Guardian 26,012 / Rufus

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The usual Rufus potpourri of anagrams, double definitions and ‘cryptic’ definitions – some more so than others [one of which I’m not entirely sure of].

Across

1 Where they wash French articles without water
LAUNDRY
LA + UN [a definite and an indefinite French article] + DRY [without water] – I rather liked this one

5 The cup-holders?
SAUCERS
Cryptic definition

10 Light joinery?
LINK
I checked that this is the answer, since quite a number of words would fit [my first thought, without any crossing letters, had been BEAM!] and I think it must be a cryptic reference to the links in a themed crossword puzzle – any offers?

11 A fight, but nobody is charged
FREE-FOR-ALL
Double / cryptic definition

12 When speaking, gathers crowds
HORDES
Sounds like [when speaking] hoards [gathers]

13 Avengers may explode deadly weapon
NERVE GAS
Anagram [may explode] of AVENGERS

14 Sleeping partner
BEDFELLOW
‘Cryptic’ definition

16 Flourish in US state prison
RIPEN
RI [US state] + PEN [prison]
This took a while to see, there being so little help from crossing letters and Rhode Island is not the first state to spring to my mind: I’m not entirely happy with the definition, but that’s perhaps nit-picking

17 Hit number
SCORE
Double definition

19 Freeloader surgeon prepared to accept credit
SCROUNGER
Anagram [prepared] of SURGEON round [accepting] CR [credit]

23 A metaphor is mixed but its content is pithy
APHORISM
Hidden in metAPHOR IS Mixed – my favourite clue today

24 One of two — or one in three, perhaps
EITHER
I [one] in anagram [perhaps] of THREE

26 A habit that will keep one dry
ABSTINENCE
Cryptic definition – a bit of a double bluff here, as far as I was concerned

27 Summon attendant
PAGE
Double definition

28 It’s beastly being a long time in one occupation
LEONINE
EON [a long time] in LINE [occupation]

29 Position of jockey produces a certain pace
ASTRIDE
A STRIDE [certain pace]

Down

2 Fat and foolish, said Poe
ADIPOSE
Anagram [foolish] of SAID POE

3 Barely visible
NAKED
Cryptic definition

4 Denial of fault in the show ring
REFUSAL
Double definition, with a reference to show-jumping, where a horse’s refusal to jump counts as a fault

6 Maintain a strong company
AFFIRM
A F [strong] FIRM [company]

7 Ascertain unusual view of a philosopher
CARTESIAN
Anagram [unusual] of ASCERTAIN

8 New pop CD — free!
RELEASE
Double definition

9 Check for mortar to be used in fortification
REINFORCEMENT
REIN [check] + FOR + CEMENT [mortar]

15 Out of one’s mind
FORGOTTEN
Cryptic definition

18 Prevail over island uprising, being effic­ient
CAPABLE
CAP [prevail over] + reversal [uprising] of ELBA [island]

20 Cover removers in action at start of cricket match
OPENERS
Double definition, openers being opening batsmen

21 A thousand accepted by university award, set up and developed
EMERGED
M [a thousand] in reversal [set up] of DEGREE [university award]

22 Nominally commit oneself to work?
SIGN ON
Cryptic definition

25 Fall off in a spill
TAPER
Double definition

40 comments on “Guardian 26,012 / Rufus”

  1. I enjoyed this puzzle, although I failed to solve 10a LINK, which I then parsed as dd: 1/ steel links of chain mail and 2/ noun (historical) – a torch of pitch and tow for lighting the way in dark streets.

    I liked 21d, 3d, 28a & 4d and my favourites were 1a LAUNDRY, 20d OPENERS & 24a EITHER

    Thanks for the blog, PeterO.

  2. For 3d, I think I parsed it more as a dd, although “barely” should then be “nakedly”, and I parsed “visible” = NAKED as in the “naked/visible/obvious/unconcealed truth”.

    I guess I just did not understand that “naked” = “barely visible”.

  4. Thanks Eileen and Rufus,

    I also failed on LINK, I had it in a short list of 2, with “silk” being the one I chose. Thanks to Michelle@1 for parsing the correct answer.

    I had SCORE as a cryptic definition (the number of hits) but think you may be correct that it is a DD.

    I initially had “continence” instead of ABSTINENCE (!).

    I thought there were some clever clues here, and it is always very nice to learn a new meaning to a word, as in LINK.

  5. Thanks for the ‘light’ definition of LINK, michelle [I think you mean ‘steel *ring* of chain mail in your first definition].

    So I was seeing cryptic definitions where there weren’t any!

  6. Muffyword@4
    I also initially entered “continence” @ 26a!

    I see your point re SCORE = number of hits. I parsed it as a dd: 1/ “hit”, as in “his new movie really scored (be a hit, be successful)” and 2/ number (3×20 = 60). Does that work, or should the answer then have been SCORES? I seem to be talking myself out of my own parsing. Maybe it is both cryptic and dd?

  7. Eileen@5
    yes, I did mean steel rings of chain mail – thanks for the correction.

    I was going to add that I thought that 14a BEDFELLOW was not very cryptic, and find that it seems to have gone missing in the blog above. I also found that 5a & 15d were not very cryptic, but maybe I am missing something?

  9. Michelle@7

    I think for BEDFELLOW, SAUCERS and FORGOTTEN the clues more obviously suggest alternatives – an inactive business partner, a sports team that most recently won a trophy, and being deranged respectively.

  10. I enjoyed this, not least cos I’m feeling really great this week, after long time of having the shakes!! And really though this a nice puzzle for Monday.

    Even though it isn’t very ‘cryptic’ I still liked CUP HOLDERS as a way to describe ‘saucers’ and it made me laugh.

    Thank you Tufus and Eileen!

    Rowly.

  11. As I’ve said before, it’s odd what sticks –

    “Thou hast saved me a thousand marks in links and torches … betwixt tavern and tavern”. (Bardolph)

    I think they’re the things angry villagers pluck along with pitch-forks when they march on castles.

    Thanks for the blog, Eileen. I always find it difficult to distinguish the CDs from the DDs. I had SIGN ON as a DD. (Sign on for, say, the Christmas Club and sign on the dole. Nice use of ‘commit oneself to work’ there since for a long time it’s been synonymous with ‘not working.’. Though I suppose there are other possibilities in meaning.

  12. Thanks Eileen and Rufus

    Much as expected – some write-ins and some real teasers and generally clever cluing.

    I ticked 23a, 24a, 26a (busy looking for raincoats first), 9d and 21d.

    I decided 10a had to be link and then confirmed it in Collins (link2).

  14. Hi xjp @13

    I did, too, but I checked that one, along with LINK. Like aztobesed, I think of signing on as being more to do with being out of work.

  15. Thanks Eileen and Rufus.

    I suppose when you sign on you are committing to {find} work [otherwise you won’t get unemployment benefit!]

    I quite liked EITHER, which wasn’t immediately obvious to me. Thanks to Michelle @1 for the other meaning of LINK.

  17. I think SIGN IN is an acceptable alternative at 22dn. Some firms used to make their employees sign in as they entered the building, and by doing that they were surely committing themselves to work. There is nothing in Rufus’s cryptic definition to suggest that he is definitely thinking about people having to sign on for unemployment benefit.

  18. Andy B @ 17

    I agree. In fact, if you want to commit yourself to working the crossword on-line, you are required to sign in and when finished, if you want to unlink your computer you sign off ( or is it out?)

    I suppose ‘signing on’ always was committing oneself to fiinding work – though in the 50s and 60s it was obvious once you signed on the Labour Exchange would send you off for various interviews. ‘Signing on’ in the 70s and 80s (when there was little hope of landing a job) became more associated with ‘signing your name for a giro’. They tried to reinforce the idea of the contract by calling it Job Seekers’ Allowance – if you can prove you’re looking for employment, we’ll pay you meanwhile.

    Thinking about it, Eileen is probably right and it’s a straight CD with odd after-pings on the sonar.

  21. Thanks to Rufus and Eileen. I’m with the SIGN IN crowd. I had WICK at 10ac. I can’t defend it but that didn’t stop me from entering it.

    Cheers…

  23. Rowland, I don’t agree with the substance of some of your comments but I will say that I was appalled at my own reluctance to challenge certain of the more aggressive crowd that have populated this site of late who had chosen to make light of your dyspraxia, as though you would consciously choose it. My apologies – still doesn’t mean you can get away with ridiculous opinions though! 🙂

  24. It is a bit more complicated than that unfortunately Neil, but thank you so much for your kindness. I think my opinions pronbably are quite ‘idiosyncratic’!! It was a bit horrible being got at.

  27. Links were for more than angry villagers marching on castles: they were what everybody needed if they wanted to go out after dark, once upon a time. You hired a “link-boy” to go ahead of you to light your way.

  28. I also agonised over ‘sign on’ and ‘signed in’ at 22d, eventually plumping for the former, though I think that either could be defended. Coincidentally, in the Times today there is controversy over ‘assegai’ or ‘assagai’ where, again, either could work.

  29. A little more challenging than usual for a Monday.

    I suppose all the debate about possible answers really demonstrates what I dislike about the CD and DD. If the setter is not extremely careful there are several answers which fit the grid and the clue. Of course the correct one is the one the setter initially entered in the grid. Unfortunately the solver has no way of determining this.

    Another possibility for 6d was AFFORD but I decided that AFFIRM was “probably” what R had chosen!

    Thanks to Eileen and Rusus.

  31. By the way I forgot to mention that I left 10a with only the crossers as I considered it unsolvable.

    All the parsings on here seem to cite LINK as a part of a chain. But can anyone tell me where I can find a definition of “joinery” which is not exclusively to do with “joining” wood. i.e. the trade of a Joiner?

  32. Re 28 that was a homophone clue (‘as a guy’), which as you say is just as ambiguous as a CD! There was blood …

  34. Nice Rufus. I start to appreciate them more and more and I think he’s given us a good run recently.

    Guessed it must be LINK but had no idea of the light side – I think michelle adn azto have it.

    &B(NTO) it’s surely cryptic joinery so the normal meaning doesn’t matter.

    @Rowland #24. I am very pleased to hear of the improvement in your health and I do hope that things continue to get better. I hope that nothing I have ever written has made you feel that you were being “got at” – if that was the impression I can assure you that it was not the intention so please accept my unreserved apologies. 🙁

    This would be a boring place if everybody agreed on everything – but I think you are being too hard on yourself by describing your own comments as idiosyncratic. In fact they are completely congruent – pretty well 100% so – with those of another poster here – so whilst I may rarely agree with them, you are by no means alone in holding those views.

    Hope the improvement continues for you.

  35. JS @34

    re 10a

    OK?!!!!

    I think you’ve devised a new clue type then.

    We have DD in which a clue is defined twice. (Here I would expect two definitions, non-crptic ones.)

    Or we have CD in which we have 1 definition but which is “cryptic”. (i.e. it may bend the rules of strict definition)

    Now we have perhaps the CDD in which one half of the clue is a CD and the other a normal definition.

    I’ll add it to the list next to

    NC – Not cryptic at all
    and
    JW – Just wrong

    😉

  36. @B(NTO)

    I think we’ve seen clues not too long ago which were a kind of DD where both parts were cryptic rather than literal. Googled for a bit but couldn’t find one and can’t spend too long just now.

    In the present instance LIGHT for LINK isn’t cryptic – it’s just a bit obscure – but that gives you still more crypticness than the standard DD.

    One of the dangers of categorising things is to then assume the invalid corollary that anything that doesn’t fit into the categories defined so far must be inherently wrong. If a normal CD is accepted as valid then surely bolting together two which point at the same word can’t be called unfair.

  37. Well we’ve got 2 words.

    The first is a very obscure definition for LINK

    The second an cryptic definition(in your opinion), extremely cryptic (in mine) for LINK.(If we tried to go the reverse way how long do you think it would be before someone came up with JOINERY? Eons?)

    Finally hardly anybody seems to have got it!

    I think it was unfair 😉

  38. B(nto) & JS

    Rufus’s DDs are often at least a bit cryptic.
    26006: ‘gather together’ for RAISE
    26000: ‘TV line between Britain and France’ for CHANNEL
    25994: ‘noted’ for MINDED.

    ‘Light’ for LINK is very obscure. Even azto, who recognized it himself, admits as much.
    I read the clue as an iffy (Rufusian) CD much as Eileen did in the blog.
    Araucaria often writes clues that can be parsed in two (sometimes dodgy) ways.

    In 26000 Rufus gives us ‘Rehearsal for a TT race?’. manehi parsed ‘TT’ as DRY and ‘race’ as RUN.
    I parsed ‘TT race?’ as a CD for DRY RUN. Good clue.

  39. I liked 13, 24,and 9. Did not like 22. No way to decide between sign in and sign on.

    Whatever, it’s a Rufus. Lots of anagrams and insoluble/unprovable “cryptic” clues. Hence my list of what I liked.

    10 was a disaster for a Monday.

    Glad to see Rowly is getting better.

    Thanks for the puzzle, Rufus, and the excellent blog as usual, Eileen!

  40. @B(NTO) & R #37, #38

    We may have a level of agreement here. If “unfair” can mean “what’s a ridiculously tricky clue like this doing in the Monday puzzle slot which we are told is supposed to be easy” then I fully agree.

    OTOH I read rho as agreeing with me that the mechanics of it are OK, especially in the Rufusian corner of the world.

    OTOH again (I’ve got three hands) he does bung the odd stinker in now and again.

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