Guardian Cryptic No 25,329 by Rufus

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I found this easier than some recent Rufuses; not too heavy on the cryptic definitions (which I regard as a plus), but making up for it in the envelope department – if not quite up to the Brendan that I blogged the other week.

Across
7. About to be trapped in quarrel — shame! (9)
DISREPUTE Envelope (‘in’) of RE (‘about’) in DISPUTE (‘quarrel’).
8. Not smiling back (5)
STERN Double definition.
9. Set light to powerful explosive (9)
GELIGNITE Charade of GEL (‘set’) + IGNITE (‘light’).
10. Measures taken to decorate indoors? (5)
STEPS Definition and cryptic definition.
12. Set day out for regular date (6)
STEADY Double definition.
13. Workout cut without hesitation (8)
EXERCISE Envelope (‘without’) of ER (‘hesitation’) in EXCISE (‘cut’).
14. The lowest acceptable price is a pound (7)
RESERVE Double definition. Simple but with a very effective surface – a prime Rufus clue.
17. Pile made by industrious workers (7)
ANTHILL Cryptic definition.
20. Hellenic form of cord (8)
CHENILLE Anagram (‘form’) of ‘hellenic’. Chenille is a yarn made by trapping short lengths of pile between two twisted threads, and also refers to the (roughly) corded fabric made from this yarn.
22. Exist to maintain a young scout (6)
BEAVER Charade of BE (‘exist’) + AVER (‘maintain’). Beavers are the youngest branch of Scouting, younger even than Wolf Cubs.
24. Beastly way for Caesar to address his killer (5)
BRUTE Best known as the quote “Et tu, Brute” (And you, Brutus) in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Suetonius reports that some Romans had reported a similar phrase in Greek as Caesar’s dying words.
25. Sent flying! (9)
AIRMAILED Cryptic definition.
26. Travel in colourless form of transport (5)
WAGON Envelope (‘in’) of GO (‘travel’) in WAN (‘colourless’).
27. Insecure, having not been paid (9)
UNSETTLED Double definition.
Down
1. Manage to show the way (6)
DIRECT Double definition.
2. Angry about dress getting wet (8)
IRRIGATE Envelope (‘about’) of RIG (‘dress’) in IRATE (‘angry’). Another fine surface.
3. Gymnastics exclusively seen outside in public (6)
OPENLY Envelope (‘seen outsdide’) of PE (physical education, ‘gymnastics’) in ONLY (‘exclusively’).
4. Have initial difficulty in talking (7)
STUTTER Cryptic definition, with reference to the distinction sometimes made that stuttering involves the repetition of the initial sounds of words, stammering being other kinds of speech impediments.
5. Make cat sit still (6)
STATIC Anagram (‘make’) of ‘cat sit’.
6. Offer support and love to girl (8)
PROPOSAL Charade of PROP (‘support’) + O (‘love’) + SAL (‘girl’).
11. Intend to get tight (4)
MEAN Double definition; tight in the sense of penny-pinching.
15. Late rising around this place — that’s heavenly! (8)
ETHEREAL Envelope (‘around’) of HERE (‘this place’) in ETAL, a reversal (‘rising’, in a down clue) of ‘late’.
16. Glen’s farewell (4)
VALE Double definition; vale as farewell is best known from the phrase “ave atque vale” (hail and farewell) from a poem in which Catullus addresses his dead brother.
18. Any hitch may be attributable to this bulb going out (8)
HYACINTH Anagram (‘may be’) of ‘any hitch’. “Going out’ is there mainly for the surface suggestion of a light bulb, but might be justified as indicating the planting of a hyacinth in the garden.
19. Mid-evening in days before Easter can be quite mild (7)
LENIENT Envelope (‘in’) of ENI (‘mid-evENIng’) in LENT (‘days before Easter’).
21. Thought it will turn up in time (6)
NOTION Envelope (‘in’) of TI, a reversal (‘up’, in a down clue) of ‘it’ in NOON (‘time’).
22. Extra large, troublesome delivery (6)
BUMPER Double definition; a bumper in cricket is a ball delivered to bounce dangerously high in front of a batsman.
23. Number of the French in uniform (6)
ELEVEN Envelope (‘in’) of LE (‘the French’) in EVEN (‘uniform’).

17 comments on “Guardian Cryptic No 25,329 by Rufus”

  1. Thank you, Peter.

    An enjoyable start to my crosswording week. I thought this was Rufus on fine form; my favourites today were RESERVE and AIRMAILED, but there were plenty of other well-crafted clues as well.

    I always thought STUTTER and STAMMER were pretty much the same thing, but perhaps you’re right and there is a distinction.

  2. Many thanks Peter.

    It sure was nice to see Rufus back where he belongs. Mondays are not the same without one of his Cryptics.

    Many thanks Rufus.

  3. Thanks Peter.

    I think you’ll find 12ac is an anagram of ‘day set’, rather than a dd.

    I knew of bouncers, but ‘bumpers’ are new to me – it’s decades since I’ve been able to enjoy a cricket match 🙁

    Rufus on fine form today, thank you.

  4. Thanks PeterO and Rufus

    A good puzzle. Airmailed went in last – a nice cryptic definition. Others to please included 14a, and 5d.

    To my annoyance I guessed 6d and read it literally, being in a hurry to get some of the harder ones. Another well constructed clue.

  5. I think 6d is a kind of &lit as well. I thought this was the best of the clues.

    Left cold by Rufus, as so often; bring back Brendan to Mondays.

  6. Thanks PeterO and Rufus.

    I agree with Stella about 12ac.
    20ac was my favorite here.
    Bumpers fitted but it as not a term I felt comfortable with as they were always bouncers for me.
    And 14ac gave me all sorts of trouble. But that was because I forgot about pounds keeping things.
    All in all a gentle start to the week.

  7. Some decent clues (6 and 9 stand out), but like Dave Ellis I’m left cold – too many feeble witticisms, and much of the wordplay simply correct, with no imaginative appeal.

    (15) Pity that we had ‘late’ given in the clue and then rising in the solution – something about the dead rising might have given a better surface, and been more topical.

  8. Thanks all
    Very (too) straightforward.
    I was slightly held up by ‘bumper’ and ‘airmailed’ largely because the former was only vaguely known to me (‘beamer’ is more common and quite different to ‘bouncer’).
    Wouldn’t 6d need to be “Offer of support….” to be &lit.
    Like Martin I dallied with ‘dead’ in 15d before settling on the too obvious ‘late’.

  9. Thanks to PeterO for the blog.

    I was another who saw 12a as (SET DAY)*.
    I have never heard of beavers as being very young scouts – the youngest I’m aware of are cubs.

    Also in the state of learning new things: I had heard of chenille as a sort of cloth but did not know that is also the name of the cord used to make the cloth.

    General observation about this crossword: it was a bit disappointing.

  10. Enjoyable puzzle with the usual nice surfaces. I particularly liked ANTHILL.

    Thanks PeterO for your good blog; as I’ve said before it’s good to have the clues above for cross-referencing. I’m not sure I quite understand pound=RESERVE (last in.) Is it in the sense of a reserve currency or as Mystogre @6 in the sense of dog pound, or am I missing something?

    BUMPER/bouncer is referenced here.

  12. K’s D @1- a quick trawl through online dictionaries left me confused as to what difference (if any) there is between stuttering and stammering, and, if there is a difference, which is which; so I cling to a couple of references which address the matter directly – http://www.talktalk.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/english/data/d0082836.html and http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/64082-stammer-stutter.html.
    Stella @3 – I am not sure how, between solving and blogging, the obvious anagram in 12A became a double definition. I plead insanity.
    RCWhiting @8 – like Stella, it is a very long while since I had any contact with cricket; thanks to Robi @10 for the reference giving bumper as a less common term for bouncer, a ball bowled short to bounce up high in front of the batsman, which is basically legal, if intimidating. A beamer gets to a similar area without bouncing, and in not legal. I agree that adding an ‘of’ to 6D would make a good &lit.
    Chas @9 – I had not come across Beaver Scouts before. It seems that the branch started in countries other than the UK, but is now accepted there also.
    Robi @10 – in 14A, I took ‘pound’ as in dog pound, but perhaps it is a closer fit in the verbal sense of enclose or confine.

  13. Hi Peter, it would have surprised me that you hadn’t seen it as I did; I was just pointing out the blogging error. They occur all too easily, especially if you have to do two in one day. Well done, and thanks again.

  17. Nice to be back from a diet of sardines and clams for the past couple of weeks.

    Rufus is, I think, made of sterner stuff these days and he very nearly had me with RESERVE, which I had to “go through the alphabet” in order to get.

    Trust everyone is well and enjoying the decent start to the summer. Good to hear (courtesy of K`s Dad) of the Birmingham “do”. Roll on!

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