Guardian 26,616 by Rufus

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Quick, neat, and fun from Rufus today. My favourites were 15ac and 20ac.

Across
1 BISECTS
Cuts into two parts, taking half a second (7)

BITS=”parts”, taking in SEC[ond]
5 STRAND
Bear right to enter London thoroughfare (6)

STAND=”Bear”, with R[ight] entering
9 STEAMING
Very angry with dividing pupils by ability — it’s not right (8)

ST[r]EAMING=”dividing pupils by ability”, without R[ight]
10 PRO TEM
Not always brief (3,3)

PRO TEM[pore]=’for the time being’, which as an adverb=”Not always”, and as an adjective=”brief”
12 COVERED WAGON
Insured vehicle went west (7,5)

used by American pioneers to go west. COVERED=”Insured”, plus WAGON=”vehicle”
15 ON ONES TOES
Nose to nose, perhaps, and alert (2,4,4)

(Nose to nose)*
17 NÉE
Born French in the Pyrenees (3)

=”Born” in French. Hidden in “Pyrenees”
19 KIM
I’m after a letter written by Kipling, initially (3)

I’M, after a letter, K, that is also Kipling’s initial
20 BUTTRESSED
Supported, nevertheless, with locks (10)

BUT=”nevertheless”, plus TRESSED=”with locks”
22 AFTERNOON NAP
PM gets down for a siesta, say (9,3)

AFTERNOON=”PM”, plus NAP=”down”, a downy/fuzzy texture of fabric
26 EVEN SO
Still rings back, nevertheless (4,2)

EVEN=”Still”, plus O’S=”Rings” reversed (“back”)
27 ARTIFICE
Take care — if it changes, it’s a trick (8)

(care if it)*
28 SATIRE
Burlesque star that is ill-disposed (6)

(STAR i.e.)*, where i.e.=”that is”
29 EASES UP
Rough sea, upsetting Sue, quietly abates (5,2)

(sea)*, plus (Sue)*, plus P[iano]=quietly
Down
1 BASE
Found unworthy of honour (4)

Double def, with =”Found” as in to provide a basis for something
2 SHED
Outhouse made redundant (4)

Double def
3 COMPOSED
Produced original work that’s collected (8)

Double def
4 SINGE
Sign sick note for char (5)

(Sign)* plus E=musical “note”
6 THROWN
How wrestler’s brought down may be possibly worth a point (6)

(worth)*, plus N[orth]=”a point” of the compass
7 ANTAGONIST
Not against making an enemy (10)

(Not against)*
8 DIMINUENDO
Notable decrease in volume (10)

Cryptic def, with “Notable” hinting at musical notation
11 REPEAT
Concerning tape being played — it’s been on before (6)

RE=”Concerning”, plus (tape)*
13 BOOKMAKERS
They hope to gain from their betters (10)

Cryptic def, with “betters”=bettors
14 COMMITMENT
Promise loyalty (10)

Double def
16 TEUTON
German number holds out in action (6)

TEN=”number”, holding (out)*
18 CERAMICS
The art of the man at the wheel (8)

Cryptic def referring to the potter’s wheel
21 ERASER
One is often led to use it by mistake (6)

Cryptic def
23 NERVE
It conveys a sense of courage (5)

Double def
24 LIPS
They may part with a smile (4)

Cryptic def
25 KEEP
Hold the fort (4)

Double def

29 comments on “Guardian 26,616 by Rufus”

  1. Thanks Rufus and manehi

    I enjoyed this puzzle even though I failed to solve 13d – just could not see it!

    New word for me was PRO TEM.

    My favourites were 1a, 15a, 7d, 27a, 4d, 3d and 16d (LOI)

  2. Thanks Rufus and manehi

    Pretty gentle start to the week as usual, although he drew a couple of initial entries – ‘seascape’ for CERAMICS and ‘seething’ instead of STREAMING. They were the only small bumps in a generally smooth ride. Didn’t parse BISECTS properly and glossed over the downy NAP at 22.

    COMPOSED and STEAMING were the last couple in. Liked BUTRESSED and BOOKMAKERS.

  3. Charming crossword. Rufus at his succinct, elegant best – even the CD/DDs raised smiles.

    …And an Anagram masterclass.

    Thanks both.

  4. Thanks Rufus and Manehi
    Enjoyable puzzle. I took a while to see 18d. I read 10a as an abbreviated (brief) form of pro tempore.

  5. Thanks Rufus and manehi.

    A lovely puzzle to start the week with. I failed to fully parse AFTERNOON NAP and took quite a while to see CERAMICS.

    I did like STEAMING, DIMINUEDO, BOOKMAKERS, BUTTRESSED and the COVERED WAGON!

  6. Yes, all good Rufusian stuff. I couldn’t get PRO TEM or CERAMICS, but particularly enjoyed AFTERNOON NAP, ON ONES TOES, BUTTRESSED and DIMINUENDO. Thanks to Rufus and manehi.

  7. A very nice start to the week. Particularly enjoyed 16d. Bet I wasn’t the only one to recite ein, zwei etc.

  9. Trailman @ 7 and Shirl @ 8, me too. Very pleasant start to the week all done in 15 mins, accept for 1d which delayed me for a further half hour doh!! Favourites were 18 and 23 down. Thanks Rufus and Manehi both!

  12. About Kim — doesn’t the definition (“written by Kipling”)come after some of the cryptics (“I’m after a letter”) and before the last bit (“initially”). I thought there had to be a strict separation between definition and wordplay — each entirely on one side or the other of a dividing line. An exception would be an &lit clue, but I don’t think this is one.

  13. Coltranesax@9 Snap! DIMINUENDO took a while too. Otherwise quite straightforward and enjoyable. If you don’t like Rufus then you won’t like this but it started my day off well enough.
    Thanks Rufus.

  14. Pretty easy even by Rufus standards today, but no complaints here. Last in was ERASER.

    Thanks to Rufus and manehi

  15. Like Valentine, 19ac doesn’t work for me, although perhaps not for quite the same reason. I have no problem with both cryptic and defintion being the whole clue but that’s not the case here, is it? The def is in the middle of the clue and the cryptic is a bit muddly, I feel. But it was obvious what it was.
    Otherwise, a nice Rufus. Thanks.

  16. Yes, the clue for KIM wasn’t out of the textbook, but once you got it it was clearly correct. I don’t mind if the rules are bent a bit.

  17. I didn’t have any problem with 19ac’s def not being at the beginning or end – KIM was so obviously the right answer. But then I thought it sort of works if you recall that K I M are the initial 3 letters of the protagonist KIMball O’Hara’s name. Tenuous, or what!

    Thanks manehi and Rufus.

  18. Thanks to Manehi and Rufus. I had some trouble with TEUTON (I was looking for something else) but the rest went smoothly. I needed an easy start to the week for I’m dealing with unusually bad jet lag after having not 1 but 2 flights to Heathrow cancelled owing to “equipment problems.”

  19. On the whole, I found it enjoyable, but I share the doubts about the clue for KIM. Yes, once solved, it is clear it must be the right answer, but the sequence of elements seems unsatisfactory and none of the possible parsings feels quite right.

    My favourites are BISECTS, AFTERNOON NAP and ERASER.

    Thanks to Rufus and manehi.

  20. Thanks Rufus and manehi
    I enjoyed this too. My favourite was COVERED WAGON, because my first reading of “went west” was that I was looking for something that also read right to left.

  23. A better than normal Rufus. Brief but fun.

    Nothing wrong with 19A. As manehi has correctedly indicated the definition is written by Kipling, initially. This is quite valid as Kipling did of course “initially” write the novel Kim.

    However it was re-written several times. Definitely in 1950 for the screenplay of the film starring Errol Flynn. This time written by Helen Deutsch, Leon Gordon and Richard Schayer.

    So wordplay is I’m after a letter The fact that Kipling initially in the defintion indicates this letter is pure providence or even a little wink from Rufus 😉

    Thanks to manehi and Rufus

  24. Thanks all
    I didn’t start until after the 9o’clock news and it did not provide much entertainment.
    Last in was base.

  25. Thanks all
    I didn’t start until after the 9o’clock news and it did not provide much entertainment.
    Last in was base

  26. B(NTO) @23

    I had considered that construction, and your justification for the inclusion of “initially” as part of the definition is reasonable. The word play is then, as you said, “I’m after a letter”, so the form is basically “the answer is a three-letter word and I’ll give you a clue to two of them and you’ll just have to guess the other one”. That dos not seem like a good clue to me – just my opinion, of course.

  27. 28 Across: Sittah is an anagram of “that is” and is the name of a burlesque star. That rather confused the SW corner for me

  29. Paul B @28

    I wasn’t trying very hard. Just pointing out a parsing which was valid.

    Let’s face it Rufus gives us worse non-cryptic/dodgy clues on a regular basis and they don’t even raise a whimper? I just thought it odd that people complained about a clue that was actually cryptic and could be parsed.

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