This has been one of those weekends when my weekday and monthly Prize blogs coincide, so this is the third blog in a row from me and I’m prompted to say yet again how lucky we are here to have such a variety of puzzles and setters. After a splendid tour de force from Maskarade and a [slightly less than usual] challenging puzzle from Imogen, solving this Rufus one was like relaxing into a favourite armchair. All the characteristics are here with, I thought, some particularly good examples of each. There may be complaints that some of these answers are write-ins but it really is worthwhile to take time to savour Rufus’ silky-smooth surfaces. I don’t think there’s a single dud one here. Many thanks to Rufus.
Across
9 A quaintly pleasing French accent (5)
ACUTE
A CUTE [quaintly pleasing]
10 He turns up, after all (9)
LATECOMER
Cryptic definition
11 Humorously critical, yet possibly racialist (9)
SATIRICAL
Anagram [possibly] of RACIALIST
12 Old ship under last bit of sail makes slow movement (5)
LARGO
[sai]L + ARGO [old ship] – this might have been better as a down clue
13 Blimey! Alec capsized the boat (7)
CORACLE
COR [Blimey] + an anagram [capsized] of ALEC
15 Problem with World War I battle citation (7)
SUMMONS
SUM [problem] + MONS [WWI battle]
17 Bird you shouldn’t be seen with indoors? (5)
CAPON
CAP ON – Younger solvers may be puzzled by this, as the convention for men to remove their headgear indoors seems to be widely ignored these days
18 Gravestone inscription produces a tear (3)
RIP
Double definition – a little gem
20 Make a protracted speech (5)
DRAWL
Cryptic definition
22 Agitated ladies (about 50) rushed forth (7)
SALLIED
Anagram [agitated] of LADIES round L [fifty]
25 Inclined to be devious (7)
OBLIQUE
Double definition
26 A bit on the side? (5)
APART
A PART [bit]
27 Unusually bad actors heard on the radio (9)
BROADCAST
Anagram [unusually] of BAD ACTORS: masterly misdirection – my favourite clue
30 Unusually long title to describe The Wages of Sin? (3-6)
ILL-GOTTEN
Anagram [unusually – again, unfortunately] of LONG TITLE
31 It’s the minister’s place to designate names (5)
MANSE
Anagram [to designate] of NAMES
Down
1 Cricketers attempt to get a rise (4)
BATS
Reversal [to get a rise] of STAB [attempt]
2 Soft soap and dairy product increased in price (6,2)
BUTTER UP
BUTTER [dairy product] + UP [increased in price]
3 Rush up to see animals (4)
DEER
Reversal [up] of REED [rush]
4 No one doubts what this signal means (3,5)
ALL CLEAR
Double / cryptic definition
5 Theatre seats or stands (6)
STALLS
Double definition
6 Minor example of proportional representation (5,5)
SCALE MODEL
Cryptic definition
7 It should grow by more development (6)
EMBRYO
Anagram [development] of BY MORE – &lit?
8 Small group involved in riot (4)
TRIO
Anagram [involved] of RIOT
13 Game to take the helm, we hear (5)
COCKS
Sounds like COX [take the helm]
14 Firm belief in guilty verdict (10)
CONVICTION
Double definition
16 Prevent a total loss and rescue about 50 (5)
SALVE
SAVE [rescue] round L [fifty] – save and salve actually have the same Latin derivation
19 Put the case against the euro (8)
PROPOUND
PRO POUND [agaist the euro]
21 Get bill reduced, strange to tell (8)
ACQUAINT
AC [bill reduced] + QUAINT [strange]
23 Fifty-one, competent and responsible (6)
LIABLE
LI [fifty-one – third use of L for 50] + ABLE [competent]
24 Be up in time for a serious discussion (6)
DEBATE
Reversal [up] of BE in DATE [time]
26 Bring in a number to help — sharpish! (4)
ACID
C [number] in AID [help]
28 Obscure eastern coin (4)
DIME
DIM [obscure] + E [eastern]
29 Flower pegs (4)
TEES
Double definition
Thanks Rufus and Eileen
You have made the points I was intending to, Eileen. I don’t think either Rufus of the editor can have read this as a whole. or we surely wouldn’t have had “unusually” as an angagram indicator in consecutive clues, 50 for L twice, and also fifty-one for LI. I agree that LARGO would have been better as a down clue.
Were it not for the “check” button I would have had to admit to a failure, as I wrote in (a nearly as good) AVID for ACID.
CORACLE was my favourite.
Thanks Rufus and Eileen
My favourite was PROPOUND
Thanks, Eileen, for your dedication to the cause over a range of puzzle challenges. I agree with you and muffin@1 that the repetition of the Roman 50 and “unusually” as an indicator for the anagrams was a little disappointing, but enjoyed it overall. I liked 10a LATECOMER, 4d ALL CLEAR, 6d SCALE MODEL, 7d EMBRYO and 14d CONVICTION. Getting in early with my comments before the expected barrage of “too easy” or “lazy clue-ing” comments from those who don’t like Mondays. But my thanks to Rufus for “solvable for learners” puzzles.
Thank you, Eileen. On the variance in the Guardian crossword offerings, you put it perfectly.
Muffin @1 makes all the points I would have made on this particular puzzle.
Enjoyed the smoothness of DEBATE and also RIP & APART.
Nice week, all.
Very nice, though I was misled by the ‘in’ in 8 separating the indicator from the fodder. Would “Riot involved small group” work better? Still, I got it eventually so I guess it’s fair.
Thanks Rufus and Eileen.
A most pleasant solve with some great clues – RIP, BROADCAST, ILL-GOTTEN, BUTTER UP and PROPOUND in particular.
Pretty much a write-in, though that’s by no means commonplace for me with Rufus. Some good anagrams here, BROADCAST the pick. Didn’t get game = COCKS; thought it might have been something like draughts until I wrote the words beside each other.
Nice and easy, but I do agree that some of the surfaces are impressivley smooth; e.g. 11A.
My only tiny doubt was “tell” as a definition for ACQUAINT, but I suppose it just about fits.
I don’t mind the odd easy puzzle, but there’s carelessness here. When they look like they can’t be bothered, they run the risk of insulting readers I think, and that can’t be a plus.
Thanks Rufus and Eileen
Completed in two short sessions and enjoyed it. Like Trailmam, I really struggled to equate COCKS to game (I’m assuming that he just means male game birds).
Didn’t really notice the two 50’s until coming here. A couple of new definitions for me – SALVE (as save) and QUAINT (as strange).
Finished in the SE corner with ACQUAINT, OBLIQUE and PROPOUND the last few in – not because they were the hardest but rather where the journey just ended.
Having got the first two crossers, wasted a LOT of time trying to fit SOMME into 15a!
Snap. I tried to work “Somme” into 15ac as well. Not much to add really. There is some sloppiness here as others have pointed out but,generally speaking, this rather enjoyable.
Thanks Rufus.
Whoops! WAS rather enjoyable.
Brucew @10, yes indeed. The penny dropped as I typed ‘game cocks’ into Google, without the need to press enter. I had thought of putting the words in the reverse order but feared the results that might come up.
One of Rufus’s better ones, but still pretty straightforward. BATS was last in. Liked ILL-GOTTEN, but it would have been better if it had not been immediately after another clue with the same anagrind…
Thanks to Rufus and Eileen
Thanks both. Quite a standard Rufus, which isn’t a complaint. Liked PROPOUND.
Nice surfaces, agreed, but the puzzle, like much of Rufus’s output, seems to have been rushed, judging by the rough edges that most of us noticed.
I left 26A and 26D unsolved, guessing ‘aid’ came in 26D somehow, only because I didn’t wish to spend time on them any more. (The risk in doing that, of course, is that I end up kicking myself for missing a brilliancy, but that didn’t happen.)
Some of the clues were excellent examples of their type, and I particularly liked 13A (CORACLE), 15A (SUMMONS), 30A (ILL-GOTTEN) and 19D (PROPOUND). I couldn’t say 27A (BROADCAST) was a favourite because I took ‘heard on the radio’ as a direction before I considered it as a misdirection(!), even though it is a perfectly satisfactory clue.
Like gladys @11, I tried to push ‘Somme’ into 15A until I realised it wouldn’t go.
I can’t hide the fact that Rufus is generally my least favourite setter, but I echo Eileen’s comment about the variety of puzzles we get with the Guardian team – something I appreciate too.
Thanks to both Rufus and Eileen.
Thanks to Rufus and Eileen. I was one who was initially misdirected before getting BROADCAST and also took a while before getting COCKS-cox, but still finished quickly and enjoyed the process.
well, bill Taylor, if you think that Rufus ‘can’t be bothered’, I think you’re probably making a pretty lazy accusation
If you were’nt, then sorry . . .
I thought 27A was particularly clever. There was the initial misdirection of “heard on the radio” which of course usually means “sounds like”. But additionally, “bad actors” is not only an anagram of “broadcast” but also suggests “broad cast”.
My only slight niggle was with 31A. I don’t quite see how “designate” works as an anagram indicator.
Well Adam, I was careful to say that’s what it ‘looks’ like. There’s leeway in that I hope.
But were you not bothered by the repetition? I felt a little short-changed.
I kinda meant the paper rather than the compiler, I should have made that clearer for you.
Some nice anagrams but spoiled by Rufusy things like drawl…CD I think not.
21d AC [bill reduced]
Maybe it’s late, but I can’t understand this part; can anyone shed any light?
jlesmo@24 – Doesn’t reduced just indicate an abbreviation for bill, which is what ac is? Hope that’s right! I was so pleased to finish this easier one relatively quickly, having struggled (as a beginner) with a few recent offerings. Now banging my head against the remaining half of today’s Nutmeg.
jlesmo @24
As Gillian says, AC is an abbreviation for ‘account’ and appears frequently in crosswords – so frequently that the abbreviation isn’t usually indicated but the surface needed it here.
Gillian, did you try today’s Quiptic? – it’s an excellent one for beginners.
This puzzle didn’t merit a comment in my opinion.
However I’ve just noticed AdamH’s comment @19 which does.
Why is it a lazy accusation to say that Rufus cant be bothered? Presumptuous perhaps, maybe impolite or even just wrong. However I can’t see how one could ascertian that the maker of such a comment was being “lazy”.
I do feel that it is apparent that Rufus is more concerned with quantity rather than quality with his puzzles. They often have the kind of slip ups that have been mentioned above and very often they also have very dodgy definitions, non cryptic clues and ludicrous CDs and DDs! And I do often feel slightly insulted by his apparent lack of self editing!
So I for one am fully in agreement with bill_taylor @9 who I suspect did refer to Rufus “not being bothered” but then backed down a little in reaction to your rather rude post. 😉
Eileen, thanks for the suggestion, I’ll have a look.
Gillian and Eileen, thank you both; that’s a new one on me, but I’m a relative newcomer 🙂
Thanks Eileen and Rufus.
This is Rufus at his best. All good surfaces and only left a couple to write in at the end – just to be on the safe side to avoid the usual curved balls.
Enjoyable.