Guardian 26,377 by Rufus

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Nothing too tricksy from Rufus, but lots of fun…

…slightly marred by the repetition of “Actual”=>REAL in 14ac and 26ac. Favourites 8ac and 18ac.

Across
1 BEAR CUB A grizzly infant? (4,3)
cryptic definition
5 TAPERED Dispensed with red tape — came to the point (7)
=”came to the point”. (red tape)*
9 CABIN Shanty for the rest of the sailors (5)
=”Shanty”, =”for the rest of [the] sailors”
10 ANALGESIC Bill without a single wrong number (9)
=”number”, something that makes you numb. AC[count]=”Bill”, around (a single)*
11 MACKINTOSH Cover for an art-nouveau designer (10)
=”Cover” raincoat; Charles Rennie Mackintosh=”art-nouveau designer”
12 BRER Uncle Remus’s brother (4)
=”brother” – BR’ER Rabbit is the main character from Uncle Remus [wiki]
14 REALLOCATION Actual site for another share out (12)
=”another share out”. REAL=”actual” plus LOCATION=”site”
18 OLD SCHOOL TIE Source of unfair advantage that could result in cold and hostile exchange around jobcentre (3,6,3)
=”Source of unfair advantage”. (cold hostile)* around the centre of [j]O[b]
21 LIMB Dance circle lost member (4)
=”member”. LIMB[o]=”Dance” with a lost o=”circle”
22 RETROGRADE Order great changes, going in a bad direction (10)
=”going in a bad direction”. (Order great)*
25 CURTAIN-UP Start of playtime (7-2)
cryptic definition – the start of play | time
26 REALM Actual number in the kingdom (5)
=”kingdom”. REAL=”Actual” again, plus M=”number”=a thousand
27 PEBBLES Not precious stones, but possibly worn (7)
cryptic definition – Not precious stones, but possibly worn down by water
28 DORMANT Walked back around a chap sleeping (7)
=”sleeping”. Reversal of TROD=”Walked back” around MAN=”chap”
Down
1 BECOME Change into suit (6)
=”Change into”; =”suit”, to look flattering on someone
2 ABBACY Superior office (6)
cryptic definition – Superior meaning the head of a religious order
3 CONFIDENCE Private communication of faith (10)
=”Private communication”; =”faith”
4 BEAST It’s most desirable to enclose a wild animal (5)
=”wild animal”. BEST=”It’s most desirable”, around A
5 TOADSTOOL May be spotted in the woods, wearing a cap (9)
cryptic definition – having a spotted pattern, and the cap is the top of a toadstool
6 PAGE Call sheet? (4)
=”Call” using a pager; =”sheet” of paper
7 RESTRAIN The others have sound rule for control (8)
=”control”. REST=”The others”, plus RAIN which sounds like ‘reign’=rule
8 DOCTRINE The principle of no credit (8)
=”The principle”. (no credit)*
13 MALINGERER He stays well away from work (10)
cryptic definition, someone who stays away from work, despite being “well”
15 LOOSE ENDS They are free finally, but should still be tied up (5,4)
=”should still be tied up”. LOOSE ENDS are loose at the end i.e. “free finally”
16 FOOLSCAP Paper hat for the dunce? (8)
=”Paper”; possibly = a fool’s cap = “hat for the dunce”
17 ADAMS RIB From the old gardener’s chest came material for his mate (5,3)
cryptic definition – ADAM is the old gardener as he used to belong in the Garden of Eden, and from his chest came the RIB from which Eve was made
19 BANANA Prohibition put on two articles of fruit (6)
=”fruit”. BAN=”Prohibition”, plus AN plus A=”two articles”
20 PERMIT Allow to advise on how to treat straight hair (6)
=”Allow”. PERM IT is how one might “advise on how to treat straight hair”
23 RAPID Fast, clear round for father in the ascendancy (5)
=”Fast”. RID=”clear”, around reversal of PA=”father in the ascendancy”
24 MAIL Post filled by a knight? (4)
=”Post” as in letters; MAIL armour might be filled by a knight

40 comments on “Guardian 26,377 by Rufus”

  2. Thanks Rufus and manehi
    Mostly very enjoyable, though I did “check” all the cryptic definition answers to make sure that my guesses were correct – always a problem with this type of clue.
    MACKINTOSH and BRER were a bit “general knowledgy”, in that there would be little chance of working the answer out without knowing the references (wasn’t there a “Brer Fox” as well?).
    TAPERED, OLD SCHOOL TIE, PERMIT and MAIL were my favourites.

  5. Not bad for a Monday. Feel a little short chanaged with two ACTUAL = REALs, and TAPERED isn’t much of an anagram since it’s just swapping the words in the fodder around, but I’m maybe just being picky.

  6. pex @ 4
    A shanty could be a cabin (as in “shanty town”), and also the name given to a room with a bed in it on a ship.

  9. Thanks Rufus and manehi

    Usual gentle easing into the week … didn’t know Charles Mackintosh (original thoughts were regarding the Apple Mac … as a tenuous allusion to what an ‘art nouveau designer’ might use today).

    Lazily missed fully parsing OLD SCHOOL TIE.

  10. Well I’ve filled in all the squares with all the right letters but I had to cheat so much I’m not regarding it as an ethical solve. MACKINTOSH needed looking up; I had CONFESSION at 3d until OLD SCHOOL TIE (favourite clue) fell in; got hooked on 14a finishing RATION, courtesy of the ‘share out’. So not a simple Monday for me.

  11. I enjoyed this one and liked a lot of the clues. Especially 10ac, although it does occur from time to time, it still catches me out for a while!

    Thanks, both

  16. I enjoyed this puzzle. It took me a while to see the CONFIDENCE/REALLOCATION crossers because, like Trailman@10, I was expecting the latter to end in “ration”. The FOOLSCAP/PEBBLES crossers were my last ones in. I have to thank my mother for Charles Rennie Mackintosh being as familiar to me as he is, and as a consequence 11ac was pretty much a write-in.

  17. So easy, and many clues so familiar: why do I allow myself to be drawn in? Oh damn, damn and damn! It really/ actually was a boring experience.

  18. Did anyone else get misled by COBBLES for 27A? They are stones that get worn down by traffic, so the only reason to reject it is that it doesn’t leave a solution for 16D

  19. hedgehoggy @ 17. No matter how many times I see it (and this is certainly not the first) the wordplay in 10ac still leaves me feeling very stupid when the penny finally drops.

  20. I enjoyed this even though it was mostly easy. I had to look MACKINTOSH up though.
    I don’t understand those who find the more accessible puzzles boring and then tell us how boring they are. Why do they bother with the puzzles at all?

  21. Once again, Rufus almost defeated me – this time because I’d never seen the word ABBACY before and needed that before I could get MACKINTOSH (and ABBOTT and ABBESS wouldn’t have helped with that). DOCTRINE and BRER took me a while too. Liked OLD SCHOOL TIE.

    Thanks to manehi and Rufus

  24. Regarding DOCTRINE, where’s the anagram indicator? I suspected it must be an anagram after getting a few letters, and banged it in anyway, but felt a bit miffed…

  30. Thanks all
    No comment about lack of difficulty, it would be tiresome.
    Is 2 down cryptic? Or 27 across?
    Last in ‘abbacy’
    Not a lot to praise but never mind, tomorrow isn’t Monday.

  31. Aren’t they just about source or origin, these OFs & FROMs?

    They’re deployed equally subtly as ‘hiddeninds’, of course.

  32. Btw yes, I (FWIW) think 27ac & 2dn are cryptic clues. Double meaning on ‘worn’ deployed in 27, and pun in 2.

    I prefer a current pun to an old pun though, must say.

  33. Probably “old gardener” is crosswordese for Adam, in which case it’s one to file in the memory box along with “number”. I reached the solution circuitously because many years ago my parents used to take the Sunday Express – yes, I know, dreadful, isn’t it? – but there was an illustrated strip entitled “Adam the Gardener” featuring this wise ancient with a beard and an odd-looking hat who dispensed gardening tips.

    Sorry, probably utterly boring for people to read my senile drivel…

    Paul B @ 32 – liked the little joke!

  36. Badger @35

    I don’t think anybody is disputing that 8d is an anagram of “no credit”.

    The question is where is the anagram indicator. (anagrind in puzzle speak)

    The concensus is that the “of” does this duty.

    There is then a sub argument that “of” is surely merely an indicator of the source of the answer without saying how to derive it. (But we won’t go there!)

  37. I loved this puzzle. Maybe those who find this setters puzzles too boring or simple to complete shouldn’t bother in the first place. Then we wouldn’t have to read their boring boasts. Just a thought.

  38. I enjoyed this one. Needed a dictionary for the last clue (“abbacy” – after “Mackintosh” had rendered “abbess” unworkable).

  40. Charles Rennie Mackintosh turned up in the “Missing vowels” round of “Only connect” last night – easy for me to spot, as he was to the front of my memory!

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