Guardian 24,816 – Rufus

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An exemplary Monday puzzle – no odd constructions but still enough to exercise the grey matter on the commute.

Across

8. ON THE HOP. double definition
9. SPEARS. S.(PEAR)S.
10. TEMPTS. TE(MP)ST*.
11. NUISANCE. NU(IS)ANCE.
12. STYE. STY + E.
13. DECREE NISI. DESIRENICE*. Decrees Nisi are used in divorces, but not exclusively enough for me to be comfortable with it being used as a synonym.  Nice surface, though.
15. REGALIA. ALGERIA*
16. ACETONE. AC(ETON)E.
18. HEAD KEEPER. d.d.
19. BUMS. d.d.
20. ETHEREAL. ALETHERIS*
22. MISERY. MISER(l)Y.
23. REASON. SANEOR*
24. NON-LEGAL. LONGLANE*.

Down

1. UNDER THE WEATHER. d.d.
2. CHAPTER AND VERSE. c.d. Before a bible reading (‘lesson’) the chapter and verse are announced.
3. WHIST DRIVE. WHIST + DRIVE. I wasn’t previously aware that whist meant ‘shush’.
4. SPINACH. NIPS< + A C.H.
5. ASTI. AS + IT<
6. REMAINS TO BE SEEN. d.d.
7. BRICKS AND MORTAR. d.d.
14. ESCARPMENT. CAMPERS* + (t)ENT.
17. OPULENT. OP. + U + LENT.
21. ETNA. ANTE<

13 comments on “Guardian 24,816 – Rufus”

  2. 1d is *(THE THUNDER WE ARE) rather than a simple dd.

    Etna appears in today’s Indy with a very similar clue “Put up stake for mount with hot tip?” and ‘asti’ is in today’s Times though with totally different wordplay.

  4. I finished all but about 4 of the clues in a pb of about 8 minutes; the 4 took another 20 mins. These were 9a, 11a, 5d and 7d. It didn’t help to have SOUP for 5d, which would have been a typical CD for Rufus.

  5. I’m missing something with Bricks and mortar (or is it brick-sand-mortar ?) What exactly is the “of course” about ? Damp courses ? I know new graduates wear mortarboards, but that doesn’t quite seem sufficient to link it to courses.

  7. NealH
    Bricks are laid in ‘courses’. A course is a row of bricks or as Chambers puts it ‘a range of bricks or stones on the same level in building’.

  8. Just one away from finishing my first guardian crossword, i had ‘acetone’ in but with a different reason/guess( i had one + t inside ‘ace’ as in card ace in a card school)- which is wrong lol, i still cant figure out the real reason even tho you have posted it. I liked the ‘spinach’ and ‘remains to be seen’ clues. Good website by the way. Cheers.

  10. I’m starting to get fed up with this chemotherapy thing. When you are in such a fog that even a nice Rufus is a struggle it takes the fun away. Strangely, yesterday’s Everyman was no such problem, same doses. I don’t understand. Oh well, it was still fun seeing the explanations as Rufus is fun, so I got something out of it. Take all the positives eh? Got to like a guy who has the same appalling taste in puns etc!

  12. Derek – sorry to hear about your need for chemo. I went through it a few years ago – not fun at all – but came out fighting on the other side. I’m sure you’ll be rattling off Rufuses again before long!
    Chin up old boy.

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