Guardian 26,556 by Rufus

by

A nice start to the week from Rufus – I especially liked 1ac, 14dn and my favourite 25ac.

Across
1 HOT-WATER BOTTLE
Courage following trouble may provide comfort in retirement (3-5,6)

…this provides comfort once retired to bed. BOTTLE=”courage” following HOT WATER=”trouble”
8 REAMS
Concerning the morning’s papers (5)

=”papers”. RE=”Concerning”, plus AM’S=”the morning’s”
9 SUSTAINS
Keeps us confined in bad spots (8)

=”Keeps”. US, confined in STAINS=”bad spots”
11 DIP INTO
I’d return to awkward point and read just a few passages (3,4)

=”read just a few passages”. I’D reversed (“return”), plus (point)*
12 OPEN-AIR
Outdoor writer bursting into love song (4-3)

=”Outdoor”. PEN=”writer” in O=”love” plus AIR=”song
13 ENSUE
Points to the girl to follow (5)

=”follow”. E[ast] and N[orth] are compass “Points”, plus SUE=”girl”
15 FLEABITES
Feels a bit irritated by trifling annoyances (9)

=”trifling annoyances”. (Feels a bit)*
17 VICE SQUAD
Group going after sin? (4,5)

&lit definition. SQUAD=”group”, after VICE=”sin”
20 LURID
Sensational piece of luck getting free (5)

=”Sensational”. LU[ck], plus RID=”free”
21 ENLACES
Squirming eels can be seen in twists together (7)

=”twists together”. (eels can)*
23 SECTION
Notices damaged part (7)

=”part”. (Notices)*
25 MANICURE
Handy treatment for wild flower (8)

=”Handy treatment”. MANIC=”wild”, plus URE=”flower”, a river in Yorkshire
26 ALIBI
Proof of a convenient absence? (5)

Cryptic definition
27 RECORDING ANGEL
Music industry backer, who notes down each and every act (9,5)

an angel that records the acts of individual humans [wiki]. ANGEL also=”industry backer”, so “Music industry backer”=>RECORDING ANGEL
Down
1 HORS D’OEUVRES
Beginner’s course in French (4,8)

Cryptic definition, a French phrase for starter courses
2 TRAMP
Go for a long walk, or take up afternoon painting (5)

=”Go for a long walk”. Reversal (“take up”) of PM ART=”afternoon painting”
3 ABSENTEES
Not so busy types told to go in a busy type’s place (9)

=”Not so busy types”. SENT=”told to go”, in A BEE’S=”a busy type’s”
4 EASE OFF
We hear cockney bloke’s going to relax (4,3)

=”relax”. Sounds like “[H]’e’s off”=”cockney bloke’s going”
5 BESPOKE
Is said to be ordered beforehand (7)

&lit definition. SPOKE=”Is said”, with BE ordered before it.
6 TRADE
Employment exchange? (5)

=”Employment”=occupation; also =”exchange”
7 LANCASTER
Gaunt house (9)

John of Gaunt [wiki] was the first Duke of Lancaster.
10 PRESIDENTIAL
Parent lied — is out of order, like Nixon and Clinton? (12)

=”like Nixon and Clinton”. (Parent lied is)*
14 SICK LEAVE
Is one ill at ease with this? (4,5)

Cryptic definition – one is both “ill” and “at ease” while on SICK LEAVE.
16 BALACLAVA
Battle helmet (9)

=”Battle”; also =”helmet”
18 UNSOUND
Imperfect result of a French test (7)

=”Imperfect”. UN=”a [in] French”, plus SOUND=”test”
19 DISCERN
Spot Cinders acting up (7)

=”Spot”. (Cinders)*
22 CAIRO
Company about to declare capital (5)

=”capital”. CO[mpany], around AIR=”declare”
24 ICING
Freezing, despite a topcoat? (5)

=”Freezing”; also =”a topcoat” on a cake

43 comments on “Guardian 26,556 by Rufus”

  1. Thank you Rufus and Manehi

    I agree that it was a nice start to the week, especially as I am in the process of easing myself back into doing a cryptic crossword (or two) every day.

    My favourites were 17a, 1a and 25a (LOI).

  2. Thanks Rufus and manehi
    Entertaining. I liked the same ones as you did, manehi; particularly MANICURE, as it took me some time to see how it worked.

  3. Thanks, manehi.

    As often, my favourites are the same as yours, plus HORS D’OEUVRES and FLEABITES.

    27ac immediately took me back to Primary School, where we had to learn by heart Leigh Hunt’s poem ‘Abou Ben Adhem’ [may his tribe increase!]. I’ve since found that seems to go for the majority of people I know – or, rather, asked – but I’ve never come across it again!

    Thanks to Rufus for an enjoyable puzzle.

  4. Thank you, manehi, needed you to parse MANICURE.

    Not encountered RECORDING ANGEL before and it gives me quite a queasy feeling…not sure I’d like to peek into my particular log!

    Nice week, all.

  5. A nicely elegant and solvable start to the week. But wouldn’t the stereotypical cockney say “e’s orff”, rather than “e’s off”. Suppose the cockney bit could just relate to “bloke’s”.

  6. I very much like 9a, it’s simple but elegant. The construction is obvious but the surface is so convincing that I was still mislead.

  7. Thanks Rufus and manehi.

    I did enjoy this, the only annoying thing (and nothing to do with Rufus) was the crossword convention of not indicating apostrophes, HORS D’OEUVRES, letter count (4,1’7) seems perfectly feasible.

    HOT-WATER BOTTLE, MANICURE, ABSENTEES and SICK LEAVE made me smile.

    6d, I think exchange needs underlining.

  8. Cookie@7, I understand your point, but wouldn’t that just make it a bit too easy, you could almost solve the clue by the word count alone.

  9. I’ve got Cookie’s complaint too, not really a complaint as I know it’s the convention but it delayed me all the same. This led to a delay on a couple of the associated crossers but otherwise a very fair start to the week from the red one.

    [Good to see so many bloggers and setters in Cambridge, here’s to the next one!]

  10. ANDYK @8, well, what about HOT-WATER (3-5), and OPEN-AIR (4-3), and the other week there was an Irish name given, say O’Connor (7), which is just not right. Yes, I know what you are thinking, what about MacGregor…

  11. Thanks, manehi.

    Pleasant puzzle from Rufus – my favourite was the anagram for FLEABITES which fitted seamlessly into the surface.

    My last ones in were VICE SQUAD (caught out yet again by my blind spot over ‘_U’ despite talking about it two days ago in Cambridge!) and HORS D’OEUVRES, where the apostrophe was as deceptive as always (this is NOT a complaint).

    Incidentally, HORS D’OEUVRES (literally ‘outside the (main) works’) was a term for an early course in lavish formal banquets. The modern French term for ‘starters’ is ‘entrée’ (which in older formal banquets was a later course which came immediately before the roast) – mystifying used by North Americans to mean ‘main course’.

  12. Thanks Rufus & manehi.

    Good puzzle – as usual I got a first few in and then ground to a bit of a halt with the cds. I’m impressed by Eileen @3 that she can remember anything from her primary school – I’m sure I don’t. 😉 Anyway, never heard of a RECORDING ANGEL, although he/she is not likely to be visiting these parts.

    We’ve had the discussion many times before about enumeration. My view is that punctuation is ignored in crosswords (apart from maybe in hyphenated words,) so I’m quite happy with (4,8) for HORS D’OEUVRES.

    Like Cyborg @6, I liked the misleading SUSTAINS, despite the use of ‘us’ in clue and answer. Other favourites were HOT-WATER BOTTLE, VICE SQUAD and the lovely MANICURE.

    P.S. Is anyone else having trouble with the ‘Preview Comment’ button – it doesn’t seem to be working on my Windows/IE system?

  13. Hi Robi

    It’s a well-known phenomenon of advancing age that it’s often easier to recall things learned in Primary School than things one was told last week.

    Great to see you again on Saturday – I do remember that. 😉

  15. Following my first S&B attendance on Saturday, (thanks to all), I’m setting my default crossword as The Guardian. So far, so good, (apart needing a little help with my French spelling).

  16. Yes,nice puzzle and a gentle start to the week. I’m not sure about the apostrophe thing. I can’t say the lack of one in today’s clue delayed me at all. However 1dn was something of an old chestnut. Perhaps we should leave this to the discretion of the setter.
    Thanks Rufus.

  18. Eileen @13; unfortunately I don’t remember primary school or last week very well. Good to see you again and hope the wrist is healing well. Wot no preview! 😉

  19. Thanks Rufus and manehi

    I’m thinking that the standard of Rufus puzzle has risen significantly over the part month or so … and the trend continued with this one. Now we are seeing the clever elegance and nuance that he is renowned for with just the right mix of cd’s and dd’s.

    ENLACED was my last in … and shouldn’t have been and didn’t properly parse ABSENTEES.

    Liked the same few clues that have already been mentioned.

  20. Hi Robi @12
    “P.S. Is anyone else having trouble with the ‘Preview Comment’ button – it doesn’t seem to be working on my Windows/IE system?”

    Thanks for drawing my attention to this issue. I have investigated and found that the WordPress plug-in I installed which generates the preview has not been updated for five years. It worked correctly until last week when an automatic WordPress update was up installed. It would appear that the plug-in is not compatible with the latest version of WordPress so I have deactivated it.

    So far I have only been able to find one other plug-in that will generate a preview but my tests in the sandbox indicate that it is not compatible with the theme that the site uses. There may be a way round this by modifying some code in one of the theme’s .php files but it will probably take me a few days to sort this out (if I can at all).

  22. I enjoyed this – not his easiest but nothing too difficult either. Liked MANICURE (my last in) and HORS D’OUEVRES.

    Re Preview – it was working fine for me on Saturday, and I find it quite useful especially when checking that links display correctly, so I think removing it may be doing more harm than good…

    Thanks to Rufus and manehi

  23. My beef with the apostrophe in HORS D’OEUVRES is that it’s not really doing the same thing it is in English. For us, it’s a contraction: we treat “it’s” as one word. In French and Italian, at least as I understand it, it marks an elision: the vowel in “de” is not pronounced, so not written—but “d’ ” is still thought of as a separate word from “oeuvres.” So “hors d’oeuvres” is three words, not two, and (4,8) is false.

    Question for the crowd: Would you be okay with a double-definition where one but not both definitions ignored an apostrophe? For example: “Is unable to tilt (4)” for CANT?

  25. Thanks to Rufus and manehi. The Enigmatist prize puzzle totally defeated me (no surprise) but this one came together almost immediately (last item in was the “sound” in UNSOUND). I even got EASE OFF right away (I usually have much travail with Cockney-East London clues) and URE was already on my mental list of UK rivers. Re RECORDING ANGEL: I have come across the term used in the theatre to denote someone who keeps track of what has been said and done during the rehearsal process.

  26. mrpenney @23: I think your clue would be ok if we add “reportedly” or “we hear” at the end.

  28. I think mrpenney’s clue is fine as it is – I don’t understand what homophones have to do with it

  29. @24, 26: yeah, I asked the question because, to me, can’t and cant aren’t spelled the same; the apostrophe DOES matter. So apostrophes really shouldn’t be ignored in clue numerations the way they are.

    (If you’re okay with HORS D’OEUVRES as (4,8), you should also be okay with my CANT (or CAN’T) clue, right?)

  30. I think the convention is as it is because indicating the apostrophes makes it too easy to guess the answers from the enumeration alone.

  31. I didn’t get 1d at all because I put in issue for 13a. Ho hum.

    If I can get back onto my hobby horse? I agree that the last three or four Rufus puzzles have been harder. In response to all the moans about it? We will soon have a Guardian daily crossword only for a few aficionados.

  34. mrpenny@23. I think your clue omitting the apostrophe is elegant.

    I agree with some here that the apostrophe should be ignored because it gives certain things away – something that a hyphen doesn’t. Where the apostrophe would be placed it could only be a “d” or an “o” and that makes it too easy to guess.

    The difference between it’s and d’oeuvres is not that different, both indicate a missing letter.

  35. Lemma @34: Thanks!

    And you’re right about the apostrophe giving too much away, I suppose. [Trying to think of other letters besides O and D that could begin a word and be followed by an apostrophe: L (as in the opera L’elisir d’amore, or many similar examples); S (as in s’il vous plait, though that’s probably the only example that would be fair game in an English-language crossword); I (I’ve, I’ll, etc., but that’d require a three-letter word). And that’s it.]

  36. Rufus is a lovely setter, he makes me laugh, even if it’s always someone-else who gets his elegant &lits first. This time,
    would have got in first with ‘hors d’oeuvres’ only can’t spell. Why ‘place’ at end of 3dn? [Sunshine, wine and most excellent company, so many thanks for a truly enjoyable Cambridge afternoon! Only thing, where was HH? Come back Hedgehoggy, all is forgiven… ]88

  37. Lemma @34, there are several other things it can be, other than d or o, see today’s Indy. Better not set clues with answers that should have an apostrophe if it is not indicated.

  38. I had a question about 3D as well as I thought “busy types place” was A BEES NEST anagrammed to ABSENTEES which I know is an indirect anagram and not allowed. Like Caroline, I’m unsure of the purpose of “place” in the clue unless it’s just for surface.

  39. Re ABSENTEES, I like the anagram! But I think the reading is: you have “X in Y place”, which can just about be read as ‘place X in Y’ (where X=SENT=”told to go” and Y=A BEE’S=”a busy type’s”.) So place SENT in A BEE’S to get ABSENTEES.

    On apostrophes, hyphens and similar: I’d be quite happy with these being enumerated in the same way as separate words – so 3,5,6 and 4,1,7 for 1ac and 1dn today. (With obvious caveats that such a change in policy would have to be consistently applied and clearly communicated.)

  40. This apostrophe only occurs because the last word starts with a vowel. I’m sure that “hors de combat” would be given as (4,2,6), so it seems a little perverse that hors d(e) oeuvres isn’t (4,1,7).

  41. To Jolly Swagman -Hi -Fairy Liquid has been available in Coles for the last year or so. Hope this helps.

  42. I’m late to the party so probably very few people will read this, but I’ll post anyway.

    Apostrophes: I think the comparison with “can’t” and “it’s” is misleading. If a setter included CANT or ITS as a solution, I think they’d be thinking of the single words, not the contractions. I don’t think any setter would include THEY’D or WOULDN’T as an single word answer (although they could creep in as part of quotations, so there would still be problem with enumerating them then). It’s just coincidence that some words are the same as a common contraction if you ignore the apostrophe. When that happens, I think it is legitimate to use that fact as part of cryptic clueing, but that doesn’t make the actual solution CAN’T or IT’S, so the issue of showing the apostrophe in the enumeration doesn’t arise. With HORS D’OEUVRES, that is the actual answer, not a cryptic reading, so the issue does have to be addressed.

    I tend to agree with the view that if you aren’t going to show the apostrophe it is best to enumerate as (4,1,7) because the D’ is a contraction of DE, which is a separate word even though it is written with no space. However, what does the comma in enumerations represent? If it just represents an ‘interruption’ in the word, there would be no need to indicate a hyphen separately, and yet hyphenated words are indicated, so does the comma represent a space? If so, there is no space after the D in D’OEUVRES and it should be given as (4,8). Including the apostrophe in the enumeration would resolve it (and also problem with words like WOULDN’T in quotations), and I don’t think it would make puzzles much easier than when phrases include the words I or A which are clearly indicated by a 1 in the enumeration.

    In Irish names, O’ is just the way the Irish letter Ó is usually written in English, so there is not really an apostrophe there at all. Like Mac, it used to be written as a separate word and so Ó Connor would have been (1,6). It is now conventional for both to be written with no spaces (at least when writing in English), so if MacGregor is enumerated as (9) and McGregor as (8), O’Connor should logically be (7) as the Ó is exactly equivalent to the Mac prefix.

    As for the puzzle as a whole, I found it very enjoyable. My favourites were OPEN-AIR, HORS D’OEUVRES (even with the controversy) and MANICURE. Thanks, Rufus and manehi! Now on to today’s puzzle …

  43. Eileen @13

    Once again apologies for a late post.

    Forget about last week. While I remember primary school or earlier events, it’s often a case of why did I come to the fridge?.

Comments are closed.