:29:13 +0000

I found this difficult, well above the usual Monday standard.

As for homophones – spoken language varies… just get over it!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 28 May 2012 23:23:07 +0000

Maybe not the most obvious example of such a grid, but, for me, the grid of today’s Dante (FT) is also a contender for ‘The 4 Grids in 1 Prize of the Year’. For some reason, Dante (Rufus) uses this particular grid very often (more in the FT than in the Guardian, though). Just take a look there, and see that much depends on the four words in the centre.
Normally I don’t care about grids, but indeed these 4-in-1 crosswords (like in today’s Rufus) should ideally be avoided, in my opinion.
Unfortunately there’s nothing that’s ideal in this world.
Or should I say fortunately ….. ?

By: Paul B

Paul B — Mon, 28 May 2012 21:33:08 +0000

With each quadrant joined to its neighbour by one light only, this pattern plays tough. But I confess I’m irritated by any grid that gives me nothing, or very little, in the rest of a puzzle after I’ve conquered one corner of it.

By: stiofain

stiofain — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:17:33 +0000

Re the grid. Rufus seems to use this one and others that practically split his puzzles in half or quarters more than others.
Perhaps this is also part of his remit I remember when I started solving completing a full quarter or half was an achievement and other beginners may feel the same.
I thought this was the best Rufus in ages and have no problem with the homophone – surely by their nature they cant work in all accents and restricting them to eg received pronunciation wouldnt work.
Although we do have our cockney ‘ero for more specific ‘omophones.

By: Robi

Robi — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:16:04 +0000

William @39; congratulations! Looks like two in a row for fifteen squared.

By: William

William — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:01:05 +0000

Ha-ha, Tupu! Many thanks and no apologies necessary.

By: Median

Median — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:00:01 +0000

Did the NW and SE corners, then a lot of head-banging. Decided life was too short, gave up and came here. Seems I wasn’t alone in thinking this was a tough Rufus, partly because of the grid. Ne’er mind, eh?

By: tupu

tupu — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:32:47 +0000

Of course it would have been unfortunate if it had been unnecessarily carried out!

By: tupu

tupu — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:31:01 +0000

Hi William
Apologies to you too. I clearly meant Thomas99! I can only plead that the solving and blogging were done in a hurry shortly before a visit to the dentist for a threatened molar extraction (which fortunately turned out to be unnecessary).

By: Kathryn's Dad

Kathryn's Dad — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:29:44 +0000

Yes, well done William!