Enjoyed this, with 23ac and 15dn particular favourites. Thanks, Rufus.
| Across | ||
| 1 | REHEARSE |
Prepare to make a scene (8)
Cryptic definition – a theatrical scene, rather than a personal drama |
| 5 | FIDDLE |
A fit comparison (6)
Cryptic allusion to the comparison ‘as fit as a fiddle’ |
| 9 | ENDYMION |
Poem done in my style (8)
Poem by Keats. (done in my)* |
| 10 | MARMOT |
Small animal doctor in market (6)
M[edical] O[fficer]=”doctor” in MART=”market” |
| 12 | EMEND |
Right for boy to hold hands (5)
ED[ward]=”boy” around MEN=”hands” |
| 13 | EXISTENCE |
Being a term for life (9)
double definition |
| 14 | PLEASURE BOAT |
Transport of delight? (8,4)
cryptic definition – a mode of transport, rather than transport=ecstasy |
| 18 | ACKNOWLEDGES |
Admits information revealed in accounts (12)
KNOWLEDGE=”information” inside AC[count]S |
| 21 | IDLE HANDS |
Unemployed crew with mischievous potentialities (4,5)
IDLE=”Unemployed” plus HANDS=”crew” |
| 23 | PREEN |
Swan circles about to tidy her feathers (5)
PEN=female “Swan”, around RE=”about” |
| 24 | ANGINA |
An alcoholic drink leads to a complaint (6)
AN plus GIN=”alcoholic drink” plus A |
| 25 | MEANTIME |
Ungenerous period for an interval (8)
MEAN=”Ungenerous” plus TIME=”period” |
| 26 | EITHER |
One of two that is returned to the right (6)
I.E.=”that is” reversed (“returned”), plus THE, plus R[ight] |
| 27 | ESTRANGE |
Part friends? (8)
cryptic definition – “friends” as the object of “Part”, rather than “Part [as] friends” |
| Down | ||
| 1 | REELED |
Got in on line and danced (6)
double definition |
| 2 | HEDGED |
Worked in fields, but got laid off (6)
double definition – to ‘lay off’ = to hedge, in gambling |
| 3 | ARMADILLO |
Mail a lord sent out, which is naturally under personal cover (9)
(Mail a lord)* |
| 4 | STONEWALLING |
Consistently blocking deliveries (12)
cryptic definition – playing defensively to block cricketing “deliveries” |
| 6 | INAPT |
Spilling a pint — clumsy! (5)
(a pint)* |
| 7 | DOMINION |
Party underling to gain power (8)
DO=”Party” plus MINION=”underling” |
| 8 | ENTREATY |
Plea for a two-point pact? (8)
E[ast] and N[orth] are the two points, and TREATY=”pact” |
| 11 | LIQUID ASSETS |
Money to be spent like water? (6,6)
cryptic definition |
| 15 | EYE OPENER |
Watch the first man to take over — it’s a surprise (3-6)
EYE=”Watch”, plus OPENER=”the first man to take [an] over” in a cricket innings |
| 16 | BADINAGE |
Ada being nasty? Just having a laugh (8)
(Ada being)* |
| 17 | SKYLIGHT |
Star might be a roof-raiser (8)
SKY LIGHT is a possible description of a “Star” |
| 19 | DESIGN |
Plan to uplift soldiers in retreat (6)
GI’S=”soldiers”, reversed (“uplift”) and inside DEN=”retreat” |
| 20 | ANNEXE |
We hear a letter gets an extension (6)
Sounds like ‘an X’=”a letter” |
| 22 | HENCE |
So that’s what it means! (5)
double definition, or maybe a cryptic definition – “So that’s what it [leads to]” rather than “So that’s what it [is intended to signify]” |
Thanks Rufus and manehi
I found this harder and more enjoyable than a typical Rufus – in fact very enjoyable indeed. No complaints or quibbles; LIQUID ASSETS and EYE OPENER were my favourites.
Thanks Rufus and manehi.
I agree, muffin. Also, some very good surfaces – 23ac is a classic.
Thank you manehi.
Failed on FIDDLE although it’s perfectly valid of course.
Held up by blundering in with PLEASURE TRIP instead of BOAT.
Didn’t know the ENDYMION but was pleased to find it possesses the opening line, “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”. Always nice to find origins isn’t it?
Good puzzle with the usual clutch of “‘spose so”, clues.
Not sure if this will be the final Rufusian offering of 2015 but I’ll take the opportunity anyway of thanking him for his prodigious output through the year and wishing him all the best for 2016.
Nice week, all.
Didn’t know Endymion so struggled there. Surely a skylight is not a roof-raiser? In my world it is a room lighter or some such, which makes that clue a bit weak!
Enjoyed it nevertheless, and thanks to both.
Thanks Rufus and manehi
Enjoyable, this one, with several groans as pennies finally dropped (1D!).
Parky @ 4: I raised an eyebrow at 17 too, but then thought that a skylight follows the line of the roof, so if you open it the roof(line) is raised. Makes it OK in my book.
An unusually challenging Rufus, so much more satisfying than usual. Took me ages to get a foothold – MARMOT first in. The NW corner held out longest with EMEND last in.
Thanks to Rufus and manehi
Thanks Rufus and manehi
An enjoyable starter puzzle for the week with a couple of smile-raising moments in a couple of the clues – REELED and EYE OPENER. A couple of others which were a bit of variation from the typical Rufus ‘straight clues’ – EXISTENCE and HENCE.
I had STONEWALLING as a sort of linked double definition rather than a cryptic one – ‘consistently blocking’ as in a stalling tactic and ‘blocking deliveries’ as in cricket.
Not much more difficult than normal, certainly a lot more fun though !!
Sometimes I struggle with, and even fail to finish, ‘easy’ Rufuses, only to find that others dubbed ‘difficult’ fall without problems. Ah well. One of the latter today, even though the likes of EMEND required some thought (not some esoteric combination of LR inside LAD then) and I’ve only just got the first of the dds in REELED.
Nice work–though Rufus’s style is not to my taste, there was nothing objectionable here, and I finished in about 30 minutes.
Didn’t know STONEWALLING in its cricketing sense, but I figured out the clue easily enough–it was obvious that he was looking for the name of that particular tactic, and I just waited for enough crossing letters to guess what it’d be called. I do know the word in its more general sense (blocking all attempts at something, refusing to give out any information, etc.). (I also know of Stonewall Jackson and the Stonewall riot, neither of which is relevant here.)
ENDYMION was on the reading list for the Romanticism class I took in grad school, but alas, it was at the very end of the list. I assume it is a good poem, but by that point in the class I really couldn’t have told you!
Thanks to Rufus and manehi. I got STONEWALLING and EYE-OPENER without the cricket connection (no surprise) and missed the laid off-gambling link to HEDGED but still finished very quickly. Very enjoyable.
Yes, definitely more difficult than your average Rufus, but even more enjoyable than usual. I echo William @ 3: Rufus’s cluing is a welcome weekly change from the other setters, and I wish him many happy returns! I also failed on FIDDLE; favourites were DOMINION, ARMADILLO, EYE-OPENER and HEDGED.
Thanks Rufus and manehi.
This was enjoyable, especially LIQUID ASSETS, EYE-OPENER, ANNEXE and REELED!
I thought this a little more difficult than usual but I can’t say it wasn’t enjoyable. I didn’t understand the second meaning of HEDGED but it had to be right-LOI.
I did like PREEN.
Thanks Rufus.
I’m sure I’ve seen a clue like 14 quite recently, and I thought then as I think now, the answer should be (4,6-4,4,2,3-4,4,6,4,7,2,3,4,8,2,3,7,4,3,3,3-7,7-7,6,9,6,6,6-5,10,6-5,10,7)
Ting, ting!
Derek @ 14 – Whatever the answer is, I’m not sure you could fit all that into one puzzle!
I too was at first doubtful about 17D (SKYLIGHT), but I agree with Simon S’s answer @5 to Parky’s question @4. A skylight is a window in a pitched roof and has either a hinge or a pivot, and so the window, or half of it, is raised. I think ‘roof-raiser’ (which is needed for the surface) is fine as a cryptic indication, and the clue as a whole is very neat.
I enjoyed this. Thanks to Rufus, and to manehi for the crystal clear blog.
drofl @15, 1) not all grids are 15×15; 2) just web search for the clue (without the ?) then pay attention to the final chorus!
There was a reference to hippos (and wallows?) in a clue for DUMDUM recently. (This does follow on from Derek’s post – honest!)
Arachne, November 28th
Charlie recollecting words of hippopotamus? (6)
Well I found it tricky to get going. I had Income Stream at 11 for a bit which held me up.
So you see Rufus is taking the **** usually. He can produce tremendous puzzles if he tries! 😉
Perhaps normally he just hasn’t got the time or just can’t be a***d. More likely he does what he knows he can get away with and this was just a Christmas present to us. Thanks Rufus for an enjoyable puzzle and a Merry Christmas to you too. 🙂
Esteemed Ed please take note. (If only 😉 )
Thanks to manehi and Rufus
I too found this tougher than usual, though still enjoyable. For some reason, it took me ages to see the parsing of 1d. Favourites are ANGINA, EITHER, ARMADILLO and SKYLIGHT (for which I agree with the “roof-raiser” interpretation given by Simon S’s @5 and Alan Browne @16).
Thanks, Rufus and manehi.
Absolutely, Brendan (@21).
Fairly recently I posted a comment here on a Rufus puzzle in which I repeated something I found on Wikipedia, namely, that Rufus is the most prolific crossword compiler in the world. I also speculated that he is the fastest.
More often than not, Rufus’s puzzles seem rushed, and from time to time many of us have pointed to what I would categorise (or -ize) as weak clues in his output, meaning usually they are too easy, too vague or not accurate enough.
By contrast, today’s puzzle was a gem, as I said back at 16. I salute Rufus for his phenomenal output (I would doff my hat if I had one), and irrespective of how long it took him to produce today’s puzzle it has received the comments it deserved.
If you like this one, I recommend that you have a look at his Christmas Special in the FT. A bit daunting at first but a real gem !
http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/97c02986-a246-11e5-bc70-7ff6d4fd203a.pdf
brucew@aus @24
Thanks (I think) for posting that link. Between that puzzle and Saturday’s Guardian monster, I’ll have plenty to befuddle my mind until New Year.
Jennyk @ 25
Don’t miss out on the FT’s weekend Gozo [= Maskarade] – another double alphabetical, and well worth tackling.
Simon S @26
Those three together could keep me going until Easter. Now I’m really not sure whether to say thanks! 😉
Thanks manehi and Rufus.
I found this frustrating – probably because I was expecting the usual Rufus fare.
This for me was Rufus in spades. Many of the answers seemed barely cryptic with others generating an ‘is that it?’
And I have to admit being defeated by FIDDLE, ENDYMION and HEDGED.
But this is very much a personal thing. Rufus’ style is very different to other setters which is probably why I struggle with him.
But huge respect for his prodigious output. I’ll keep at it.