As usual with Rufus cryptic definitions abound. There are no fewer than 6 straight CDs in this puzzle with a fair number of punning definitions playing a part in other clues. I’m not a great fan of the CD, the odd very good one now and then is nice but a couple in this puzzle didn’t seem to me to be much more than definitions. However, it’s not all bad! The non-CD clues were generally straightforward, as one would expect for a Monday puzzle, and there were some excellent anagrams.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | HONEST — HONES+T — nice surface with just providing the definition. |
| 5 | COMMUTER — cryptic def — this is a good CD. |
| 11 | ENTHUSIASTIC — (CUISINE THAT’S)* — a very nicely developed anagram Corrected, thanks to linxit. Not only had I spelled the answer incorrectly I had managed to get the anagram fodder wrong to match! |
| 14 | BLACKCAP — double def — the reference here is to the black cap a judge would wear when passing a death sentence, not a good omen for a criminal. |
| 17 | HELSINKI — HE + SINK in IL< |
| 18 | IBEX — I+BE+X — sometimes I don’t know my oryx from my ibex! I wrote IBYX in initially. |
| 20 | BLACK AND BLUE — double def — fans of snooker watching with 5 down will know that the blue ball is just behind the black ball. |
| 23 | AMOURS — cryptic def — I thought this was a very weak CD. |
| Down | |
| 3 | ENTRE NOUS — cryptic def — another weak CD, entre nous means between us, ie private. |
| 5 | COLOUR BLINDNESS — cryptic def — I didn’t like this one either, it was just too obvious. |
| 6 | MARGINAL — (ALARMING)* — a nice semi-&lit with the definition wrapping around the wordplay. |
| 8 | ELUCIDATES — (EDITS A CLUE)* — another nice anagram with a good surface reading. |
| 12 | SPEED LIMIT — (SIMPLE DIET)* — ditto. |
| 15 | KNIFE EDGE — double def — a knife edge can be ground sharp. Finely balanced games are said to be on a knife’s edge. |
| 19 | SLUICE — (CLUE IS)* — a second clue about clues from Rufus. Technically a sluice is a water gate, but the clue is contrived! Very post-modern. |
| 21 | CLUMP — (c)LUMP — the definition clues both clump and lump. |
| 22 | PEWS — cryptic def — another nice CD to end on! |
Spot on, Colin. The three cryptic definitions you mention were just not cryptic enough for me – foreign affairs as a definition with accompanying wordplay could have made a nice clue, but on its own? Entre nous, I’m not enamoured of it.
Usual enjoyable fare from Rufus (unlike Colin, I am a fan of CD’s so the more there are, the better in my view!). I particularly liked 1a, 6d, 14a, 15d, 21d and 22d – clever, well-constructed clues.
I’m with BenIngton here — Rufus is v. good about providing clean meaningful surfaces that have sensible but misleading context… which is more than I can say for some of his brethren at Guardian
Pedantry mode: on
11ac ENTHUSIASTIC – (cuisine that’s)*