Guardian 26,389 by Rufus

by

Well after the Lord Mayor’s show that was Tyrus in the Indy, I’m rather glad to get a relatively easy Rufus.

Even more than usually reliant on double and cryptic defs today, I’m really rather glad the rota only schedules me like this every 15 weeks.

Thanks Rufus I needed that.

completed grid
Across
1 FELLOW
Don went down with a cry of pain (6)
FELL & OW!
4 MARAUD
Harry has a right to be held by a female (6)
A & Right in MAUD, don’t meet too many Mauds these days
9 CAIN
Fratricide put one in jail (4)
Killer of his brother Abel, 1 in CAN
10 PRODUCTION
I’d cut porno novel in making a film (10)
[I’D CUT PORNO]*
11 ENDS UP
Finishes with tails in the air (4,2)
Double def
12 PANORAMA
Survey military men in Central American country (8)
O(ther) R(anks) in  PANAMA
13 ALBATROSS
One was unlucky after shooting such a score, of course (9)
A very rare shot at golf, 3 under par & the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner
15 PART
A bit of leave (4)
Double def
16 TOGS
Insulation units for clothing (4)
Double def, I’ve only ever seen tog relating to Duvets.
17 APPREHEND
Fear capture (9)
Double def
21 APRES-SKI
Father returns with skiers out for social activity (5-3)
PA reversed & SKIERS*
22 LET RIP
Allow to rest peacefully? Quite the opposite (3,3)
Double def-ish Let R.I.P.
24 APPARENTLY
New play gripped mother, say, or so it seems (10)
PARENT (mother say) in PLAY*
25 ACHE
Pine used in making a tea chest (4)
hidden in teA CHEst
26 NEEDLE
Such a sewer could produce hostility (6)
Double def
27 EDITOR
His leader expresses his opinion (6)
Cryptic def
Down
1 FLANNEL
Soft soap and a facecloth (7)
Double def
2 LANDS
Sunderland docks (5)
S under LAND (dock)
3 ON PAPER
It’s to do with exam in theory (2,5)
ON (it’s to do with) & PAPER (exam)
5 ALUMNA
Manual put out for past student (6)
MANUAL*
6 AFTERMATH
A second mowing around at the farm (9)
[AT THE FARM]* Not the most obvious definition here
7 DOORMAT
Downtrodden shoe cleaner (7)
Double ish def, although surely the first is a direct follow on from the second.
8 COMPASS POINTS
They’re of cardinal importance for dividers (7,6)
YADD – (Yet another double def.)
14 AGGREGATE
Collect material for concrete (9)
See 8d
16 TOPSPIN
It’s responsible for an on-going strike by potters (7)
Cryptic def referring to the action used by Snooker/Billiards/Pool players
18 RELAYED
Passed on message about new delay (7)
RE about & new DELAY*
19 NEITHER
Not one of two or three in disorder (7)
[THREE IN]*
20 AS WELL
A second source found, in addition (2,4)
A & S(econd) & WELL source
23 TRACT
Pamphlet followed by pronouncement (5)
Sounds like TRACKED
*anagram

37 comments on “Guardian 26,389 by Rufus”

  1. Thanks Rufus and flashling
    Very quick, except for the SE, where I had YESMAN instead of EDITOR for a while.
    I liked CAIN, AFTERMATH (for which Rufus has given the original meaning) and NEITHER.
    I wasn’t sure that PANORAMA = SURVEY, and I thought it was unfortunate to have SKIERS in the clue for APRES SKI (though I suppose one could argue that it becomes sort of & littish).

  2. …..oh, and I tried LET DIE for 22a. Checking showed it to be wrong, so LET RIP was my second attempt. The “RIP” should be read as “R.I.P.”, of course.

  5. Good morning, everyone, and thanks Flashling. As you say, jolly quick solve today.

    Didn’t know AFTERMATH in this sense, nor (to my shame) did I know that a FRATRICIDE was the murderer as well as the event. Always nice to find new defs.

    Although it rather answered itself, I rather liked S under LAND from Sunderland.

    Nice week, all.

  7. Thanks Rufus and flashling.

    I liked 2d, it took a while to realise this was about Sunderland flying boats, not the dockyard.
    4a put in SALAUD to start with, then realised it was French slang (an unfaithful man).

  8. Thanks Rufus & flashling.

    I also didn’t know that fratricide could be the murderer as well as the action, and the original meaning of AFTERMATH. There are more MARAUDers than MARAUDs in my experience.

    I liked the TOPSPIN and COMPASS POINTS.

  10. I was held up at the end by the MARAUD/DOORMAT crossers. When I clicked on Check all I found that I’d entered a careless LET LIE at 22ac because I hadn’t read the clue properly. Once I read the clue again I saw what the correct answer should have been, and I’d say that’ll teach me to pay more attention but it never seems to.

  11. I had LET LIE at 22 as well. ALBATROSS beat me, nice clue though.

    Also nice to see my home city Sunderland herein, especially in a Rufus clue. When I met him at the Derby S&B event three years ago he told me he’d visited Sunderland during his days as an entertainer (magician?) and asked me to say hello to it. I think I did.

  12. A very gentle start to the week, but enjoyable nonetheless, particularly LANDS. Like Andy B @10, my last in was MARAUD after DOORMAT.

    Thanks to flashling and Rufus.

  13. @6
    I did not understand, William, how one could have “TANGLED clued as “Sunderland get tied in knots”.”
    I’d be glad to be enlightened on this…

  15. Thanks all
    Twm,I was puzzled too!
    Rufus is irritating when he can set original and clever clues like Sunderland but ones that can be solved instantly.

  17. Oops..too slow!

    A sprinkling of lovely clues in there to start the week (TOPSPIN is a joy, and LET RIP is a nice spot).

    Thanks to Rufe and flashling for another elegant blog.

    FWIW I agree with andy smith that 7 has to be cd really, because ‘Downtrodden’ and ‘Doormat’ are different parts of speech, so can’t be exactly synonymous.

  18. Maybe I’m a bit simply, but I thought @2d was just S under LAND because it is a down clue, meaning ‘docks’ …think I’m just a simpleton!!

  20. May I join the LET LIE club too and I spent a long time getting to MARAUD as a result of not getting DOORMAT until last. I got AFTERMATH from the anagram because I didn’t know the original meaning. Now I do it proves to be a very clever clue. I didn’t like APRES SKI much. Indeed I thought the anagram was a coincidence at first.
    Not as straightforward as usual.

  22. 2d is quite simple as lilsho says; s under land. I too got stuck in the nw corner; I’ve never come across survey as a meaning for panorama.6

  26. Cookie @25
    Yes, strange – “to land on water”? I suppose “to water” might be misunderstood, though!

  28. I’m not sure if the flying boat is coincidental or deliberate misdirection by Rufus. The clue works perfectly well without invoking it at all!

  29. muffin @28. Yes, it is a bit of a teaser. I can’t figure out the clue unless I consider the Sunderland as a flying boat….I regard “docks” here as a verb, and LANDS as a verb. My brain is getting addled.

  30. (muffin, your name and mine are often down at the ends of the comments around British tea time. I wonder if the setters and bloggers get fed up with the same old fare. My name is because I am half baked, not a real biscuit, but your posts are never stupid like mine…..incidentally, my Captcha is four – 4 = ?)

  31. You do yourself a disservice, Cookie.

    btw I am named after my favourite cat, now no longer with us.

    9×9 Gulp!

  33. Thanks Rufus and flashling

    Identical praise and reservations as has been said by others.

    TOG as a measure of insulation was new to me, as were the definitions for AFTERMATH and ‘harry’. Rufus often does that – finds the lesser known meaning of an ordinary word.

    Another who had the DOORMAT – MARAUD as the last two in.

  35. Valentine @34

    Potters can be snooker players!

    P.S. I can’t believe this puzzle has been so well received as it is more like a colander than a puzzle!

  36. Maybe the previous poster should look elsewhere for his pleasure if these puzzles fail to satisfy his palette. I found it utterly marvellous. Thankyou blogger and rufus.

  37. @Flashling and Limeni – (14 and 16 above)
    Thank you very much for the explanation.

    Please excuse the late posting of these thanks – if you acually ever see them!

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