Comments on: Guardian 25,743 – Rufus

By: brucew_aus

brucew_aus — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:52:28 +0000

Thanks Rufus and Andrew

An elapsed month to write in ROTTEN refusing to do so until I had worked out why ! LIFE GUARDS as a regiment of the HOUSEHOLD BRIGADE was also not that straightforward to this antipodean.

Nice to have a Rufus that took a while.

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:25:23 +0000

I know Monday Rufus-puzzles must be annoyingly easy for you seasoned solvers out there, but as a crossword-novice with English as my second language, I LOVE that there is at least one puzzle a week that I am (almost) able to solve And Rufus is never too obscure or too UK-specific (although I had no clue on the park-one)

And I know there are easier cryptic crosswords elsewhere, but the easy Guardian ones are easy without being stupid (usually they’re really nice and clever), and the online version of the puzzle is really great – maybe they should just do two puzzles, one easy and one hard

My favourite was the Saint George anagram

By: yvains

yvains — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:49:18 +0000

@ToniL (16, 17) – Please accept my apologies for the slow response – it was only by chance (happening to click on yesterday’s puzzle-blog by mistake, rather than today’s) that I saw your posts at all, and I wouldn’t want you to think I was snubbing comments which were, I’m sure, well-intentioned.

I’m afraid, however, that I don’t see that setting myself up for more unpleasantness, and becoming the unwilling focus of further discord, would be of service to anyone – sorry. Thank you for the thought, though. I hope you enjoyed some of your three hours!

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:09:34 +0000

Brendan @18
As you might guess, I agree.
I do not accept the view that there must be an easy (not up to Guardian standard) cryptic every single Monday (whoever sets it).
Beginners should go elsewhere (D.Tel,FT,Everyman etc) to train themselves before coming to The Guardian which has (or used to have) a reputation as the ‘best’ (ie hardest) daily paper cryptic.

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:15:11 +0000

Sil @15

It may not be a very nice comment but it is an honest comment.

I very much disagree with your “accessible” comment as Rufus has become a law unto himself as far as balance as correct definitions are concerned. See 1d today!!!

My query is why is Monday almost always Rufus. Surely the many other compilers could produce a more representative “Cryptic” crossword but just a little easier?

The Guardian is a public offering and not a private club so I believe I am quite justified in airing my astonishment and disappointment.

By: ToniL

ToniL — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:22:19 +0000

@ Jerry, it wasn’t more than half! but it was about 3 hours – and I still didn’t finish. I won’t have been the only one – as a reward to me, I’d like a comment from you about Tramp’s excellent offering on tomorrow’s Guardian thread!

By: ToniL

ToniL — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:13:20 +0000

yvains @4 If your Guardian avatar is to be believed, ‘not one ounce…..is given’ – if that’s the case – have a little nibble on some humble pie and come back to the fold – I’m sure you’ll be welcomed. (I spent over 7 hours in total – more than half on yours – pick yourself up, dust yourself off etc).

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:05:00 +0000

Brendan (certainly not that one), I think this is not a very nice comment. We all know that the Guardian wants an extremely accessible crossword on Mondays, so if you don’t like that, I would say: just don’t give it a go.
One can only complain about the level of difficulty, but in general not really about the clueing as such.
Yes, 25ac and 17d are examples of clues that must have been done N times before, but it’s not a Saturday Prize Puzzle, though.
[although I'm pretty sure Rufus is capable of writing one]

Many thanks to Rufus to serve the nation with what’s intended!

And, btw, our last entry was ROTTEN (24ac).
It had to be that, but we couldn’t explain it (just like John Appleton).
I wonder who of Ye All Above could.
That’s Rufus. Easy, yes, but.

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 20:46:20 +0000

Another Monday, another Rufus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 19:31:28 +0000

Went brain dead on this one. Heaven knows why. Fetch the men with the white coats!