Once again a Rufus puzzle that is rather too heavy for my taste on the cryptic definitions (four of them, including a couple that seem barely cryptic) and double defintions (six, plus one triple). As often happens, those types can be hard to crack, but in compensation most of the other clues are very straightforward. Thanks to Rufus.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | COMPASSES | Drawing equipment arrives without permit (9) PASS in COMES |
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| 6. | LOIN | Piece of meat lion chewed up (4) LION* |
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| 8. | OVERHEAR | Accidentally catch something, perhaps (8) Cryptic definition |
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| 9. | FRY-UPS | Fine fresh syrup for cooked meals (3-3) F + SYRUP* |
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| 10. | SCALES | The balance mounts (6) Double definition |
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| 11. | PETITION | Tiptoe in order to get round robin, perhaps (8) (TIPTOE IN)* |
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| 12. | PRISON | Jug can clink (6) Three slang words for a prison |
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| 15. | SOUVENIR | Strange virus one may pick up on holiday (8) (VIRUS ONE)* |
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| 16. | OPERATIC | Playing pirate in company making a comeback with music (8) PIRATE* in reverse of CO |
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| 19. | HARMED | Injured Royal Marine in head, badly (6) RM in HEAD* |
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| 21. | LECTURER | Instructor oddly curt, intercepting sexy look (8) CURT* in LEER |
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| 22. | PATCHY | Often repaired, but irregularly (6) Double definition |
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| 24. | GENTLE | Kind of maggot (6) Double definition. As I’ve mentioned before, I first (and perhaps only) came across the use of “gentle” for a maggot in George Orwell’s <i.Coming Up For Air |
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| 25. | FEASIBLE | It’s possible a belief’s been shaken (8) (A BELIEF’S)* |
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| 26. | STAR | It guided the Magi around deserts (4) Reverse of RATS (to rat = to desert) |
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| 27. | YARD OF ALE | Sliced loaf ready — long drink needed (4,2,3) (LOAF READY)* |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1. | CIVIC | Numbers of Romans about the city (5) The letters involved in the word are all Roman numerals |
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| 2. | MARBLES | Game of wits (7) Double definition |
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| 3. | ABETS | Helps beast in distress (5) BEAST* |
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| 4. | SCRAPES | Close shaves? (7) A not very cryptic definition |
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| 5. | SOFT TOUCH | One quick to advance caress? (4,5) Double definition – “advance” meaning to make a loan |
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| 6. | LAYETTE | Complete outfit for a small charge (7) Cryptic definition – the “small charge” being a baby |
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| 7. | IN PROFILE | Popular professional record holder being sidelined? (2,7) IN (popular) + PRO + FILE (where records are kept) |
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| 13. | REPRESENT | Act for traveller with grudge (9) REP + RESENT |
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| 14. | NOTORIETY | Terrible reputation, one I try to improve (9) (ONE I TRY TO)* |
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| 17. | ROTATOR | A muscle that turns up and down (7) A type of muscle, and the “up and down” indicates that it’s a palindrome |
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| 18. | CARE FOR | Be fond of nurse (4,3) Double definition |
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| 20. | RETSINA | Wine served up in canisters (7) Hiddein in reverse of cANISTERs |
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| 22. | PLATO | Philosopher who gets on with soldiers (5) If PLATO gets ON then he becomes a PLATOON |
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| 23. | HALVE | Share a hole (5) Pretty much a straight definition of playing a golf hole in the same number of strokes as your opponent |
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Thanks Rufus and Andrew
I would hate to have to do a Rufus without the “check” facility (used to see if an answer that might be right actually is!). In fact, all of my guesses were correct today.
I liked LAYETTE, RETSINA and SOUVENIR,
I disliked STAR – another one that is impossible to decide between one way or the other without the crossers (RATS is just as valid).
I think the “of” in 24a is incorrect and superfluous – “Kind maggot” would be better.
Thanks Rufus & Andrew.
Seemed particularly straightforward today. Muffin @1; surely a gentle is a ‘kind of maggot?’
I liked CIVIC and PLATO.
No real problems, but, while the answer is pretty obvious, 23d didn’t work for me.
Hi robi
Yes, but the clue then doesn’t work as a DD. “Kind” = “gentle”, leaving “of maggot” for the other part.
However a gentle is a maggot (of a kind, yes), so “Kind maggot” (possibly with a ?) is better, I think.
I have just discovered that a gentle is also a trained falcon!
I dashed in BEETLE at 24 so, on turning to the blog, am somewhat crestfallen now.
A pity, because I had rather enjoyed this, for a Rufus, despite the ‘two halves’ grid and, as muffin pointed out, the ambiguous 26. This happened last week too if I remember, and in a rather more difficult crossword than this one.
Some nice clues here though, I thought, FRY UPS, PETITION and IN PROFILE among them.
On the “of,” can’t you read it as “composed of” or “made of,” as in, “abs of steel” or “men of character”? So it’s “kind” that’s made “of maggot.”
I felt that there were perhaps fewer CDs than normal here, but then perhaps I’m just getting used to Rufus. I had Beetle at 24 as well (as a wild guess) and not heard of layette before so totally lost at 6 down.
I found this to be a typical Rufus puzzle. I finished in the NW with IN PROFILE after PETITION.
The only time I have a problem with ambiguous clues like 26ac is when the ambiguity can’t be resolved by checked letters, although I know a lot of you don’t agree with that.
I invariably have the same experience with a Rufus: I begin by thinking this is really good and better than usual, and then by the end become more and more frustrated because the clues that I have left, which I want to be the difficult ones are in fact the easy, but because weak not easy, ones. I wish the editor would save Rufus from himself. He could be one of the better setters. And then we’d stop carping. Apart from my carps, I did enjoy this. So thanks Rufus and Andrew.
Unlike some others I think Rufus is great: really clever clueing. Today I particularly liked IN PROFILE, PRISON and NOTORIETY. I hadn’t heard of LAFAYETTE. Many thanks to Rufus and Andrew.
Thanks all
Like Trailman I too entered ‘beetle’, but that is hardly cryptic so why?
It took me almost as long to solve the genuinely non-cryptic ‘halve’ as the rest of the puzzle!
21ac seems “wrong” to me. Doesn’t the clue really indicate LEER in CURT*?
rhotician @ 1: I don’t have your problem with 21ac. I think it indicates CURT* in LEER perfectly well.
The problem I have with it is the definition of leer as a ‘sexy look’. Unpleasantly lascivious, yes; sexy definitely not.
All very straightforward except that I wasn’t 100% sure about LAYETTE – I knew I’d seen the word but didn’t remember what it was. Agree with Andrew that there were at least a couple of straight definitions that wouldn’t have been out of place in a quick crossword. I agree with Andy B @8 re 26ac – I think I’d only dislike it if the clues for the crossers were difficult.
Thanks to Rufus and Andrew.
George Clements @3
I agree 23 is an odd clue in that, if you read it straight away as relating to golf, then it is 100% un-cryptic. I suppose you are meant to picture two people in a hole first?
I just hope Brendan(nto) doesn’t see it, that’s all! 🙂
Limeni (and others). Could not 23d’s non-cryptic nature actually be hiding its crypticity? i.e it’s a double bluff. I am reminded of the old Christmas cracker joke:
Q. What’s brown and sticky?
A. A stick.
Thanks Rufus and Andrew
I found this a typical Rufus, with the usual excellent surfaces.
My only quibble is with 13: I know neither grudge as verb nor resent as noun. Does anyone out there please?
Thanks
Re17 the traveller may resent because he is ‘with grudge’ . Perhaps.
Also I have to say that 6ac is the easiest clue I have ever seen in a cryptic crossword. Some gooduns here also, of course. And I like ‘retsina ‘,
in all senses.
Usual Rufus fare with too many CDs and DDs.
Unfortunately INTERCEPT can have almost opposite meanings “break in” or “contain between 2 points” so is a pretty unhelpful/devious indicator. Nothing wrong per se with that though.
Some clues whicg raised this above other Rufus’s though. 11A, 15A & 7D for instance.
However 23D does appear to be in the wrong crossword. (i.e. a cryptic one!)
Thanks to Andrew and Rufus
..just as I thought! 🙂
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Simon S @17
Just trying to be helpful, but…
The Big Red Book (Big Red App in this case) starts its ‘Grudge’ listing with five different definitions of it as a verb. The third is “To resent” !
Limeni @ 21
Another (too frequent) example of the “Big red book” reflecting common mis-usage…the verb for “resent” is “begrudge”.
Sue and I guessed 23d had something to do with golf. It’s one of those clues where you perhaps have to construct the crypticity (such as there is) retrospectively, once you have the easily-guessed solution.
I think it’s actually a dd: share, and a type of golf hole, but the whole clue works equally well as a non-cryptic, unfortunately.
Generally pleasant enough Monday fare from Rufus though.
Thanks everyone.
Thanks Andrew,
I found this puzzle a little frustrating, most of it was delightful but a couple of clues just left me wondering ‘why are you doing this Rufus?’.
6ac LOIN – this was so basic that I failed to notice at first the solution was actually different to the clue. This was either a very cunning bluff or a lame clue, I really can’t decide.
23 HALVE – I guessed HALVE might be a solution but could not explain why. It seems there is no why after all.
26 STAR/RATS was annoying not to be able to enter immediately, but fair game if that is how Rufus wants it.
24 GENTLE defeated me, but my own fault, not Rufus’s
4ac SCRAPES – this went beyond a cryptic definition, I thought this was a clever double definition (of the whole clue). Maybe not hard, but nice.
SOFT TOUCH, MARBLES an PRISON were all nice
resent=grudge seems just fine to me
I worked corner by corner, as I recall. Got the top. Two checks for the bottom. Many nice easy Monday clues.
“Gentle” to me is an AZED, I thought Monday was supposed to be common words?
That said, I have come to terms, over the years, with Rufus. When I load it up to print it I say to myself “Here’s another fun Rufus to wrestle with” and I know what to expect.
His style is as different from all the other Grauniad setters as the Reverend once was. It’s a different taste, and while I am not very adventurous with food, I do like some variety in my crossword puzzles.
There were some lame clues and some great ones, but I marked 7d IN PROFILE as both! I loved the way it worked and the riches of deception, which got the tick, but using “professional” to indicate PRO got the squiggly line.
Thanks to Andrew, Rufus, and the rest of you lot.
Had in 26 (STAR) as the first one – seeing that it was a star, and not rats, that guided the magi.
I also liked HALVE – not as the golf definition, but because read out loud the clue might as well be “split a whole”
MARBLES was a nice chuckle for me. Especially since the game of marbles is not excatly one that requires wit. Oh well, I’m a sucker for Rufus surfaces. Often witty and almost never seem constructed.