Guardian 26,060 by Rufus

by

Rufus back after his return to the Guinness book of records.

The most prolific setter was dropped from the book for a while. Not as many CDs and DDs as we often get but ugh lots of 2/5, 3/7 and 4/9 checking letters made this a solver unfriendly grid.

Across
7 CUSTOMARY Routine disguise for army scout (9)
  [ARMY SCOUT]* Probably an old favourite but don’t remember it.
8 STREW Wrest apart and scatter (5)
  WREST*
9 FORTNIGHT Keep dark for a set period (9)
  FORT (keep) & NIGHT
10 PALMA Drink brought back by mother from holiday resort (5)
  LAP rev & MA
12 ARCHES Search frantically for means of support (6)
  SEARCH*
13 OVERHEAD Business expense that has gone up? (8)
  OVER HEAD cryptic – ish def.
14 SHYSTER Unscrupulous person retiring to rest, perhaps (7)
  SHY & REST*
17 CONTEST Study exam question (7)
  CON & TEST
20 COLLAPSE Firm left to slip into bankruptcy? (8)
  CO. & L & LAPSE
22 CERISE This French rebel is a red (6)
  CE (french for this) & RISE
24 AWFUL Legitimate student expelled with dire result (5)
  NO Learner in (l)awful
25 PEN-PUSHER Clerk to confine drug pedlar (3-6)
  PEN (confine) & PUSHER
26 INDEX Finger the back of a book (5)
  Double def
27 WATERMILL Complain loudly about schooltime left — it may be grinding (9)
  TERM in WAIL & L
Down
1 RUMOUR Unusual for us to gossip (6)
  RUM & OUR
2 STITCHES Sharp pains produced by needles (8)
  Double def
3 AMBITS It is included in a doctor’s rounds (6)
  IT in A & MB’S
4 ARCH-FOE Horace set about female — his main opponent? (4-3)
  F(emale) in HORACE*
5 ATTACH New act with hat and stick (6)
  [ACT HAT]*
6 SET MEALS Of course, there’s no choice with these (3,5)
  Cryptic def
11 HERO He goes down or rises as the star (4)
  HE (it is a down clue…) & OR rev
15 HOODWINK Robin to indicate complicity in trick (8)
  (robin) HOOD & WINK
16 ESPY See key goes to the agent (4)
  E (key) & SPY
18 TIRESOME Novel is remote and tedious (8)
  [IS REMOTE]*
19 VETERAN Old soldier — there could be a few neater characters (7)
  V (5, a few) & NEATER*
21 LAUREL Hardy, no: evergreen, yes (6)
  Stan and Ollie
22 COPPER A good conductor works on the beat (6)
  Double def
23 SPELLS Times of enchantment (6)
  Double def

20 comments on “Guardian 26,060 by Rufus”

  1. Thanks flashling and Rufus
    I find it very difficult to put my finger on what makes some crosswords easier than others. Most of these clues were entertaining and nicely constructed, but the solutions to the majority popped into my head as I read them (this isn’t often the case!)
    I did have some difficulty with SET MEALS and PALMA – the definition for the latter was so loose as to be of little help in solving it, I thought.

  2. Pleasant enough Rufus.

    Thanks flashling; I didn’t much like V = ‘a few,’ but I suppose it is allowable. I would think of PALMA as more of a holiday destination rather than a resort – leave that to Magaluf. 😉

    I liked the SHYSTER and INDEX [@1 ‘I find it very difficult to put my finger on what makes some crosswords easier than others.’ :)]

  3. Rufus shows (as he does all too occasionally) that he is capable of composing a sound cryptic without the sort of pongy clues that set off so many blog contributors (including me). No complaints that it was an easy solve — that is his brief for a Monday — and thanks for a proper crossword, and thanks for the blog. Keep up the good work, Rufus.

  5. Congratulations, Rufus, for your achievement and thanks to flashling for the blog.

    Robi @2, PALMA was my last in but it used to be the only resort/holiday destination that anyone had heard of in the Balearics many years ago!

    Giovanna xx

  6. Thanks flashling and Rufus

    It took a little time for me to penetrate this puzzle. As flashling remarks the grid and the double word answers did not help.

    No complaints though. I particularly liked 14a, 15d and 21d.

  7. Thanks to flashling for the blog. You explained 1d where I had the right idea but could not see why.

    When I first looked at 7a I thought CAMOUFLAGE but that is too long. It took me quite a while to spot ‘disguise’ as an anagrind 🙁

  8. I thought this was a good quality Rufus puzzle.

    I raced through the top half and then the SE, but the SW took me a bit longer. AWFUL was my LOI.

    Until I had the checker from OVERHEAD I was toying with “tee times” for 6dn but wasn’t sure enough of it to have entered it.

  10. Thanks Rufus and flashling. It’s probably just me being dense, but I don’t get why the grid is ‘unfriendly’? I found this one nicely paced for a Monday.

  11. Thanks all
    I thought this to be somewhat trickier than most of the poor Monday puzzles. Very welcome.
    Last in ‘shyster’.

  13. @RCW #12 my quick online check certainly seems to say it certainly can be, however I don’t have access to traditional dictionaries from here.

  14. Hi Dunscotus @10

    I believe the grid appears ‘unfriendly’ mainly because so many answers have to be got without knowing the first letter and because there is not too much linkage between the four quarters. Good cluing of course helps overcome this.

  16. Many thanks, Tupu @ 14. Yes, I wondered if the ‘four separate puzzles’ thing was playing a part here – it’s certainly come up in the past. I didn’t think about the first letters and take your point. Still a fairly easy solve, though.

  17. Enjoyed this one – just right after a hard day! LOI for me was Palma; To sum up my COD “oooh you are AWFUL, but I like you”

  18. There’s just the one light to link one quadrant to the next, every light lacks checking in either the first or the last square, and twelve lights have more unches than checked squares. That is not helpful to anyone but the setter, who has little to worry about in finding words that will fit.

    I must use this one more often. That is, before Hugh realises the freebie he’s giving, and deals it a fatal blow with his cryptical priest.

  19. I found the SW the most challenging and really slowed down there, but this was a very enjoyable puzzle. I particularly liked 25a, 3d, 13a, 9a, 1d and my favourites were 27a WATERMILL, 20a COLLAPSE, 16d ESPY, 15d HOODWINK & 21d LAUREL.

    Thanks Rufus and flashling.

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