Comments on: Guardian 25,773 / Rufus

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:49:16 +0000

@36, thanks a lot I knew neither mug or noodle as synonyms for simpleton

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 14:42:44 +0000

Hi Karen @35
19dn mug=simpleton=noodle (from Chambers’ definitions) and a noodle is something you can eat (put one’s teeth into). Again from Chambers “a string- or ribbon-shaped strip of pasta or other unleavened dough”.

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 13:36:18 +0000

Still not getting 19 at all Oh well, guess that comes from having English as a second language.

And thanks, Eileen – I love that you explain the clues

By: Paul B

Paul B — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:32:52 +0000

Possibly an eternally-awaited tome, more’s the pity.

‘I must leave’ is jolly handy when you’ve already used up your i=1.

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:35:26 +0000

“That has to DO with cryptic grammar” I meant to say, but ya see I don’t like parties …

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:23:19 +0000

See, that’s the thing with Rufus crosswords. You think they are easy (and mostly they are) but completing them without any available resources is not always that easy.
Today we failed on 1d’s DECLUTCH (which, unlike others, I do not like – I have also seen a similar clue leading to ‘freewheel’ (which, of course, makes no sense here)) and on CARESS (25ac).
Do I see something that I have in common with RCW today?

And Rick @5, we entered – just like you – ‘steamy’ at 24ac.
Indeed just as legitimate.
I am not sure whether your statement about Rufus (having this more often than others) is correct, but in last Monday’s Dante puzzle in the FT (which I still have to blog, so I cannot say much more about it than this) there is indeed another example.

Like many of you, we cherished the REINDEER @ 10ac.
And I (so, not: we) was particularly pleased by Rufus using “I must leave” in 21ac instead of “I leave”.
That has to with cryptic grammar. For that, perhaps I may refer to Jolly Swagman’s ‘The Deeper Secrets Of XWords’. (yes, a genuine )

Well done Rufus.
And a big thank you (again) to Eileen.

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:17:39 +0000

A more varied and challenging puzzle from Rufus! Good mixture of clue types too. Long may it last.

I’m surprised that nobody mentioned that 2d isn’t actually crptic. (or am I missing something again?)

Chambers says

” words said by a character in a play which the audience can hear, but which the other characters cannot.”

So why a cryptic definition?

P.S. Surely the use of “Onelook” voids the claim to have finished a puzzle? The ultimate cheating tool and only one I resort to when I have given up!

Nevertheless, well done Rufus and thanks to Eileen.

By: brucew_aus

brucew_aus — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:00:49 +0000

Thanks Rufus and Eileen

Finished quite quickly – but nonetheless enjoyable. Like others I thought that REINDEER was very clever. Funny how I didn’t immediately associate TAIWAN with the Pacific – a little Chinese girl in a hula dress didn’t quite gel for a while.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:44:18 +0000

Pedants is Jolly Swag-manual territory usually, so a nice change.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:40:12 +0000

Mitz @26
I couldn’t agree more. Precise definitions to satisfy the pedants lead to facile puzzles.