Guardian 26,341 / Rufus

40 comments on “Guardian 26,341 / Rufus”

1. Thanks Eileen
   Regarding 9ac, it’s a double def. You mentioned Chambers, here’s an extract under ‘abacus’ – “a level tablet on the capital of a column, supporting the entablature (architecture)”. 😉

2. I hope that beginners enjoy this puzzle but, for more experienced solvers, I think it was rather a stroll in the park.
   The architectural meaning of ‘abacus’ was new to me, but the answer was pretty obvious from the clue.
   I have no complaints about less demanding crosswords appearing (i think that it’s quite right that the puzzle should provide entertainment for all levels of experience), but feel that the Quiptic should not be more challenging than the main puzzle so frequently.

3. Thanks Rufus and Eileen.

   New word for me was ONAGER, and I could to parse 4d.

   My favourites were 20a, 13d, 19d.

   I though that AMORETTO = ‘lover’ was stretching it a little bit as Cupid, the god of love, is usually depicted as a beautifully plump, young boy-child and I have never imagined him as a “lover”, but he is certainly the one who causes others to fall in love (or lust).

4. sorry, in the above post, I meant to write “I could not parse 4d.”

5. “I thought amoretto was an almond-flavoured drink until I discovered crosswords!” (to paraphrase an old Heineken(?) ad.)

   Thanks Eileen and Rufus – I too found the Quiptic a LOT harder. ARCHIVES was my favourite. The second meaning of abacus was new to me too.

6. Michelle @ 3 Cupid and Psyche were lovers, so I think we can give the setter this one.

7. Hi Michelle

   The first definition of AMORETTO in both Chambers and SOED is ‘a lover’, followed by ‘a cupid’.

8. Thanks Eileen and Rufus.

   The great advantage of this blog is that it provides the parsing for all those lights – 9ac and 9dn in my case – that you entered without anything but the defiition to go on!

   I find that Rufus sets me up for the week – with the confidence that I might be able to complete the crossword without descending to computer aids or spending the whole day on it! And I am not an inexperienced solver!

9. Thanks all
   Not much comment- worthy here but I did enjoy ‘archives’.

10. Re. 4 down — some Rufus clues can be jolly predictable (cf. Guardian 25275 and 24386).

11. My favourite was Joan’s bees too!

12. Thanks Rufus and Eileen

    Gentle start again … except I didn’t realise that I hadn’t entered RULERS in until reading the blog!

    Haven’t seen ONAGER make an appearance for donkey’s years … it seemed to be a setter’s favourite once! (Did I really just say that … )

    ARCHIVES was pretty good …

13. muffin says:

    “I thought amoretto was an almond-flavoured drink until I discovered crosswords!” (to paraphrase an old Heineken(?) ad.)

    I think the ad was for Smirnoff, but memory can be deceptive.

14. brucew — do a fifteensquared site search for ONAGER and you will find herds of them.

15. Not a great deal to say. Surely we all know what to expect from Rufus by now. A nice gentle start to the week. I especially liked ARCHIVES and DAWN CHORUS.

16. My problem quadrant this time was the NE; it outlasted the tube journey but succumbed on a park bench. So nearly but not quite a stroll in the park. I didn’t trust myself with ABACUS till late and then things started moving. FAIRNESS, such a typical Rufus clue, last in.

17. As others have already said, a typical Rufus puzzle. In my haste to finish I had “Queens” at 7dn and I would argue that it satisfies both the wordplay and the definition because there are a few educational establishments called “Queens School” out there, although I acknowledge that the correct RULERS is a better fit. It also took me longer to see MARBLE than it should have done.

18. Re 7d, I have seen various claimants to this pun – this seems to be the most convincing:

    “When Charles I’s jester, Thomas Killigrew, said he could make a pun on any subject, the king said: “Make one on me.” Killigrew replied that he couldn’t because “the king is no subject.” ”

    Bob Clary- I think that your recollection is more accurate than mine!

19. An enjoyable Rufus as usual – I particularly liked MARBLE and ARCHIVES. Thanks to him and Eileen.

20. If John E thinks Rufus is prone to repeating himself, he should certainly enjoy an audience with my mum.

    I was bored by this, but then I like hard puzzles, so my criticism is utterly pointless, in a way.

21. ulaca and Eileen

    thank you for educating me about Cupid – I was thinking of how I had seen him depicted in paintings – I did not know the story of Cupid and Psyche.

    (I’ll never be able to look at the paintings in the same way again…..)

22. Well I thought most of this was gentle but lovely.

    Rufus agreed to take the unenviable job of writing a crossword for every Monday which would be fairly easy, yet still retain some elegance and finesse. I would say that this is an example of him achieving that objective perfectly. There are very simple clues like BRAS and DOLT to get new solvers underway, and then a little range of difficulties up to things like FAIRNESS, DAWN CHORUS and RULERS which take a moment or two to get.

    If the Quiptic is often harder than Monday’s Rufus, I would suggest that may be the fault of the Quiptic…which should be easier than this to properly fulfil its brief of helping newcomers onto the crossword-solving ladder.

23. Standard Rufus stuff – particularly when left with the somewhat ambiguous crossers at 7d.

    Having considered and, in my haste, quickly rejected RULERS at 7d, I plumped for TUTEES on the assumed basis that tutoring is generally performed out of school hours and therefore not in school. Looking back I still think it works, kind of.

    Did no-one else fall into this trap?

24. Not the easiest Rufus – mainly due to obscure general knowledge such as RM=jolly, which I don’t remember seeing before, though ARMADAS had to be right, and I’m not sure I’d heard of an ETON COLLAR. Last in was ROGUISH.

    Thanks to Eileen and Rufus

25. Sorry, forgot to say thanks to blogger and setter.

26. Like Andy B @ 17 I too had QUEENS for 7d, a queen being a playing card and therefore needed at a card school.

27. Well, there are usually a few who seem to wish that Rufus would disappear. I’d prefer George Clements @2 to do much the same. I think the pompous old so-and-so has delighted us enough.

28. Thanks for the blog Eileen.

    I rather liked this puzzle from Rufus. A gentle Monday solve with several smiles, DAWN CHORUS being my favourite. Unlike others (interesting discussion on the quiptic blog) I found this slightly harder than today’s quiptic.

    The real reason for me posting is that I got 7d wrong. Twice. First I plumped for TUTEES and then QUEENS before finally seeing that RULERS was the more obvious choice. So snap Matt @23 and Andy B @17. I don’t feel quite so silly now.

    Thanks to Rufus for a pleasant solve.

29. Thanks Rufus. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy your Monday crosswords. I too enjoyed dawn chorus and archives and dock was my last clue – a word I had forgotten in both contexts.

30. Usual Rufus fare.

    Although I didn’t realise AMORETTO was anything other than a drink it was obvious from the wordplay.

    According to the SOED AMORETTO is an obsolete equivalent of AMORET as well as CUPID. AMORET can mean “lover” so we can stop worrying about CUPID’s morals 😉

    Not much in this to enjoy for me.

    Thanks to Eileen and Rufus

31. Tref @ 27

    I have nothing against GC, but I would second a motion that there are some persistent posters who think that the sound of their own voice is a benefit to humanity, and that they may be misguided…personally, I find I learn more from listening than from talking…

    Just a personal view, of course 😉

32. Brendan @30
    Although it was I first (jokingly) mentioned the confusion about “amoretto”, in fact the drink is spelled amAretto (diminutive of “amaro”, Italian for “bitter”).

33. muffin – well, I knew you were joking (I don’t think you’re prone to unintentional mistakes!) and enjoyed the pun on “subject”; a nice anecdotal intermission.

    Limeni – totally agree with you….”gentle but lovely” says it perfectly.
    To construct (yet again) a puzzle which, for learners, is satisfying and achievable while for others of us is simple (rightly, it’s a Monday!) yet not at all dull; well, the man’s a genius!
    Thank you, Eileen, for your continued, and appreciated, efforts. And another big thank you to the great Rufus!

34. There used to be a lot of “I thought X was Y until I discovered Smirnoff” jokes. A favourite (clean) one: Hertz van Rental was a Dutch footballer.

35. I’m sorry that my postings have offended people.

36. Poor old GC. I can’t see anything wrong with what he says at #2, as he opines in such a mild way. Others such as John E and hedgehoggy are far more vehement it seems to me, but even then it’s pretty much nothing. On the other hand, I wouldn’t like to be the Quiptic compiler charged with being easier than Rufus on a Monday! Bloody hell, that would be tough.

37. Did no one notice in 15ac the delightful conceit that roughcast might be the outside finish of a building?

38. Simon S @31

    This is a messageboard. It’s a place for discussion which allegedly is about crosswords.

    Some people post everyday just to show they’re alive. Other people only post when they have something erudite to say. (Often it’s not 😉 ) It’s all part of life’s rich tapestry.

    However I do object to people posting rude comments about other posters. If you don’t like what people say don’t read their posts.

39. As a cryptic crossword beginner i really look forward to Mondays and todays didn’t disappoint. A real treat thankyou rufus. And thanks eileen.

40. Quixote at the Independent has a similar task each Monday. On this showing, Rufus has better surfaces, more wit and more cryptic definitions – the Graun are lucky to have him!

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