It’s Monday so Rufus is back with his customary plethora of double and cryptic definitions. Not my cup of tea but the person who was scheduled to provide holiday cover today ended up going on holiday himself.
I have a quibble about 9ac because I cannot see how part of the wordplay is valid.
Across
7 “Man” is clue; perhaps solution is “male” (9)
MASCULINE – anagram (perhaps) of MAN IS CLUE
8 Immediately available for cash (5)
READY – double def.
9 Is in a better position to speak off the cuff (9)
IMPROVISE – IS in IMPROVE (a better position?) – ‘improve’ is a verb whereas ‘a better position’ is not!
10 Instrument is changing pitch (5)
SITAR – anagram (changing) of IS TAR (pitch)
12 Amusement park fails to open — how dishonest! (6)
UNFAIR – [f]UNFAIR (amusement park fails to open)
13 Basis for action? (8)
EVIDENCE – cryptic def.
14 Complaint results from French gent leaving umbrella unfurled (7)
RUBELLA – anagram (unfurled) of U[m]BRELLA
17 A play on words? (7)
CHARADE – cryptic def.
20 Had odd recurrent racket from attachment (8)
ADHESION – anagram (odd) of HAD NOISE (racket) reversed (recurrent)
22 Judge the fools will accept direction (6)
ASSESS – ASSES (fools) around (will accept) S (direction)
24 Opening joke (5)
CRACK – double def.
25 It may be a mistake to express despair in public (9)
OVERSIGHT – SIGH (to express despair) in OVERT (public)
26 Fights for the best theatre seats (5)
BOXES – double def.
27 Cordial and unusually endearing (9)
GRENADINE – anagram (unusually) of ENDEARING
Down
1 Supplier of drinks acquired weapon during Prohibition (6)
BARMAN – ARM (weapon) in (during) BAN (Prohibition)
2 Create novel about graduate to cause irritation (8)
ACERBATE – anagram (novel) of CREATE around (about) BA (graduate)
3 Talented leading counsel at the bar (6)
CLEVER – C[ounsel] (leading counsel) LEVER (bar)
4 Dance all beginners should take at a time (3-4)
ONE-STEP – double def.
5 Part of army base is run down (6)
REVILE – RE (part of army) VILE (base)
6 Given credit for having made headway (8)
ADVANCED – double def.
11 An Oxford street drunk (4)
HIGH – double def. – see here for the first one
15 Pull beneath the waves (8)
UNDERTOW – cryptic def.
16 Deposited a pound when on benefit (4)
LAID – L (a pound) AID (benefit)
18 Discerns anomaly, so renders null and void (8)
RESCINDS – anagram (anomaly) of DISCERNS
19 Jack given lines for wrongdoing (7)
KNAVERY – KNAVE (Jack) RY (lines)
21 Avoid giving points to champ (6)
ESCHEW – ES (points) CHEW (champ)
22 Progressed rapidly in skill, being thorough (6)
ARRANT – RAN (progressed rapidly) in ART (skill)
23 Man answered her riddle (6)
SPHINX – cryptic def. – see here for an explanation
Thanks, Gaufrid.
I wondered about 9a, too. I thought one could read it as “to better position”, though the “a” is then awkward. However, Rufus is well know for throwing in extra “a” s.
Message to Hugh – could we have this grid once a year instead of once every week or so.
I liked 23d SPHINX – a clever CD and an &lit, too, I think.
Found this crossword above average difficulty, particularly the NW corner, which took some time to crack.
I managed this one in the end, although some of the cds were less than obvious (that’s why they’re called cds of course). ESCHEW I liked specially today.
And yes, what Dave E said about the grid (except maybe without the ‘or so’ at the end).
Thank you to Rufus and to Gaufrid for standing in.
Managed to lash it up by spelling ‘sphinx’ with a ‘y’ instead of an ‘i’, but otherwise o.k
Had the same reservation about 9a, but perhaps “in a better position” could be “in a position within better” and better = improve.
Thanks, Gaufrid.
You are going to have some trouble arguing Rufus out of the hole he seems to have dug himself in 9a. And the &litters will be on your case too, for 23 (just a CD)!
Good luck.
Thanks Gaufrid. I tend to agree with Ian @5 re: ‘is’ in improve as to better. Why, by the way, do you see recurrent as reversed in 9ac – it was obviously the only option, but still…..
Hi togo
One of the definitions in Chambers under ‘recurrent’ is “running back in the opposite direction …”.
I raced through three quarters of this and then, for some reason that escapes me on post-solve reflection, ground to a halt in the NE corner for quite a while until SITAR got me going again.
Thanks Gaufrid and Rufus.
Some good clues e.g. 25a, 27a (evoked memories of warm days on a teenage hitchhiking holiday in France), and 21d, but a horrible grid as others have said.
I agree with Gaufrid and others re 9a.
11d held me up for some time. I thought it must be Wino ( West One + no.) but that left 17a impossible. Another memory, this time of a verse which commemorates the introduction of buses into Oxford and begins
What is this that roareth thus?
Can it be a Motor Bus?
Yes, the smell and hideous hum
Indicat Motorem Bum!
Implet in the Corn and High
Terror me Motoris Bi
The full verse is available on wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motor_Bus
I see the blog has been changed on SPHINX being seen as &lit. I was just limbering up to comment about that!
Hi Paul B
The post has *not* been edited since it was first published. There was no reference in it to &lit at any time, except in contributors’ comments.
Paul B @11
You appear to have been confused by Bootsie @6. It’s not clear who he thinks he is addressing. I suspect he is confused.
Thanks to Gaufrid for the blog.
One man’s meat is another’s poison: PaulW@2 had difficulty with NW corner but I started there and the rest, gradually, fell into place.
Thanks all
It was the NE which made this a harder than usual Rufus.
I dudn’t know the Oxford High reference,I was delayed by ‘shoe’.
Also could not ‘exigence’ be equally valid for 13ac?
Well sorry Gaufrid, I’m obviously away with the fairies. The comment I’m looking for is in post one by Dave Ellison.
So, anyway, er, Dave, you can’t have a cd that’s &lit, since cds don’t have any SI. An &lit clue could read as if a cd however, but that would only be as a result of the way the SI has to be arranged to produce the goods. Unless I really have gone mad.
Bloody hell. Coffee time, and Name of the Rose on iPlayer.
The usual dull Rufus Monday. He obviously used his week off to think of lot’s more dodgy cds, dds and the usual non-cryptic clue. 😉
Am I missing something or could Oxford in 11d be replaced by almost any town/city in the UK?
Thanks to Gaufrid and Rufus
I opted for EXIGENCY for 13a. But I see how EVIDENCE is the better answer (this being a *cryptic* crossword after all).
7a seemed familiar, so I searched the blog. Sure enough, FT 14,413 (Dante, 9 Sep) had the following: Clue is “man” perhaps; answer is “male” (9).
In a sense a cd is an &lit – or, rather, a lit with no &. If I read him correctly, I think Dave’s point @1 would be better expressed as a kind of double cd, in that a man (Oidipos) solved the riddle, giving the answer “Man”.
Hard to know what Dave thinks when you are Pete, but a cd must define one answer only: ‘man’ was the answer to her (the Sphinx’s) riddle, simples. Your version requires the solution ‘Oedipus’ (however you wish to spell it) which is clearly not available. Why so labyrinthine? Got minotaurs on the brain? This clue is a really basic cd.
PeterO-
Yes, you put it well. You can get to “sphinx” via either reading – like an &lit. in that respect. That’s the point of the story, too – man (represented by O) must discover that he himself is the answer… I think Freudians would like this clue (well I’m one and I do, at least).
I did know there were any left. You learn something new every day here at 15^2.