Guardian 26,879 / Rufus

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A traditional Monday morning medley of anagrams and double and cryptic definitions from Rufus, which I enjoyed solving.

Thank you, Rufus.

Across

1 Number, figure and cipher (6)
NOBODY
NO [number] + BODY [figure]

4 Chance taken by doctor in storm (6)
GAMBLE
MB [doctor] in GALE [storm]

9 Keep going — or don’t! (4)
STAY
Double definition

10 Club gets convict into hellish trouble (10)
SHILLELAGH
LAG [convict] in an anagram [trouble] of HELLISH – one of my favourite clues

11 Rare fights with sweetheart (6)
SPARSE
SPARS [fights] + [sw]E[et]

12 Lots of beatings (8)
LASHINGS
Double definition, as in ‘lashings of ginger beer’, as Enid Blyton apparently never wrote

13 Greatest respect for commercial delivery (9)
ADORATION
AD [commercial] + ORATION [delivery]

15 Frozen fish left inside (4)
COLD
L [left] in COD [fish]

16 Laws that can only be broken by an expert (4)
CODE
Double / cryptic definition

17 Put up or cut up (9)
QUARTERED
Double definition

21 Inclined to blow one’s top? (8)
VOLCANIC
Cryptic definition

22 Too inexperienced to express pain? (6)
CALLOW
CALL ‘OW!’ [express pain]

24 Improvement in culture (10)
REFINEMENT
Double definition

25 Instrument that has an appalling sound (4)
VIOL
Strictly speaking, VIOL has two syllables and ‘vile’ [appalling] only one but it’s fairly difficult to distinguish them

26 He acted and wrote a letter in Greek to a Roman (6)
PINERO
PI [letter in Greek] + NERO [a Roman]
Take your pick of Pineros from Arthur Wing or Miguel

27 See where they work (6)
CLERGY
Cryptic definition, with a less familiar play on ‘see’
Down

1 Computer found after hold up of college flat (7)
NOTEPAD
Reversal [hold up] of ETON [college] + PAD [flat]

2 He foots the bill for cow barn, one hears (5)
BUYER
Sounds like ‘byre’ [cow barn] – see comment on 25ac: Collins gives identical pronunciations

3 Decline scented make-up (7)
DESCENT
Anagram [make-up] of SCENTED

5 In the end, mountain range finishes where Tunisia starts (2,4)
AT LAST
ATLAS [mountain range] + T[unisia] – a clever surface: the Atlas Mountains stretch from Algeria, through Morocco, to Tunisia – my other favourite

6 Indian food with extra port in America (9)
BALTIMORE
BALTI [Indian food] + MORE [extra]

7 Occupied in planning to marry (7)
ENGAGED
Double definition

8 Determination an heir already has (4,2,7)
WILL TO SUCCEED
Double / cryptic definition

14 Introduce new price cut (9)
REDUCTION
Anagram [new] of INTRODUCE

16 Photograph of way-out couples (5-2)
CLOSE-UP
Anagram [way-out] of COUPLES

18 Novel, article and story (7)
RECITAL
ANAGRAM [novel] of ARTICLE

19 Firm in money management? (7)
ECONOMY
CO [firm] in an anagram [management] of MONEY – &littish

20 Please aim listening device (6)
ENDEAR
END [aim] + EAR [listening device]

23 It may be used to obtain a purchase (5)
LEVER
Cryptic definition, with a play on ‘purchase’

30 comments on “Guardian 26,879 / Rufus”

  1. Thanks Rufus and Eileen

    The top went in very quickly, but the bottom remained pretty much empty for some time; the SW being the last to fall.

    I wrote in BISHOP for 27a, then realised that the plural in the clue invalidated it. I also tried CHOLERIC for 21a – as it is a Rufus, this could easily have been right.

  2. Yes, one of Rufus’s better ones – took me a few minutes longer than normal and was all the better for that. ECONOMY and CLERGY were last in. Liked SHILLELAGH and it was nice to see AT LAST clued without reference to cobblers…

    Thanks to Rufus and Eileen

  3. Thank you Eileen.

    Shamefully, I’d not come across that meaning of CIPHER and so stared at it for a while wondering if I’d got something wrong.

    This setter continues to find surprising anagrams, doesn’t he? REDUCTION/INRODUCE; CLOSE UP/COUPLES; RECITAL/ARTICLE etc. I find them very pleasing.

    Smooth job yet again, thank you, Rufus.

    Nice week, all.

  4. All but one! Have never heard of 26a PINERO. It was so disappointing to give up with only one answer unsolved.

    Had fun with 10a SHILLELAGH (though, despite my Irish heritage, had to use a dictionary to check spelling – how embarrassing!). Also really liked 22a CALLOW and 8d WILL TO SUCCEED. I know 7d was really obvious, but as a marriage celebrant I did appreciate 7d ENGAGED.

    Thanks to Rufus and Eileen.

  5. There were some nice clues here. “See where they work” at 27ac was very neat. I also liked BALTIMORE.

    Personally I would pronounce “viol” the same as “vile” so I thought that was fine. (Eileen – at 2 down, did you mean to say “see comment on 25ac” rather than 13ac?)

    I did wonder about STAY = “keep going” at 9ac. I suppose you can stay the course or have staying power, but I’m still not entirely convinced.

  6. Thanks, JimS @5. Yes, I did: goodness knows where 13 came from – corrected now.

    Re STAY: Chambers has ‘to hold out, last, endure’. ‘Staying power’ / ‘stay the course’ both came to my mind when I solved it.

  7. Probably the best Rufus crossword I have ever solved. Many more like this and I might even become a fan. Clever surfaces throughout, and not too many cds. CLERGY, not surprisingly, was my last in.

    Favourites included ENDEAR and the very similar NOBODY and RECITAL.

  8. Thanks Rufus and Eileen

    An enjoyable start to the week where one did have to graft out the answers with a little more effort today. Liked AT LAST as well … and had a feeling that 23d was not going to have anything to do with paying for something … still took a while to get what it did mean !

    Finished with three across clues in the bottom half – REFINEMENT, VIOL and QUARTERED the last few in.

  9. Thank you Rufus and Eileen.

    I entered SCARCE at 11a, and stared at it for quite a while before concluding it just would not fully parse – I also tried “a door ration” as a homophone for the “commercial delivery” – must be rusty today since only the PDF version of the Everyman crossword was available yesterday and I have lost the habit of solving on paper.

    SHILLELAGH and AT LAST were really good and I also liked CODE and QUARTERED.

  10. Thanks Rufus and Eileen.

    Good one, tricky in parts; like muffin @1 I got a bit stuck in the SW corner.

    I’ve never heard of Shelagh’s club but I put in the word tentatively and confirmed it later.

    Anyone else think of bass for 25? I looked up all the dioceses in 27 before the PDM. I smiled at CALLOW.

  11. William @3 – sadly none of your examples are as surprising as you think, in fact Rufus has used them all himself:

    Paul 21774: Pound reduction to bring in (9)
    Paul 24175: Breakdown in reduction is present (9)
    Rufus 26311: Offer fantastic reduction (9)
    Paul 23414: More change expected with this change to introduce? (9)
    Paul 24661: Introduce fresh drop (9)
    Rufus 21767: Introduces off cuts (10)
    Rufus 21713: Partners who dance up in close formation (7)
    Rufus 25946: Partners who dance up in close formation (7)
    Orlando 22150: If definite, the recital is fixed (7)
    Chifonie 23028: Composition represented in recital (7)
    Rufus 24332: Recital review may appear in the paper (7)
    Gordius 25411: Indefinite article used in narration (7)
    Janus 22620: Articles about public performance of music (8)

  12. Thanks to Rufus and Eileen. I took a while to get the CLERGY-see connection and did not know LASHINGS-lots and for some reason struggled with the CLOSE-UP-couples anagram, but I was happy to see my birthplace, BALTIMORE, included. Lots of fun.

  14. I enjoyed this puzzle – my favourite was CALLOW.

    New for me was PINERO.

    Thanks Rufus and Eileen

  15. I found this a little tougher than usual for a Rufus, but no less enjoyable for that. My favourite clue was for QUARTERED, with its variation on “put up or shut up”. I also particularly liked CALLOW, CLOSE-UP and LEVER.

    Thanks, Rufus and Eileen.

  16. I continue to be impressed by the master of concise clues. Maybe some were used in a similar guise previously, but somehow they all feel refreshing. How does he do it? I find it quite amazing how he continues to provide us with loads of wonderful clues that are simple and elegant

    I liked WILL TO SUCCEED, and I enjoyed being introduced to SHILLELAGH

    Many thanks Rufus and Eileen.

  17. I agree this was trickier than usual and took me longer to solve. However, in the end it was the mixture as before: some witty- QUARTERED,SHILLELAGH,some pedestrian-SPARSE, and some iffy-VIOL.
    Quite good fun though!
    Thanks Rufus.

  18. Can anyone give a sentence where “endear” and “please” both work? I hate to quibble over this generally enjoyable puzzle, but that one clue didn’t work for me.

    But thank you for it over all, Rufus, and thanks Eileen for the blog.

  19. NOBODY gave me a wow and SHILLELAGH a glow of admiration. QUARTERED just confirmed the quality. Rufus reminds me of dear old Crosaire – anybody?

    Nobody?

    I think part of the Rufus charm is the permission of a few write-ins to get a body going. Thoroughly enjoyed this; totally agree with Trailman@7.

  20. Yes I agree. Rufus reminds me of Crosaire. (Both seem to ignore (or ignored) the standard rules of rigorous cluing with alacrity!) 😉

  21. Valentine @18

    I’m afraid I had the same problem as you did with ENDEAR = please: it has to mean something like ‘make something/one dear or pleasing to’, doesn’t it? But I didn’t want to quibble, either. 😉

  22. D’oh! I had YELLOW for 26A (it almost works) so I couldn’t solve RECITAL. Other than that I did pretty well.

  25. Um. I still have difficulty with RECITAL. I know that it’s an anagram of article, but could find no definition for recital as a story or tale. Am I being thick?

  28. Hi Managra @25, if you’re still there

    Re RECITAL – Collins: ‘an account, narration or description’.

  29. Paul B @16 – RECITAL has now been clued 16 times in the Guardian archive, and I think Shed is the only one that dared:

    Janus 21624: Many to get it in actual performance (7)
    Crispa 21725: 4 down presented in narrative form (7)
    Bunthorne 22847: Dead right I see to invade retrospective performance (7)
    Paul 22976: Financial centre almost entering tangible performance (7)
    Paul 23092: Performance, being realistic, is not surreal (7)
    Rufus 23192: One in court trapped by factual account (7)
    Paul 23514: Jerk turns in tangible performance (7)
    Gordius 23761: Playing for later retirement, about 101? (7)
    Shed 24509: Type of prolapse keeping one at the concert? (7)
    Rover 24765: This delivery could make it clear (7)
    Crucible 25258: This hat could produce theatrical performance (7)
    Gordius 25411: Indefinite article used in narration (7)
    Crucible 26650: Social centre stops next revolutionary gig (7)
    Vlad 26732: Quote cut during actual performance (7)
    Paul 26751: Chapter One in return of modern reading (7)
    Rufus 26879: Novel, article and story (7)

  30. Thanks Eileen and Rufus.

    I found this tougher going than his usual offerings and couldn’t get going till 15ac from where I worked my way back up to the top before tackling the very tough lower half.

    Cipher meaning a nobody was a new definition for me – so thanks for that.

    PINERO – whichever one was meant – was pretty obscure but no alternative.

    And then there were the collection of ‘probablies’ in the bottom half – VOLCANIC, CLERGY, and LEVER – which I only dared to write in when I had all the crossers.

    But like you Eileen, I thought that AT LAST – though straightforward – was classy.

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