Guardian 26,431 / Rufus

by

A fairly typical Rufus puzzle, with the accustomed mix of anagrams and double and cryptic definitions [a couple of which I found a bit puzzling]. Thanks to him for a genial start to the week – and month.

Across

9 Cheek to have one in pub before church (9)
INSOLENCE
SOLE [one] in INN [pub] + CE [Church of England]

10 Post back with little hesitation (5)
AFTER
AFT [back] + ER [little hesitation]

11 Tied up with security, we hear (7)
TRUSSED
Sounds like [we hear] ‘trust’ [security]

12 Pelt American all round ring — sickening! (7)
HIDEOUS
HIDE [pelt] US [American] round O [ring]

13 Give a telling off to cook (5)
ROAST
Double definition

14 Its absence is plain t o see (9)
ADORNMENT
Cryptic definition

16 Does it always figure in marriage break-ups? (7,8)
ETERNAL TRIANGLE
Cryptic definition, playing on ‘always’ and ‘figure’

19 It reveals the stars in all their splendour (9)
SPOTLIGHT
Cryptic definition

21 Wait to start the game (5)
SERVE
Double definition – which made me smile, as it reminded me of A Level English and Milton’s Sonnet on his Blindness:
“They also serve who only stand and wait.”This amused me at the time, as I spent the weekends as a waitress.

22 Unexpected windfall may be mine (7)
BONANZA
Double definition – or, rather, metaphorical + literal definition

23 Peak calls turned out to be about further education (7)
SCAFELL
Anagram [turned out] of CALLS round F[urther] E[ducation]

24 A clipped English accent (5)
ACUTE
A CUT [clipped] E [English] – I liked this one

25 Famous Venetian on a cattle round-up (9)
CANALETTO
Anagram [round-up] of ON A CATTLE

Down

1 Acidity of beer with a head on (10)
BITTERNESS
BITTER [beer] + NESS [head]

2 Big copper’s ex gets kiss (8)
OSCULATE
OS [outsize – big] + CU [copper] + LATE [ex] – a nice surface

3 Be defeated in court, whence secrets are revealed (6)
CLOSET
LOSE [be defeated] in CT [court]

4 Girl I object about (4)
ENID
END [object] round I

5 Scientist developed trench coat (10)
TECHNOCRAT
Anagram [developed] of TRENCHCOAT – I think there may be some eyebrows raised at this definition

6 Drainage construction plant (8)
GARDENIA
Anagram [construction] of DRAINAGE

7 Flashing light — still light (6)
STROBE
I’m not sure about the second part of this clue: I think it may be explained by Chambers’ definition of a stroboscope: ‘an instrument for studying rotating machinery or other periodic phenomena by means of a flashing lamp which can be synchronised with  the frequency of the periodic phenomena  so that they appear to be stationary’ ?

8 Is paid, we hear, for making large amounts of tea (4)
URNS
Sounds like [we hear] of ‘earns’ [is paid]:  [more shades of A Level English poetry – no jokes about Grecians’ wages!]

14 Loyalty is required, say, in a union (10)
ALLEGIANCE
EG [say] in ALLIANCE [a union] – I think the wordplay needs ‘requires’ rather than ‘is required’ ?

15 Three in old-fashioned pub (3,3,4)
THE RED LION
Anagram [fashioned] of THREE IN OLD – another favourite

17 Not one who yearns — not any more (2,6)
NO LONGER
Double /cryptic definition

18 Chaps concealing weapon in their clothing (8)
GARMENTS
GENTS [chaps] round ARM [weapon]

20 Admits having property increasing in price (4,2)
OWNS UP
I don’t know how to explain this, because the grammar [‘owns’ / ‘having property’ ] doesn’t quite work for me

21 Firm for horses (6)
STABLE
Double definition

22 Bill may be a teacher (4)
BEAK
Another double definition, ‘beak’ being old-fashioned schoolboy slang for a teacher

23 It runs out in time (4
SAND
Cryptic definition

24 comments on “Guardian 26,431 / Rufus”

  1. Thanks Rufus and Eileen
    I found this a bit harder than normal for Rufus, and thus more enjoyable. I liked AFTER (I took quite a long time to figure this one out), ENID and THE RED LION.
    ADORNMENT and SPOTLIGHT didn’t quite work for me, but I was OK with “owns” = “having property”, though I agree that “has property” is more correct.
    I think your second definition for STROBE, though obscure, is the correct one.
    (I suppose that there isn’t any point in saying that “acidity” and “bitterness” are not the same?)

  2. Hi muffin

    “(I suppose that there isn’t any point in saying that “acidity” and “bitterness” are not the same?)”

    I decided not to – but I was pretty sure someone would. 😉

  3. btw the most likely place that most people will have seen the stroboscopic effect is in western films, when the spokes of stagecoach wheels can appear stationary, or even seem to be revolving backwards, depending on their speed interacting with the frame rate of the film (usually 24 frames per second).

  4. Thank you, Eileen, needed you for STROBE which I’m still not sure about.

    Muffin, good example with your stagecoach. In my industry, I recall that fluorescent lighting was banned in workshops with high speed rotating machinery for the same reason. Getting near an apparently stationary saw blade rotating at 3,000 rpm can give you a nasty surprise. I think there are techniques for mitigating the effect by wiring adjacent lamps in parallel and applying a capacitor to one, or simply using 3-phase supply and arranging the phases intelligently.

    Lastly, Eileen, if I might be indulged with an off-message comment; thank you so much for the tip re Io’s tribute puzzle in the FT. I didn’t finish it (of course, far too convoluted for this solver) but it was staggeringly clever in its construction and I enjoyed tackling it.

    Nice week, all.

  5. Re 19 : Is it well known that Spotlight is a publication (now web based) that shows pictures of actors for casting directors to use?

  6. Thanks Rufus and Eileen.

    Collins Thesaurus gives bitterness as a synonym in: ‘the acidity of her remarks,’ which may be reasonable. Mind you it also gives the same for: ‘a wine with ripe acidity,’ which no doubt is what muffin @1 objects to. I did think twice about TECHNOCRAT, although Macmillan does give: ‘a scientist or other technical expert with a high position in industry or government.’ I think Eileen’s explanation for STROBE is fine.

    I liked the anagrams for THE RED LION and CANALETTO.

  7. Thanks Rufus and Eileen.

    Usual Monday fare: nothing too taxing but enjoyable nonetheless. SERVE and TECHNOCRAT were my favourites.

    Talking of strobe lights: my record player incorporates one to ensure the turntable is rotating at exactly the desired speed. A most satisfying piece of equipment it is.

  9. Thanks to Eileen for the blog. I had quite forgotten that use of a strobe light but when I read it here I thought ‘stagecoach wheels’. Clearly I am not the only one who remembers those odd effects.
    On 20d I also considered that the first part was clear but the rest was puzzling.

    I totally failed on AFTER because I was stuck on ‘back=support’. I had also forgotten that Rufus often has maritime references. 🙁

    Thanks to Shirl @5: I had heard of the publication but failed to remember it when it was required.

  10. Yes, fairly typical Rufus but not his easiest. Last in was BEAK, and I wasn’t 100% sure that either that or BONANZA were correct.

    Thanks to Eileen and Rufus

    PS I had a bit of lunch break / reading time left after finishing this – the letters page includes from an(other?) RC Whiting…

  11. Thanks Rufus and Eileen

    Gentle, but pleasant, start to the week.

    I didn’t get the second definition of STROBE, but was confident that it was right. A number of clever clues that included NO LONGER, ETERNALTRIANGLE and SERVE.

    Finished in NE corner with URNS the last in.

  12. I thought this somewhat harder than usual, as others have said,and none the worse for that.I liked URNS, NO LONGER,AFTER and SPOTLIGHT. Nice start to the week.
    Thanks Rufus

  14. Apologies for going off topic – after comparing notes with Mitz, I have posted an update in “General Discussion” on the list of Guardian crosswords since the start of the Guardian archive.

  15. Thanks Rufus and Eileen.

    Can someone give any more insight into 21d? I know that horses live in stables and that if something is firm it could be said to be stable, but not sure if I’m missing something else?

  16. Monkey @15
    I think Eileen has a misprint in the blog. The answer is STABLE (no S) – a double definition, as she says: “firm” and “for horses”.

  17. Thanks, muffin – amended now.

    My apologies, Monkey. I hope that clears it up. [‘Stable’ can mean ‘a set of horses kept together’ – Chambers.]

  18. Thanks, Eileen.

    As others have remarked, a bit trickier in places than most Rufus Monday puzzles, although I can’t say it took me any longer than usual to solve it – there just weren’t so many write-ins on first perusal.

    Soem excellent surface readings here, and the usual concise clueing, though I agree that ‘having property’ doesn’t work as a synonym for the finite verb form OWNS.

    5d, 6d and 15d are all splendid anagrams, but Eileen is right to question ‘scientist’ = TECHNOCRAT. ‘Technocrats’ are experts in the area for which they have managerial responsibility, and aren’t necessarily concerned with anything scientific. In other words, they know what they’re doing, and haven’t gone straight from PPE at Oxford via ‘political researcher’ to a cabinet post without ever having done a proper job.

  19. The last couple from Rufus have been more to my taste than most but today he has been back to his usual infuriating self. A TECHNOCRAT isn’t a scientist in my book (nor in Chambers’), ADORNMENT is weak for a cd – certainly by his standards – and the grammar is wrong in OWNS UP. Did like SCAFELL but that’s not enough to compensate.

  20. Thanks to Rufus and Eileen for a mostly gentle and enjoyable Monday ride.

    I know it is late; this Chicagoan is in California (Pacific) time right now, but is The Red Lion a famous pub? I totally missed the anagram (kicking myself!) to 15D and guessed ‘the’ and ‘lion’ but couldn’t fill in the middle. (Also missing 21A didn’t help the confusion).

  24. I enjoyed this puzzle. My favourites were 17d and 24a. New word for me was OSCULATE, and I was unable to parse 7d.

    Thanks Eileen and Rufus.

Comments are closed.