Guardian 27,221 – Rufus

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A very quick Monday solve, though I had a bit of trouble parsing 5d. Thanks to Rufus.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. ACCLAIM Chasing a double century, I hit out and get this (7)
A + CC (Roman numerals) + I in LAM – the definition implies that the batsman would get acclaim for his 200
5. IGNORED Redoing treatment for cut (7)
REDOING*
9. BESET Surrounded, like European capital in defeat (5)
E in BEST (to defeat)
10. RETRIEVES Recovers from River Tees flooding (9)
(RIVER TEES)*
11. SHORT STORY Though possibly original, it is less than novel (5,5)
Cryptic definition
12. ONCE About the church in former times (4)
ON C.E.
14. DOUBLE FAULT Not a single mistake by a serviceman (6,5)
Cryptic definition, with the ‘serviceman’ being a tennis player
18. DEMONSTRATE Show how Devil and Saint rank in esteem (11)
DEMON + ST + RATE
21. IRIS Bloomer in which a pupil is involved (4)
Cryptic definition
22. IMPRISONED Put away for safety? (10)
Cryptic definition (.. for the safety of potential victims, presumably)
25. EVIDENTLY Event idly arranged — obviously (9)
(EVENT IDLY)*
26. VIOLA Instrument played in Twelfth Night (5)
Double definition
27. SANCTUM Private study (7)
Cryptic definition – barely cryptic perhaps, but slightly misleading; ‘private study’ was what we used to call free periods at my school. Chambers gives the defintion ‘a (very) private room’
28. LASCARS Foreign sailors find girl without transport (7)
CAR in LASS
Down
1. ABBESS Sailor girl with unmarried sisters in her care (6)
AB + BESS
2. CASTOR Oil wheel (6)
Double definition
3. ART STUDENT One drawing on his teacher’s advice (3,7)
Cryptic definition
4. MERIT Worth millions, weary — needing uplift (5)
M + reverse of TIRE
5. INTER ALIA Where Albania introduced prohibition — among other things (5,4)
‘Albania’ is BAN (prohibition) in ALIA, so the prohibition is INTER ALIA (I was trying to do something with the country code AL for a while)
6. NAIL File often found after this arrest (4)
‘Nail file’
7. RAVENOUS Very hungry creature that flies round the States (8)
RAVEN + O (round) + US
8. DESSERTS Under pressure to turn up with sweets (8)
A very familiar reversal of STRESSED
13. OFFENSIVES Actions against the defence (10)
Cryptic definition
15. ULTIMATUM The very last word in negotiations? (9)
Cryptic definition
16. ADMIRERS Errs amid wayward lovers (8)
(ERRS AMID)*
17. AMBITION End of drive? (8)
Cryptic definition
19. ANGOLA Staggering along to a country in Africa (6)
ALONG* + A
20. IDEALS Ladies in fashion or models (6)
LADIES*
23. ROYAL Sail with two little boys (5)
ROY + AL – it wouldn’t be Rufus without a nautical reference, here to this sail
24. JEST An old joke? (4)
Just a definition, really: ‘jest’ being a slightly old-fashioned word, not commonly used except in stock phrases such as ‘surely you jest’

30 comments on “Guardian 27,221 – Rufus”

  1. Thanks Rufus, and Andrew for the parsing of 5d.
    I had 17d as a double(ish) definition, AMBITION being both the goal and the motivation of an ambitious person.

  2. Usual mixed bag I thought. Lots to like and lots not to like. Seem to remember seeing 5d before a long while back but it is a good clue. Anagram at 10a is nice although ‘flooding’ as an anagrind is a bit of a push. Least favourites were 17d, 24d, 27a and 22a.

  3. Thanks Rufus and Andrew

    Pretty much what we expect from Rufus, though INTER ALIA was a bit tricksy for him (and the parsing escaped me – I intended to go back to it, but forgot to do so).

    “For safety” in 22 and “study” in 27 seemed superfluous. I’m not sure if VIOLA is quite fair, as there would be no way of getting it without knowing (or looking up) Twelfth Night.

    ABBESS and IDEALS were my favourites.

  4. I thought this more cryptic than a normal Rufus requiring more thought.

    I’m struggling to comprehend how BEST = defeat.

    Thanks Rufus & Andrew

  6. I messed up by putting in MARRIEDS for ADMIRERS (a case of being over-romantic?), and thought this was a bit trickier than most Rufuses. Liked DEMONSTRATE, DOUBLE FAULT and ABBESS; not so sure about IMPRISONED or SANCTUM. Thanks to R & A.

  7. All pleasant enough and straightforward, as Rudus usually is. JEST was last in because I couldn’t believe there wasn’t more to it, so I used the Check button to confirm it…

    Thanks to Rufus and Andrew

  10. Thank you Rufus and Andrew.

    A most enjoyable Rufus for me, even though I failed to parse INTER ALIA and had to guess the sail (I liked your reference to the KRUZENSHTERN, Andrew, I sailed with her at The Cutty Sark Tall Ships’ 2000 Regatta off Cadiz before the start of the Race).

  11. Not a very quick sove for me, though I had no trouble parsing 5D
    My LOIs were ROYAL (never heard of it for a sail, but I had guessed it earlier and IMPRISONED confirmed it) and AMBITION
    I agree with the comments that SANCTUM and JEST weren’t really crypic

    muffin @3 – I couldn’t remember that VIOLA was in Twelfth Night but it was the only possible instrument and also a possible chaacter’s name that fitted with the crossers.

    Thanks Rufus and Andrew

  12. One of my slowest Rufuses for some time, partly due to the crossing and barely-cryptic SANCTUM and JEST. That’s not to excuse me from delays with STRESSED, a bit of an old chestnut, and IMPRISONED, one of those Rufus cds that is guaranteed to give me trouble.

  13. I guess the definition for ravenous is just ‘very hungry’ not ‘very hungry crature’ and ‘creature that flies’ is raven.

  14. Thanks to Rufus and Andrew

    Rufus is always the same for me – some delightfully witty and ingenious surfaces (5dn), some barely cryptic definitions (27ac) and some cryptic/double definitions which I find more difficult even than Azed the previous day, as it partly comes down to guesswork (whereas Azed is fiendish but fiercely logical). But overall enjoyable as ever.

    I think Viola is well enough known to be fair.

  15. Thanks Rufus and Andrew.

    It’s a bit difficult to define INTER ALIA without giving the game away, but a nice clue.

    I also enjoyed DOUBLE FAULT. I was another who thought that JEST could not really be the correct answer – but it was!

  16. Thank you to Rufus and Andrew; a quick solve but a fun one. Don’t know how I’d manage without the vocabulary I absorbed from Patrick O’Brian novels.

    I had BEST for 24D (as the old jokes are said to be) but it did seem a cruel comment on the late footballer.

  17. 25a is a particularly lame anagram – is the fact that the definition is ‘obvious’ a bit of a sly admission?

    28a was a new one on me but gettable once i had the crossers

    11a feels tenuous – why wouldn’t a short story be original?

  18. boboblaw @17

    I think 11a is a typical bit of Rufusian wit: a short story is less than a novel, ie shorter, but it can be just as novel, ie original.

    And I think 25a may come into that category too.

  20. Thanks to Rufus and Andrew. I could not parse INTER ALIA, did not know ROYAL as a sail, and like others above had to pause over several not quite cryptic clues. Still, lots of fun as usual.

    Query: does the CASTOR spelling work for a wheel as opposed to the oil?

  21. Flew through this in 30 minutes – I think Rufus is my natural wavelength. I too couldn’t parse INTER ALIA , but it was obviously the correct solution.

  25. I think it’s all been said, so I will merely add my thanks to Rufus and Andrew for an enjoyable puzzle. After a three week trip abroad it’s good to be back to the challenges of the Grauniad cryptic!

  26. muffin @ 23

    Presumably it’s finer because it’s for use in a SUGAR CASTER – that’s what the eChambers definition seems to imply.

  27. Simon @26
    I hadn’t come across a sugar caster, but it makes sense. Caster sugar is usually specified in recipes when it is needed to dissolve fully and quickly.

  28. Thanks both,

    OT. For Muffin @27 and other cooks – the granulated sugar sold by Lidl and Aldi is finer than that sold by the other supermarkets, and often cheaper. It is a good substitute for caster sugar in most recipes, e.g. sponges, and half the price. It is a mystery to me why caster sugar is so much more expensive than granulated.

  29. A good puzzle from Rufus, if perhaps more than average number of cryptic definitions (would other editors object to that?). I’m still a bit dubious about 1a wordplay. Is ‘out’, in ‘I hit out’, acceptable as a container indicator? Bearing in mind that it’s commonly used as an anagram indicator?

  30. I could not parse 5d, and I failed to solve JEST.

    My favourites were STRESSED & ACCLAIM.

    Thanks Rufus and blogger

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