Guardian 27,149 / Rufus

by

The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Rufus on Monday –
All’s right with the world!

The familiar medley of anagrams and double and cryptic definitions but there’s some clever stuff going on here and there were a number of smiles along the way.

Thank you, Rufus, for a pleasant and enjoyable start to the day.

Across

1 Bitter criticism — I’d bear it somehow (8)
DIATRIBE
Anagram [somehow] of I’D BEAR IT

5 Shopkeeper pronouncedly less refined (6)
GROCER
Sounds like [reportedly] grosser

9 A quick drop for one waiting for opening time (4,4)
FREE FALL
Cryptic definition

10 Gunsmiths will add it to their stocks (6)
BARREL
Cryptic definition [‘lock, stock and barrel’]

12 It has branches in Lebanon (5)
CEDAR
Cryptic definition

13 There’s nothing risky with her new type of pudding (9)
YORKSHIRE
Anagram [new] of O [nothing] RISKY + HER

14 Worriedly anticipate bill coming in will scupper one (12)
INCAPACITATE
AC [bill] in an anagram [worriedly] of ANTICIPATE

18 Lobby Transport House (8,4)
ENTRANCE HALL
ENTRANCE [transport] HALL [house] – a simple charade but quite clever,I thought: see here  for Transport House

21 The only waiting here is at the counter (9)
CAFETERIA
Cryptic definition: a cafeteria is self-service – I really liked this one

23 Something in the air makes one put on weight? On the contrary (5)
OZONE
OZ [weight] + ONE – weight puts on ONE

24 Set one’s sights higher and improve (4,2)
LOOK UP
Double definition

25 Suit for a girl’s best friend (8)
DIAMONDS
Double definition

26 Painstaking people enjoy this activity (6)
SADISM
Cryptic definition

27 Worried about San Diego (8)
AGONISED
Anagram [about] of SAN DIEGO

Down

1 Fault or default (6)
DEFECT
Double definition?

2 Programme information in commercial article (6)
AGENDA
GEN [information] in AD [commercial] + A

3 Votes to consult new dean (9)
REFERENDA
REFER [consult] + an anagram [new] of DEAN
I know that Collins and Chambers give REFERENDA as an alternative plural for referendum but it is, strictly, wrong, in the sense of ‘votes’ – interesting that this comes straight after AGENDA [‘things to be discussed’, thus, correctly, a programme]: similarly, REFERENDA means ‘thingS to be referred’ but, if the Scots were to get a second bite at the cherry, they would still be voting on the same issue, so, for me, much as it goes against the grain, they would have had two referendums!

4 The middle section is convulsed during their performance (5,7)
BELLY DANCERS
Cryptic definition!

6 Gathers in spare parts (5)
REAPS
Anagram [parts] of SPARE

7 Laird can stand for chief (8)
CARDINAL
Anagram [stand for] of LAIRD CAN

8 Not so anxious since replacement’s arrived? (8)
RELIEVED
Double definition

11 Stunning, but also inspiring? (12)
BREATHTAKING
Double definition

15 No end of cats here! (4,2,3)
ISLE OF MAN
Cryptic definition – Manx cats have no tails

16 Hard taskmaster — he’s accepted money that must be turned over (8)
HERCULES
A reversal [turned over] of LUCRE [money] in HE’S
Rufus is using ‘taskmaster’ in a cryptic sense: Hercules was a  master of hard tasks, imposed on him by Eurystheus, his taskmaster

17 Employees take ring road here in the West Midlands (8)
STAFFORD
STAFF [employees] + O [ring] RD [road]

19 Cuts, perhaps, may get us down (6)
WOUNDS
Anagram [may get] of US DOWN

20 A number relaxed and stopped (6)
CEASED
C [a number] + EASED [relaxed]

21 Trips on the River Loire
TOURS
Double definition

34 comments on “Guardian 27,149 / Rufus”

  1. Thanks Rufus and Eileen

    One of Rufus’s best, I thought. I started quickly, but it became more difficult! Particular favourites were ENTRANCE HALL, BREATHTAKING, ISLE OF MAN, HERCULES and TOURS.

    I didn’t understand DEFECT (and still don’t), and I thought “stand for” was a rather odd anagram indicator in 7d.

  2. Thanks Eileen and Rufus. I’m also confused by 1D, and I’m not sure about ‘parts’ as an anagrind in 6D.

  3. Can I please add my ‘don’t understand’ to 1d, and I don’t think I understand 9a either. I’ve been waiting for this blog for an explanation, but no joy!! Enjoyed the rest though. Thanks to both.

  4. Typically Rufus crafty definitions: in particular HERCULES gave me pause.
    At 1dn a defect is a fault, while to defect could be to default.

  6. Thanks Eileen and Rufus.

    Another lovely (if not quite BREATHTAKING) Rufus puzzle. I also ticked CAFETERIA and of course ISLE OF MAN.

    Was hoping to be first – not quite.

  8. Thanks, Eileen. I smiled (uncharacterisitcally in the middle of a Rufus) at the back-to-back gerundives, but your objection to REFERENDA didn’t occur to me. But haven’t the Scots been asked to vote on two different questions recently, each by a separate referendum, and thus two referenda?

  9. Yes, jolly Rufusian fun. I thought that the “one waiting for opening time” bit of the clue for FREE FALL was a bit iffy – on the other hand, maybe rather clever! Liked ENTRANCE HALL, ISLE OF MAN and HERCULES. Many thanks to Rufus and Eileen.

  10. Thanks, Rufus, for the puzzle and for your general consistency. And the Pippa Passes reference was lovely, Eileen.

  11. Ah the dew-pearled hill-side that is a good Rufus on Monday!

    Liked lots, but HERCULES stood out for me. For no good reason, other than Monday morning syndrome, both DIAMONDS and WOUNDS took longer than reasonable.

    Thanks Rufus and Eileen.

  12. A pleasant and relatively undemanding start to the week. I rather liked FREE FALL and although I didn’t really “get” DEFECT it didn’t represent a barrier to progress. Thanks to Rufus and Eileen

  14. I feel like I’m getting into stickler territory here, but I’m still stuck on how to make the verb ‘defect’ be a synonym of the verb ‘default’, per PeterM@4 and muffin@7. I’ve looked in Chambers and seen nothing enlightening.

  19. Agree with muffin @ 1: this was an excellent puzzle with a few obvious write-ins to start with, but then some clues that required rather more thought.

    My favourites were ENTRANCE HALL, CAFETERIA and STAFFORD.

    Thanks to Rufus and Eileen.

  21. I was hoping to say something original, but muffin @1 has more or less done it all. Quick recap: one of the best Rufuses for some time; shame about DEFECT and the anagram indicator in 7d, but they take nothing away; and I really liked YORKSHIRE, AGENDA and some others.

  22. The hillside’s dew-pearled indeed. A very nice Rufus. I especially enjoyed FREE FALL, once muffin@5 explained it. Also liked YORKSHIRE and ENTRANCE HALL.

    A small niggle at REFERENDA, besides Eileen’s grammatical one — “consult” isn’t “refer,” it’s “refer to.”

    And the ISLE OF MAN reminds me that I don’t think we’ve seen “Manx” as a cryptic clue in a while — “endless” seems to have replaced it.

    Thank you, Rufus and Eileen.

  23. Nothing difficult here, though INCAPACITATE held me up a bit. All pleasant enough…

    Thanks to Rufus and Eileen

  24. Nice straightforward puzzle. Many thanks, Rufus.

    Just a small quibble. Isn’t sadism pains giving rather than painstaking? I know, doesn’t quite work. Otherwise a pleasant Monday stroll.

  25. Geoff @ 24: the implication is that painstaking people enjoy being on the receiving end of this activity.

  26. Rather a good Rufus,I thought,and rather more difficult than usual. The two things may be connected,of course! I liked FREE FALL, ISLE OF MAN and SADISM- which was LOI.
    Nice start to the week.
    Thanks Rufus.

  27. Thank you Rufus and Eileen. Enjoyable solve with the usual witty surfaces.

    I am with you on 3dn Eileen. It is Partridge, I think, who says of um/a that “English plurals are much to be preferred”, though he acknowledges that some (data, flora, fauna) are too entrenched to be changed. “Stadia” and “premia” are particularly clumsy.

  28. Wasn’t going to comment until I realised nobody had said they liked BELLY DANCERS. Well I did!

    Thanks, Rufus (and Eileen)!

  30. We found this an exceptionally easy Rufus, something that isn’t always the case.
    Enjoyable enough but almost a tad too easy.

    Funny to see once more that we are all different [although, some say we are all brexiters now – I’m not].
    I mean, we thought CAFETERIA (21ac) was extremely weak while others saw that differently.
    But, unlike in what for many is today’s real world, on this site an opposing view is still very much appreciated.

    No-one mentioned 23ac so far (except Robi who put that one on his shortlist).
    In across clues “A on B” usually means “B + A”.
    Therefore OZONE (23ac) is unnecessary complicated and/or confusing.
    The clue doesn’t need ‘On the contrary’ nor a question mark.

    Many thanks Eileen, and Rufus.

  31. An enjoyable, gentle start to my puzzling week, my favourite being ISLE OF MAN.

    Thanks, Rufus and Eileen.

  32. What a joy. It’s all been said but for the record my favourite was FREE FALL – lovely misdirection with waiting for opening time. And I love it when setters make use of the use of different stresses in English to create the clue – so 1s got a tick from me. Thanks for an uplifting start to the week Rufus and to you for the blog Eileen – as crisp as always.

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