Guardian Prize 29,093 / Paul

by

Last Saturday’s Prize puzzle presented something of a shock to Guardian solvers. Several commenters recently have said that they failed to see the ‘Special Instructions’ in some puzzles. This time, ‘In memory of 23dn’ couldn’t really be missed, and the dates given and the list of highlighted clues attributed to him meant that the identity of the ‘author’ soon became all too clear, although there had been no previous news of his death.

This turned out to be a splendid tribute puzzle from Paul – to ROGER SQUIRES, aka Rufus, one of our best-loved setters and a quite remarkable man. Many things have been said about him – not just a Guinness Book of Records-breaking crossword compiler but also a former Fleet Air Arm officer, a magician who appeared on ‘Crackerjack, Butlins entertainment manager, a TV actor who appeared on ‘Crossroads’… but, rather than rehearse all the biographical details that have been recalled in various places during the week, I strongly urge you to read the lengthy in-depth interview with sushi (a onetime 15² blogger) on her excellent website ‘Crossword unclued’, which includes fascinating accounts and insights from Roger himself, in which, for instance, he draws intriguing parallels between his own life and that of Araucaria, his contemporary and colleague, whose own sad news was conveyed by means of a crossword.
You can find it here. https://www.crosswordunclued.com/2011/11/interview-roger-squires.html

We’ll all have our own memories of Rufus, whether we were fortunate enough to have met him or not and I’m looking forward to reading others’ contributions. Roger kindly made a comment on my first puzzle of his that I blogged, in 2008, and thus began an email correspondence that gave me the confidence, when Peter (Kathryn’s Dad) and I were tentatively planning the first Derby S and B in 2011, to invite him along. He not only came, bless him, but brought his box of magic tricks to amaze and delight us and came again to our second gathering, later in the year, after coming to the Birmingham meet (see kenmac’s ‘Roger Squires – RIP’), along with his lovely wife, Anna. So I met him only three times, twelve years ago, but we kept up the email correspondence and I have ever since regarded him as a dear friend.

And so to the puzzle – an affectionate tribute, which was probably a daunting task for Paul but such a privilege and no doubt a labour of love. As well as including Roger’s best-known cryptic clues (although I looked in vain for his two millionth clue – ‘Two girls, one on each knee (7) 😉 ) Paul has managed admirably to convey the flavour and spirit of a Rufus puzzle, along with some delightful references to Roger himself, which I’ve highlighted in the blog.

In his ‘Meet the Setter’ interview, when asked what makes a successful clue, Roger replied, ‘Fairness, originality, entertainment’, which I think Paul has faithfully delivered, as Rufus invariably did.

Bravo, Paul! – and many thanks indeed.

Definitions are underlined in the clues.

 

Roger’s family have set up The Roger Squires Celebration Fund https://roger-squires.muchloved.com/, where you can add thoughts, memories, pictures and donations, if you wish.

 

Across

1 Magic performer, big hitter (7)
SMASHER
Double definition: Rufus was a member of the Magic Circle and a smasher would be a big hitter in tennis, for instance

5 Gentlemen, last seen of genius on paper (7)
SQUIRES
[geniu]S + QUIRES (paper) – a lovely clue: Roger was among the gentlest of men, providing the legendary ‘gentle start to the week’ – and a true gentleman (as well as a genius on paper)

9 Jolly chap, it’s understood? (5)
ROGER
Double definition, the first referring to the pirate flag and the second used in radio communications to mean that a message has been received and understood

10 A jammed cylinder? (5,4)
SWISS ROLL
The first of Rufus’ classic cryptic definitions

11 Foremost of compilers with clue to set sadly leaves (3,7)
COS LETTUCE
C[ompilers] + an anagram (sadly) of CLUE TO SET – another lovely surface

12 Listen up, 23 was perfect, ultimately (4)
PSST!
Last letters of uP, rufuS (23dn) waS perfecT

14 Bar of soap? (6,6)
ROVERS RETURN
Another of Rufus’ classic cryptic definitions (and, apparently, his own favourite)  – for non UK solvers, this pub is the local in the long-running (since 1960) British soap opera ‘Coronation Street’

18 Sorcery of a wizard in the end so peerless, the ladies spotted? (12)
LEOPARDESSES
An anagram (sorcery) of A [wizar]D SO PEERLESS – another reference to magic, with a  surface that definitely made me smile

21 Stick veteran English player on the radio? (4)
CANE
Sounds like (on the radio) (Michael) Caine (veteran English player)

22 Cheese ending in lake, fish rolling around it (10)
CAERPHILLY
CARP (fish) + HILLY (rolling) round [lak]E

25 Casino visitor on vacation — counting winnings? (6,3)
BETTER OFF
Double definition

26 First of all, so caring as protecting Anna — it goes with a flow (5)
SCAPA
Initial letters of So Caring As Protecting Anna (Scapa Flow – see here for the definition
Anna is, of course, Roger’s wife

27 Fine Shropshire lad for starters, one taking final bow? (7)
SLENDER
S[hropshire] L[ad] + ENDER – one taking final bow ?
Roger was not born in Shropshire (and neither was A E.Houseman, the author of ‘A Shropshire Lad) – see here) but he spent a large part of his life in Ironbridge

28 Oarsmen at sea somewhere along the Mediterranean coast (3,4)
SAN REMO
An anagram (at sea) of OARSMEN

 

Down

1 Neat and evergreen (6)
SPRUCE
Double definition – a very Rufus-like clue

2 Grand time? (6)
AUGUST
And another

3 Classic competitor, say, maverick was hero on Mondays, primarily (10)
HORSEWOMAN
An anagram (maverick) of WAS HERO ON M[ondays] – Rufus occupied the Monday slot more often than not (with the self-confessed brief, for which he was too often denigrated, of providing a gentle start to the week)

4 Another test penned by 5 across I treasured (5)
RESIT
Hidden (penned) in squiRES (5ac) I Treasured

5 Specimens after action, those taken away (9)
SUITCASES
SUIT (action) + CASES (specimens)

6 Able to depart rocky Shetland isle (4)
UNST
UNST[able] (rocky)

7 Extracts from Haley novel published (5,3)
ROOTS OUT
‘ROOTS’ (novel by Alex Haley, with a memorable television adaptation in the 1970s) + OUT (published)

8 Fired after cutting of pay, fibre remaining though damaged (5,3)
SPLIT END
LIT (fired) in SPEND (pay)

13 German outfit older, sheen tarnished (10)
LEDERHOSEN
An anagram (tarnished) of OLDER SHEEN

15 Determined effort by solver? (9)
ENDEAVOUR
A clever double definition, the solver (of crosswords, as well as murders) being Colin Dexter’s (another crossword buff) Inspector Morse, whose first name (long kept secret) is ENDEAVOUR

16 Set originally by other setters, they don’t really work! (8)
PLACEBOS
PLACE (set) + initial letters of By Other Setters

17, 24 Out of sight, out of mind (5,3,4)
ROUND THE BEND
Double / cryptic definition – another classic Rufus clue

19 Chopstick? (6)
CLEAVE
And another – this word is often used here as an example of an auto-antonym or autantonym, also called a contronym, antagonym or Janus word – one that has two opposite meanings; we have to lift and separate chop stick

20 Monday’s cryptic powerhouse … (6)
DYNAMO
An anagram (cryptic) of MONDAY – brilliant!

23 … author of 10, 14, 17 24 and 19 with setter’s surface raised high — and so say all of __ ! (5)
RUFUS
A reversal (raised high, in a down clue) of FUR (setter’s – dog’s – surface) ) + (and so say all of) US! – a great surface to end on and an echo of 9ac, where Roger was (almost) defined as ‘a jolly good fellow’!

 

 

71 comments on “Guardian Prize 29,093 / Paul”

  1. Fantastic effort by Paul and a great tribute. I suppose compiled a bit ago. Some favourites in there.
    Thanks Paul and Eileen

  2. Thanks Eileen for the interview link, I did find it strange that radio 4 aired his obituary on Monday and yet the prize puzzle gave me the news first! I haven’t done the Rufus clues before, and found them most enjoyable, Rufus was a remarkable man.

    21, Across – I actually thought it was Harry Kane, the veteran English player, he is perhaps the longest serving and oldest in the team, but Michael Caine makes sense.

  3. I’m sure a lot of work went into that puzzle, and a wonderful result. The blog was very nicely written too, so thanks to both Paul and Eileen.

    I figured out the meaning of Bar of soap, but not being a soap watcher left me stumped. The first problem was: which soap? Having done the heavy lifting, I felt justified in doing some Wiki reading. The Archers had the Bull, East Enders had the Queen Victoria, neither of which fit. Then I tried Coronation Street, so got there in the end.

  5. What a magnificent tribute and a lovely puzzle.
    Re 22, where mountains are called hills, only estate agents describe hilly land as “rolling”. Didn’t help that my cheese knowledge ends just past Cheddar.
    Thanks Eileen and Paul.

  6. I of course had no hope with the bar of soap, as I am a non-soap-watcher from the wrong country. Otherwise, this was very well done.

    Having taken “player” perhaps too literally, I was thinking of Harry Kane rather than Michael Caine–yeah, you can argue over whether Harry’s been around long enough to count as veteran. But it got me there too, so hey.

  7. I completely missed the theme to this puzzle, and therefore failed to appreciate what a great job Paul did of it.

    I spent ages trying to shoe-horn AROUND THE BEND into 17,23, and could not see the simple solution, for some reason. The penny only dropped after a few days, which enabled my to get LEOPARDESSES as my LOI.

    Superlative cruciverbalism, as a local settter here is wont to say.

  9. I first thought I was looking for a writer but as I got some of the indicated clues I started wondering if it might be a setter as they did not look like titles of novels and when I got two of the crosses to 23d I realised it was RUFUS. Like others I had not realised he had died.

    I thought it was a lovely tribute. My favourite of his clues here was SWISS ROLL which I had not seen before with CLEAVE coming a near second. Would have been good to include PATELLA but maybe that would have made it too easy.

    Loved ENDEAVOUR

    Thanks Paul and Eileen

  10. Splendid crossword, and an equally splendid blog that brought out places where Paul had been even cleverer than I’d thought at the time. Using actual RUFUS clues was a lovely touch, and a real tribute. Heartfelt thanks to both.

  12. Another one here wondering why Harry Kane was considered a veteran! Yes, Michael is a much better fit.
    A lovely tribute, and the well known Bar of Soap clue provided a nice starter. ROUND THE BEND just wouldn’t come to mind for ages: the mythical computer translation of “out of sight, out of mind ” as Invisible Idiot (which it obviously wasn’t) kept getting in the way. I also tried to shoehorn SLACKERS into what turned out to be PLACEBOS.

    Fabourites of Paul’s clues: ROGER and LEOPARDESSES.

  13. Must say thank you to Eileen for a great blog which revealed all the more subtle references to Rufus which I had missed. I was already pretty impressed by Paul’s amazing tribute, but now I see there was so much more. A veritable tour de force.

  14. Great tribute to a crossword legend. Thanks to Eileen for pointing out all the Rufus references, some of which I missed. I couldn’t agree more with your comment at 3d “…with the self-confessed brief, for which he was too often denigrated, of providing a gentle start to the week”. I didn’t always find his puzzles so gentle, and even if they were, they were always enjoyable and fun, which is what really matters. He seems to have been a lovely bloke too and that matters even more.

    Thanks to Paul and Eileen and RIP Rufus

  15. I was utterly bewildered by this, till I chanced to hear the tribute to Rufus (and his other pseudonyms) on the Monday BBC news, which helpfully announced the answer to 14a. I had even got five letters ending in S for 23d, but was stuck. I still DNF, but managed to get most of the way once the theme was clarified.
    So congratulations to Paul, and many thanks, Eileen, for clarifying it all. By the way, I think the two girls, one on each knee, had 7 letters?

  16. Heartily echo the tributes here to Rufus and Paul and Eileen. I too appreciated the puzzle so much more today. The wizardry in LEOPARDESSES was truly peerless. (Fooled me anyway.)

  17. Tx for linking to that interview Eileen. The combination of yourself for the blog and Paul for the crossword is pretty, well, magic.

    I also read all about Scapa Flow. Worth mentioning that, for a navy man, this too would have resonated.

    All this is really very touching. I didn’t recognise any of his clues, yes even ‘Bar of soap’, and initially just thought they were corkers but now I know better!

  19. Well this blog in itself is a worthy tribute to Rufus, with the preamble so beautifully and evocatively written by Eileen. I thought very highly of Rufus and feel very sad that he has died. [I have already added my tribute on kenmac’s Roger Squires – RIP page earlier in the week.]
    Eventually I concluded that the gentle unravelling of Paul’s Prize Puzzle was an apt way for me to discover this news. It did come as something of a shock though when I put together the name at 9a and 5a, ROGER SQUIRE and then had confirmation with the solution to 23d RUFUS, as Eileen said, a splendidly written clue in itself and so fitting that it was the last. It was interesting, and for me very poignant, timing-wise, that the crossword appeared before any other announcement or obituary.
    Many thanks to Paul for the entire crossword, but most of all for including 10a SWISS ROLL, 14a ROVERS RETURN, 17,24d ROUND THE BEND and 19d CLEAVE – what better way to laud another setter than by integrating some of his wonderful clues. They reminded me of how much enjoyment solving Rufus’ puzzles gave me over many years. There were so many other subtleties and little gems in the clues Paul created – the magic performer part of 1a, the wording of 11a “Foemost of compilers with clue to set sadly leaves”, and the loving reference to Rufus’ wife, Anna, in 26a, for instance.
    This puzzle is a classic and it did Rufus proud. He leaves a legacy of having made a lot of crossword fans very happy. l for one am immensely grateful for his life and his contribution to mine.

  25. Solving on a laptop, it is hard to miss the SI and, as soon as I saw ‘Bar of soap’, I knew to whom it was referring and confess I assumed I had missed the news and simply took at is an affectionate and very well crafted tribute. I do sympathise with those for whom it came as a shock. A lovely puzzle and top marks to Paul for doing Rufus proud.

    Thanks Eileen, too, for a super blog.

  27. Congratulations Eileen on your 900th blog! How wonderful to share that with the tribute to Rufus.

  29. Thank you, Eileen: I’m glad it was your turn to blog!

    I should point out that today’s Guardian does contain a full obituary of Roger Squires.

  30. Nice puzzle, well-crafted, both as a puzzle and a tribute. Lots of good clues, some of which had me stuck for a while. Enjoyable. The special instruction was a helpful lead-in. Nice to read more about Rufus in Eilean’s blog, and the extra detail about Rufus hidden in the solutions.

  31. I did not see the ‘Special instructions: In memory of 23 down (1932 – 2023)’ until after I finished the puzzle. RIP Rufus / Roger Squires. I had not been aware of these clues that Rufus / Roger Squires was famous for so the theme did not help but I did find some info via google after I completed the puzzle. I still miss the Monday Rufus puzzles, he was such an excellent setter.

    1ac – guessed SMASHER = big hitter but could not see connection to ‘magic performer’ and still can’t. Can someone explain please.

    I also did not parse 4d – RESIT.

    Favourite: 15d reference to Inspector Morse.

    New for me: Scapa Flow for 26ac; ROVERS RETURN Inn; UNST (Shetland isle) – sounds worth visiting.

    Thanks, both.

  32. What Julie in Australia@19 said. Cannot really add anything to that. Brilliant puzzle, wonderful tribute, lovely blog from Eileen. Thanks to all.

  33. Michelle@31, I have had the same problem with ‘magic performer’, but I guess it is just using ‘magic’ in the sense of great or remarkable, and ‘smashing’ in the same sense – both a bit dated nowadays. So a smasher is someone who performs in a magic way.

  34. A brilliant in memoriam puzzle, thank you Paul, and thank you Eileen for a superb 900th blog. I miss those Mondays…

  35. Echo lenmasterman’s comment. Rufus was the reason I started cryptics as the others were too difficult at first. RIP Roger.

  36. We really enjoyed this but being relatively new to this game we were completely in the dark about who had died and therefore all the connections. So it was quite hard and we really struggled in the North East which must have been easy for those in the know. UNST was a struggle without the assistance of SQUIRES and our LOI. We had nearly given up and settled for UIST thinking that Shetland might have one too. I now realise that it was a masterpiece from Paul and a great relief after the week before. Thanks to Eileen for the wonderful Blog which was an education in itself and in so many ways.

  37. Well done to both Paul and Eileen for a fitting tribute. I hadn’t heard the news and couldn’t find anything on the interweb when I looked.

    Great to see some of Rufus’s classic clues, and Paul adapted well to the former’s style. I particularly liked SQUIRES and COS LETTUCE for the imaginative surfaces, and the neat anagram for DYNAMO.

    Rufus was one of the crossword greats who will be sorely missed.

  38. No matter how early I look at this blog, and today I managed to get a bleary-eyed glimpse soon after 08:00, inevitably it seems all the good comments have been taken already!

    So it only remains to say, ave et vale Rufus, bravo Paul for providing such a splendid guard of honour and come on Eileen ! – 900 blogs! chapeau to you too.

  39. Stephen Hart @33 – thanks for explaining. Smasher is not a word that I have heard used in the sense of a ‘magic performer’ before.

  40. I solved ROGER, SQUIRES and RUFUS in early, so went looking for obituaries, which didn’t appear until some hours later, picked up on from this crossword.

    On the memorial thread there is a comment that Paul was asked to write the crossword the weekend before – 4/5 June, and it was at his request published as the prize.

    Thank you to Paul and Eileen for an amazing tribute to a lovely man.

  41. EILEEN 900
    Wow! This is an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations Eileen!
    And the milestone blog is right up there with the very best!

  42. I agree with Julie in Australia at 19: having learned of Rufus’ death whilst actually doing this crossword – which came a shock – I then decided it was the most suitable way to discover the news.
    A touching, heartfelt and brilliant blog, a touching, heartfelt and brilliant crossword – to a likeable and undeniably brilliant setter.
    Rufus got me into doing crosswords. Rufus’ wit and cleverness made me love them.
    I shall always be grateful to him.
    Thank you Paul, Rufus and Eileen – and congrats on your 900th blog!

  43. Michelle @31 4,d is a lurker clue but an odd one in that you have to imagine the answer to 5 written out in the clue. So ‘,Another test penned by Squires I treasured’. This is explained in the blog just more succinctly.

  46. Excellent tribute puzzle with many splendid clues. Solving on my iPhone I failed to see the special instructions before starting out. A quick perusal of the clues and ROVERS RETURN popped out. Lazy of Paul to recycle a Rufus classic, I thought, but the reason soon became clear.

    Pity there wasn’t room for (spoiler alert!) PATELLA, as Eileen remarked, but the crossword did have my own Rufus favourite: ROUND THE BEND. I was fortunate enough to be able to tell him so to his face on the one occasion we met (Derby S&B). He was characteristically self-effacing about it. Lovely man.

    Many thanks to Paul (great crossword), Eileen (great blog) and Rufus (many happy solves).

  47. Congrats Paul – you beat me (LEOPARDESSES and PLACEBOS – my bad of course) and to Eileen as well – 900 is a big wow number! Thanks so much.

  48. A sad occasion, but a tour de force from Paul that provides a suitable tribute to the work and memory of Roger Squires. He was and remains an outstanding setter. Lovely blog/obit from Eileen.

  49. As a relative newcomer to cryptic land, I don’t have the history with Rufus that some others do but I remain a huge fan and enjoyed Paul’s tribute. Thanks to both Paul and Eileen.

  50. As a newcomer to these crosswords I’m not really aware of Rufus but I appreciate what a great tribute this is by Paul. Got nowhere near this one, spoiling a run of four on the bounce. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of it…

  51. Thanks Paul and Eileen900 and Rufus. I was soundly defeated by this one. More than half remained unsolved even after cheating. And I echo what BobG @50 says. Off to count my remaining marbles.

  52. I solved this today, already knowing, of course, that it was a special crossword, and in what way it was special. As well as being a well-constructed puzzle in its own right, it was, I thought, an exceptional and appropriate tribute to the much-loved late compiler. I enjoyed solving it, and the blog and comments have rounded off this experience very nicely.

    Congratulations to Paul for such a fitting puzzle, and to Eileen for a super blog on this memorable occasion.

  53. I didn’t see the special instructions (as so many said the last time we had them) or the references to them in the clues, so thanks, Eileen, for setting me straight.

    Eileen, my print copy of last week’s prize doesn’t have any special instructions on it. Was it a different puzzle? What were the instructions? I do remember many people, probably including me, saying they didn’t see them.

    I actually don’t know what we call a SWISS ROLL in the US. We do have jelly rolls, but I don’t know what we call rolls with other kinds of filling.

    I couldn’t parse RESIT, but I did remember the Britishism of “sit a test,” (over here we “take a test”) so i biffed it in. I’ve never seen Coronation Street, but ROVERS RETURN sounded pubbish, so biffed that in too.

    I looked up all the Shetland Isles, and the only four-letter ones were UNST and YELL, but I couldn’t work either of them in until I got a crosser or two.

    What a beautiful double tribute, by Paul and then by Eileen — on her 900th birthday! congratulations and thanks to both.

  54. Hi Valentine @53
    The Special Instructions were “In memory of 23 down (1932 – 2023)” in my paper and also in the online print version – see here: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/prize/29093/print
    which I copied and pasted to write the blog – I don’t understand why you couldn’t see them.

    As for Swiss rolls, they’ve been around at least ever since I was a child and, since I know that Americans call our jam ‘jelly’, I assume they’re the same thing – a basic sponge cake spread with ‘preserve’ and rolled up – like this:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oH-TK-1pDU

  55. Hi, Eileen#54
    I was apparently unclear. It wasn’t this week’d special instructions I missed it was last week’s.

    And now I have to correct a popular misconception your side the pond. The American word for “jam” isn’t “jelly.” The American word for “jam” is “jam,” and “jelly” is the American word for “jelly.” They are both sweetened fruit spreads, and I think that over your side “jelly” means what we call Jell-O, a dessert made from some powder you dissolve in hot water and allow to set.

    Jelly is made from the strained juice of cooked fruit, and it’s translucent. I remember big cloth bags of cooked grapes hanging from the kitchen ceiling dripping into a bowl on the table in my grandfather’s house, making juice for jelly. I make jelly now from the grapes on the arbor in the back yard., though I haven’t figured out the hook-on-the-ceiling arrangement. Jam, on the other hand, is made from crushed whole fruit and is not translucent. Then again, “preserves” is not a pretentious word for jam over here, it’s a third kind of sweetened fruit spread, where the fruit is left whole. At the grocery store you can see strawberry jam, strawberry jelly and strawberry preserves next to each other on the shelf.

    Then there’s also “fruit butter,” which is the fruit slowly cooked down until it’s a thinnish paste. Apple butter is the most common, but I’ve seen other kinds. And a big farm produce store an hour away from my house (on the way to where my cousin used to live) sells something they call “plum gumbo,” which as far as I know is unique to them. It’s delicious.

  56. Wellbeck@42 took the words right out of my mouth. Well said.

    I too got the news from this crossword, and I agree that this was a fitting way to announce Mr. Squires’ death. It reminded me, heart-rendingly, of Aracauria’s announcement of his terminal illness.

    Thank you Eileen for the wonderful blog, Paul for the magnificent puzzle, and commenters for their reminiscences.

  57. Valentine @56
    It seems I’ve been unclear, too. I wasn’t referring to a Prize puzzle (and to me ‘last week’s’ means the one set on June 10 – the one we’re discussing here). I had in mind the Picaroon puzzle I blogged the day before, https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/06/09/guardian-29092-picaroon/
    when people said they hadn’t seen the SI – and there have been one or two other cases pretty recently, I think.
    As for jam / jelly / jello, I’m now completely confused! I carelessly used ‘preserve’ as a generic word to include both jam and jelly but of course you’re right – it’s neither (and, as far as I’m concerned, superior to both).
    At least we seem to be in agreement as to what a Swiss roll is, I hope. 😉

  60. Eileen@57 Iam now educated as to what a Swiss roll is. Swiss don’t roll like that over here.

    And muffin’s quote is a good way to remember the jam/jelly distinction. Jelly is a semi-solid that holds its shape, more or less, a does Jell-O even more so. Jam just lays there and blobs.

  61. Congratulations on the milestone Eileen and thanks for a wonderful blog doing full justice to puzzle and theme, bringing out all the references that I would otherwise have missed, not to mention a more likely Cane soundalike than the Harry that I had plumped for. I didn’t know nor solve Rufus but have met some of his classics, and thought this was a great tribute to the man – that his clues live on outside their original grid also indicates the quality of his contribution. So thanks Paul for a fantastic crossword – and as for those who generally found Rufus on the easy side, my last one in was CLEAVE and that not until Friday, so i would not have been in that number!

  63. Congratulations Eileen on reaching the 900 milestone and for this one – a particularly good one which I failed to mention @1. I look forward to your 1,000th
    Tim

  64. Great tribute. I hadn’t heard of any notable deaths, so thought this was going to be a struggle, but as soon as I saw “Bar of soap” and “A jammed cylinder”, I knew exactly who it was a tribute to (and had a couple of gimmes!). I was shocked not to have heard the news and immediately went looking for a report of the death, soon finding the tribute page on Big Dave (Rufus was equally adored by Telegraph solvers). I didn’t know (or had forgotten) “Out of sight, out of mind”, though, and spent some considerable time on it, knowing all along how terrific it was going to be when I finally got it (and, of course, I wasn’t disappointed).

    Sorry to say, I couldn’t parse UNST (never having heard of it) and biffed UIST from the crossers, knowing it was an island ‘up there, somewhere’. I also missed rolling for -HILLY, but the early wordplay told me it had to be that cheese.

    A bonus for me in all this came in one of the photographic links where I got to see what Eileen looks like! Congratulations on your 900th, Eileen!

  66. Eileen, please forgive me for belatedly pointing out that it’s A. E. HOUSMAN, not HOUSEMAN, but nobody else seems to have noticed.

  67. Eileen, I hope you see this because I know you’re very conscientious about checking comments.

    Congratulations on your 900th blog! Though I seldom comment I still lurk and read and I love your blogging. You’re so knowledgeable and always bring that little extra, and are so generous with your praise. I have been following since before you started blogging and can remember your first blog and my delight when you did join the team because I’d always appreciated your contributions as a commentator. How wonderfully fitting, if horribly sad, that this was the crossword for your milestone blog.

    I’d also like to add my respects to Rufus and condolences to his family. I loved Mondays because I loved Rufus. It’s often been said that the easiest clues are the hardest to set, and he did it so well.

    More than ever, thanks to S&B! Including, of course, Paul in that for his brilliant, moving tribute.

  68. ValM @67 – I can’t pretend not to have seen your comment, because, as I think you know, bloggers receive an email of all comments on their blogs – but I’m rather embarrassed to respond to it! Thank you very much for your kind words.

  70. Quite apart from the wonderfully created clues themed on this delightful, generous and talented man about whom many above have commented better than could I, I cannot help thinking that this must be the exemplar of how to permeate a puzzle with a theme so smoothly that not a single clue ‘jars’ or feels contrived. Indeed, were asolver to know nothing of Roger Squires (or Rufus, Dante et al) they would still have enjoyed it -though they’d have missed the superb substance of this tribute from Paul

    The blog was also most moving and thoughtful, beautifully depicting his generosity of time and spirit. I am very grateful for the links

    Many thanks, Paul for an arresting, yet uplifting, tribute

  71. (As one or two others almost suggested, I feel it may have been only the kindest of motives which informed the Guardian’s decision to give its crossword devotees a little time to ponder on Rufus’ passing before it became more widely announced…. )

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