Guardian 26,383 – Rufus

by

Only two cryptic definitions today, but seven doubles (though in several of those the two definitions are very closely related), together with mostly very straightforward clues of other types, suitable for those who like an easy start to the week. Thanks to Rufus.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. ANIMAL Armadillo, for example, has plate all round (6)
Reverse of LAMINA
4. PAUSED Hesitated to have father taken advantage of (6)
PA + USED
9. VERA In truth, she goes to the city (4)
A sort of reverse charade – VERA + CITY = truth
10. ACCEPTANCE The acquisition of a favourable reputation (10)
Double definition
11. SECOND Not the first time (6)
Double definition
12. ORATORIO One who talks one round to composing some music (8)
ORATOR + I (one) + O (round)
13. ASTRONOMY Space explorer’s study? (9)
Cryptic definition
15. METE Dole out food, say? (4)
Homophone of “meat”
16. SKID Small child to go out of control (4)
S + KID
17. IDLE FANCY Yet it might be the product of an active imagination (4,5)
Cryptic definition
21. CROSS OUT Blue-pencil our costs — being out of order (5,3)
(OUR COSTS)*
22. PRUNED First of plants under­developed, cut back (6)
P + UNDER*
24. SWEATSHOPS Turkish baths, which flout union regulations? (10)
Double definition
25. COOP Shut up firm having little work (4)
CO + OP
26. SWEDEN Journalist taken aback by news of the country (6)
Reverse of (ED in NEWS)
27. ADVENT Notice gap coming in the church calendar (6)
AD (notice) + VENT
Down
1. AGELESS Eternal theme of the beautician? (7)
The beautician’s clients want to AGE LESS
2. IDAHO State aid distributed by the Home Office (5)
AID* + H.O.
3. ABANDON Leave a musical group — no making a comeback (7)
A BAND + reverse of NO
5. APPEAL Beg for a retrial? (6)
Double definition
6. SOAP OPERA Flattery works with EastEnders, say (4,5)
SOAP (flattery) + OPERA (works – plural of opus)
7. DECLINE Refuse to go through all the cases (7)
Double definition – those of us who learned Latin will remember declining nouns
8. ACCOMMODATION Housing allowance (13)
Double definition
14. REINSTATE Restore control, say (9)
REIN (control) + STATE (say)
16. SCRAWLS Lax hands act sycophantically on board (7)
CRAWL in SS
18. EXPOSED Photographed out of doors? (7)
Double definition
19. CHEROOT Smoked by the great man in bed (7)
HERO in COT
20. FO’C’SLE Figurehead at unusually close quarters to the crew (6)
F[igure] + CLOSE*
23. UNCLE Relation who takes the pledge (5)
Double definition, “uncle” being slang for a pawnbroker

28 comments on “Guardian 26,383 – Rufus”

  1. Thanks Rufus and Andrew
    Some odd (not necessarily bad) clues here, I thought. VERA has the definition in the middle. I don’t quite see either definition for ACCEPTANCE. CROSS OUT has “out” in the clue. Are Turkish baths sweat SHOPS? “Out of doors” isn’t necessarily “exposed” is it?
    I did like SOAP OPERA and DECLINE.

  2. Actually there’s a second weakness in “exposed”. It’s not the subject of the photograph that is exposed – it’s the film, so “photographed” doesn’t mean “exposed”.

  3. Thanks Rufus and Andrew

    Would “underdeveloped”, 22a, be one of the “lift and separate” type of clues causing controversy? I think it fine and adds to the interest.

    3d, tried to resolve this using ABA, the musical group.

    I, too liked SOAP OPERA and DECLINE

  4. Cookie @3
    Yes, “underdeveloped” – to be read as “under” developed – is a good example. I liked it too.

  5. 13d is a straightforward definition, not a dd, so I don’t understand the question mark. Also, 8d was in yesterday’s Everyman with almost the same cluing.

  7. Poc@5 – yesterday’s Everyman is still a live prize puzzle so you should refrain from making comments about it.

    I thought this puzzle was a little quirkier than some of Rufus’s other puzzles and I enjoyed it. VERA was my LOI after I finally deciphered the wordplay.

  10. I liked this one but agree with some of the quibbles, however they didn’t hold me up. Got hung up on ‘screeps’ for a while. Yes, I know it isn’t a word! Liked 17ac and 7d.

    Thx both!

  11. Andy B@7: apologies if I overstepped, but I would expect anyone coming to the Everyman after this Rufus would see the same thing.

  12. I got 16d but still cant figure out what the ‘Lax hands’ are contributing. (Loved ‘screeps’ from almw@10 – I bet some nature writer has used it somewhere for a bird call.)

  14. Like the last two or three Rufus puzzles, this was mostly straightforward but surprisingly difficult to finish. My last in was SWEATSHOPS after SCRAWLS, and these two took longer than the whole of the rest. Still not entirely happy with the parsing of SCRAWLS – shouldn’t there be a better containment indicator than “on”, or am I missing some subtlety?

    Thanks to Andrew and Rufus.

  17. Thanks Rufus and Andrew

    Am sure that you’re either on the Rufus wavelength or not – today I was and everything went in smoothly … luckily because there was a bit of a logjam building !!

    Agree with the quibbles. APPEAL was the last one in.

  18. I don’t think this was one of Rufus’s best. I agree with Muffin’s post and I didn’t like FOCSLE at all. I liked CHEROOT and ABANDON though. A rather indifferent start to the week.

  19. Thanks Andrew and Rufus.

    We had something very similar to 1ac, ANIMAL/LAMINA, in a recent Paul puzzle – “Backplate for armadillo, perhaps? (6)”. I suspect it’s a bit of an old chestnut.

  22. I don’t see 10, Acceptance, as a double definition. How is it ‘ acquisition’ ? Am I missing something?

  24. @cookie. Really? Please tell me the definition. I would like to add it to my vocabulary (if it’s not too rude!)

  25. @cookie. Just looked it up on line! Love it! Definitely know a few screeps! And will call them it if they annoy me. LOL.

  27. Martin D @22 – since nobody has answered your question yet, you can acquire something by accepting a gift (or a deal), so I think it’s OK.

  28. Thanks beery hiker. I saw the broad correlation but it isn’t exactly a belter! OK just about sums it up! Cheers, M

Comments are closed.