Guardian Cryptic 27,335 by Rufus

39 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,335 by Rufus”

1. Thanks Rufus and manehi
   When there are “starting” solutions, I always try those first. All four of these were write-ins, so I thought the puzzle might not be much of a challenge. However it got progressively harder for me, with the SE taking longest to fall.
   All very enjoyable, though I would like an explanation of the second definition for BRILLIANCE, “that outshines all others”.

2. muffin – my Chambers has ‘brilliant’=’superlatively bright’, which is close to ‘outshining all others’.

   As is sometimes the case with Rufus, I wasn’t too sure whether it was meant as a ‘cryptic’ or double def.

3. manehi, there’s no 22d LOL. Did you mean 22A?

4. pex, I meant 23dn 🙂

5. Thanks manehi. I am more used to BRILLIANCE in the light sense being a continuous measure rather than a superlative.

6. Also meant to say, curious about the ‘with him’ in 2a. Is it superfluous?

7. Ah yes, manehi, 23a was my favourite. A lovely neat little clue.

8. Yes, good stuff from Rufus. My favourite was GRAPESHOT. Many thanks to R and m.

9. Held up a little by entering psychology, otherwise a quickie.
   Rufus is still a master of the neat anagram, as in Otherwise.

10. Its Monday its Rufus – enough said.

11. It’s Monday it’s Rufus – enough said

12. Thanks Rufus & manehi.

    Went off at a belting pace until the SE corner then ran into the sand through entering PSYCHOLOGY instead of PSYCHIATRY.

    Not sure if the collared part the ‘scurvy knaves’ clue works but it’s good fun fun so hey-ho.

    On the other hand, one gets used to Rufus’s double defs being a little loose but what could line clippers be? (Other than clothes pegs, of course).

    Interesting that ADULATION AND LAUDATION are synymous anagrams.

    Pleasant start as usual, nice week, all.

13. Rewolf @9 Apologies re psychology – started typing before your post then got distracted.

14. Another vote for 23 down. A gem.

    NE held out longest for me, mainly because of 7 down, which I still don’t get. Wiki tells me the Isle of Man is in the middle of the Irish Sea. But it’s Rufus and I know not to be too literal, but what’s the ‘above’ bit mean?

    pex @ 7. ‘with him’ I saw as good for the surface, but can read as connected with either the wordplay ‘a way with him (sailor +/with a way) or the def, as a kind of phrase. Very clever, and it just flows.

15. paddymelon @14
    If the IOM didn’t “rise above” the IRISH SEA, it would be a bit wet living there!

16. Nice ‘n’ easy, apart from the time I spent pondering HANDCUFF – which fits all the crossers – for 17dn (“collared” suggesting arrested and hence the need for handcuffs).

    Thanks, Rufus and manehi.

17. Another with a PSYCHOLOGY problem, eventually resolved.

    Rather liked LONER.

18. Thank you Rufus and manehi.

    An enjoyable Monday morning puzzle. GRENADINE first came to my mind for 5d.

    William @12, ‘line clippers’ are used to cut fishing lines, and in the past shipping lines had tall ships, Star Line, among a few others, still does for cruises.

    Pex @6, where is 2a?

19. All the enjoyable for having completed it without the need of a pen, wedded as I am to the hard copy of the guardian.

20. ..the more…

21. I was another PSYCHOLOGY but the error didn’t delay me too much. BRED was LOI. Not much more to say except that this was a very pleasant solve. Thanks Rufus.

22. Enjoyable puzzle.

    Favourites 7d and 14a. Also dithered between psychology and psychiatry.

    One of these days I’ll spot that old number trick straight away. *sighs*

    Thanks Rufus and manehi.

23. Cookie @18 Many thanks…an astonishing thing to know – how the blazes do you know that?

24. [William @23, you stimulated me to search for the clipper Waikato which sailed from Plymouth in 1874 for Wellington, and I have actually found a passenger list with 14 of my Luke ancestors listed – thanks!]

25. Thanks to Rufus and manehi. Add me to the list of those who started with psychology. I did not know the cricket use of EXTRA or that “scurf” = DANDRUFF, but I still got the solutions and as usual enjoyed the Monday-Rufus process.

26. A good start to the week. I enjoyed this and agree with the favourites mentioned.
    Thank you Manehi and Rufus
    Good news for the Blues too Pex.

27. Enjoyed very much today and I feel Rufus has upped his game recently.

    One small gripe as a (rare?) crossword fan/gambler – i can’t see how odds give betters prices – they ARE prices? I got there once I got the crossers but prior to that had been trying to find synonyms for bookmakers…

28. Anyone else put in LEPER for 23d before deciding the Guardian would not have that as the answer to the clue (as well as it not parsing, of course) ?

29. I also had LEPER at 23d originally, otherwidse plain sailing. I also finished yesterday’s prize puz all bar one. I’m on a roll!

30. Stuart Drysdale @27, ‘give’ in the mathematical sense, i.e., in the very basic sense of ‘provide’. In this case the better gets the prices directly from the odds.

    You psychologists were, of course, quite right: strictly speaking, psychology is the study of the mind, psychiatry its treatment. However, you can’t treat the mind without studying it and, given there are two words with the same length I wasn’t tempted to fill it in till I’d got 26a.

    By the way, does Rufus get an ‘&lit’ for LONER?

31. …no, I suppose, because ‘socially’ isn’t part of the wordplay. But would he have got away with leaving out ‘socially’?

32. A nice Rufus puzzle to start the (another) week. I found the left side much easier than the right (except for 17d, as noted below), and the SE more difficult than the NE, especially because I also wrote in “OLOGY’ first in 13d, like several others above. Appropriately enough, it was BRILLIANCE that gave me the lightbulb moment that “IATRY” was required. And in the NE, I initially wrote in clothes PINS instead of PEGS in 14a and THEE instead of THOU in 12a, so I guess it was that kind of morning for me! Also, I came to a 50/50 choice in 17d, dandruff vs handcuff, and I guessed incorrectly (I failed to make the scurf = dandruff connection). LOI for me was GENTRY. I enjoyed the clever surfaces of IRISH SEA and LANGUISH, and my CotD was LONER, which seemed to me (and also to manehi? The entire clue is underlined in the blog) to be an &lit with some nifty wordplay. Many thanks to Rufus and manehi, happy Monday to all.

33. Bernoulli @31
    I didn’t see your entries until I posted. Thanks for that point about “socially” – I believe you are correct that it makes the clue merely “&littish”. But I agree with you that the clue would have still worked (and been &lit) if “socially” had been dropped.

34. muffin @ 15. Thankyou. And to Rufus, for a good chuckle at the clue, and at myself for not getting the image of the island rising above the sea.

35. DaveMc @ 31 – and any one else interested at this late stage! – I actually think that Rufus couldn’t care less about the ‘accolade’, if that’s what it is, of an &lit. He’s much more interested in how the surfaces read, and his clues are basically ‘friendly’. Thus, ‘One left right out’, or ‘One’s left right out’ would have been a very austere clue for him. The one he’s chosen is much more friendly and makes you feel for the loner involved.

    In a similar vein, 2d includes ‘with him’ (a) because it’s a brilliant co-option of a colloquial expression into the wordplay (with a different, literal, meaning) and (b) because it conjures up an image of the sailor showing off his charms in foreign parts. All part of his sense of humour and humanity – and considerable skill.

36. Excellent crossword. Thank you Rufus. And thank you to Manehi for the explanations,and to everyone else for all the comments posted.

37. …special thanks to David Taylor @10,11 for a perfect example of Sod’s Law in action.
    A fine puzzle today.

38. Another pleasant start to the week. Thanks Rufus.

39. Cookie @ 18: Ooops! 2d I meant.

    Thanks Paddy @ 14: I see it flows better but not convinced .

Comments are closed.