Comments on: Guardian 25.868 / Rufus

By: Huw Powell

Huw Powell — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 02:00:16 +0000

[[Broadwater Farm]] in [[London Borough of Haringey|Haringey]], north London /oops

“So many dodgy clues” combined with such a mean-spirited grid… oh well. I liked 3d. 12a was good but I didn’t get it. Had “defense” at 17a. Didn’t care much. Thought of “dressy” for 22d, but again, didn’t care enough. Too many CD/DD clues with not enough check letters makes for a grumpy Huw.

But keep on keeping on, Rufus, your puzzles are a special variety and I respect that. Thanks for the blog, Eileen, and the rest of you.

On to the State of the Union address! I think we are still “united”. What else is the POTUS supposed to say?

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:29:18 +0000

Brendan
“So many dodgy clues would not be tolerated on another day!”

See Tuesday and withdraw!

By: Brendan (not that one)

Brendan (not that one) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 22:07:52 +0000

Finished in the end but too many dodgy clues as already catalogued.

One in particular which people seemed to have bypassed is 21d. “Growing anger” giving NETTLE as a DD? In what sense does “growing” give NETTLE? It doesn’t seem to to work on any level. (Please don’t tell me it’s a CD as Ximenes will begin a rapid underground rotation!)

IMHO this is barely a Cryptic Crossword.

I’m afraid Rufus back to his awful best/worst.

No fun whatsoever!

And yes I may take the obvious advice which will come my way to boycott the compiler. It just seems such a waste of a Guardian crossword day. So many dodgy clues would not be tolerated on another day!

By: Sil van den Hoek

Sil van den Hoek — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:45:59 +0000

Thanks Eileen.
Today I had a day off from work, and did five (!) crosswords.
The FT’s Dante (that I have to blog), Punk, Arachne’s Quiptic, Araucaria’s most recent Saturday Prize (one lying on the shelf) and this Rufus.

Isn’t it at least remarkable that (in fact, once more) this Rufus puzzle was the only one that I couldn’t finish [4d (well, my PinC thought it had to be BOUNDER, 5d (no idea)]?

It has all to do with these CDs and DDs, I fear.

Some really nice clues though.
12ac, 20ac, 26ac (here’s another one that entered ‘shell’ a bit too quickly), 27ac (Keep quiet – nice ‘lift & separate’).

By: muck

muck — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:15:02 +0000

Thanks Rufus and Eileen I had POINTER for 4dn, as in point-to-point, but couldn't make it work BOUNDER and BOUNCER are both better

By: Monkeypuzzler

Monkeypuzzler — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:49:28 +0000

Thanks to Eileen for her usual very clear solutions & suggestions.

I think that the catapult in 2d refers to the launching device for the planes on an aircraft carrier as opposed to actual exploding devices themselves, but it is still a weak clue in my opinion. It could be argued that anything emanating from a catapult is by definitiion a missile.

I am also less than whelmed by 5d. No “ah, clever!” moment, compared to, for example, 14a or 25a.

Never mind, good fun overall.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:17:42 +0000

Many thanks Eileen & Rufus.

This was quite easy for the most part but I also struggled with IRON DUKE after going down the RON route.

I also considered SHELL for 26a which didn’t help.

Very enjoyable!

By: michelle

michelle — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:19:31 +0000

Regarding 4d, I understand the points made by everyone above but I was fine with BOUNDER = “cad/outsider” + “jumper” as in a horse that jumps well so is good at steeplechase.

I guess that we sometimes have to stretch our imaginations quite a bit….. Having only started doing the Guardian crosswords last month, I find that my imagination has stretched by leaps and BOUNDS already!

By: michelle

michelle — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:15:08 +0000

I found this puzzle tough but enjoyable. Hardest for me was the NE corner. However, I found this easier than today’s Quiptic which I started but sort of gave up on so I came here to do the Rufus.

I liked many of the clues, especially 13a, 20a, 8a, 7a.

New for me was IRON DUKE as description of the Duke of Wellington.

Thanks for the blog, Eileen

By: Derek Lazenby

Derek Lazenby — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:28:06 +0000

Yeah, as all above. Didn’t waste time on 15 having got the I.O. as Lady came to mind but made no sense, so I kept moving. By the time I got back to it the K was there. And guess whose residence is just down the road?