Guardian 26,700 by Rufus

by

The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26700.

A quick solve today. My last one in was 2D MOAT, because I was looking for some wordplay which was not there. Rufus more often fools me the other way around – clues which look like CDs but which actually have wordplay.

Across
1 COMES TO
Gets as far as waking up? (5,2)

Double definition.
5 HAMLET
Radio buff rented small place in the country (6)

A charade of HAM (‘radio buff’) plus LET (‘rented’).
9 ANALYSED
Carefully examined any leads broken (8)

An anagram (‘broken’) of ‘any leads’.
10 FOX-CUB
Young creature whose home is Earth (3,3)

Cryptic definition, an earth being the burrow of a fox.
12 MONEY-SPINNER
Change bowler — a very successful performer (5-7)

Definition and literal interpretation.
15 OBLITERATE
Bore a title difficult to get rid of (10)

An anagram (‘difficult’) of ‘bore a title’.
17 IDA
Girl Friday, no cook (3)

A subtraction [fr]IDA[y] without FRY (‘no cook’).
19 POT
Take a shot of cannabis (3)

Double definition. My first thought was NAB.
20 AS PER USUAL
A son reading to secure university entrance — that’s typical (2,3,5)

A charade of ‘a’ plus S (‘son’) plus PERUSUAL, an envelope (‘to secure’) of U (‘university’) in PERUSAL (‘reading’ as a noun).
22 OCEANOGRAPHY
Deep study (12)

Cryptic definition.
26 IMAGES
Representations will be made, if game is disrupted (6)

An anagram (‘disrupted’) of ‘game is’.
27 CONVERGE
Meet criminal by the roadside (8)

A charade of CON (‘criminal’) plus VERGE (‘the roadside’).
28 EVENTS
They happen to find an opening in two quarters (6)

An envelope (‘to find … in’) of VENT (‘opening’) in E S (east and south, ‘two quarters’).
29 TORRENT
Hill split by flood (7)

A charade of TOR (‘hill’) plus RENT (‘split’).
Down
1 CLAM
Shellfish — 100 pounds a thousand (4)

A charade of C (‘100’) plus L (‘pounds’) plus ‘a’ plus M (‘thousand’).
2 MOAT
All-round defence in depth? (4)

Cryptic definition.
3 SLYBOOTS
Boys lost, misdirected by this mischievous fellow? (8)

An anagram (‘misdirected’) of ‘boys lost’.
4 OX-EYE
Daisy is kind of neat to look at (2-3)

A charade of OX (‘kind of neat’ – that is, cattle) plus EYE (‘look at’).
6 ADONIS
One teaching at university is one that has to be fair (6)

A charade of A DON (‘one teaching at university’) plus ‘is’.
7 LICENTIOUS
Profligate client settled debts (10)

A charade of LICENT, an anagram (‘settled’) of ‘client’ plus IOUS (‘debts’).
8 TABERNACLE
Temple altar, perhaps, inlaid with nacre design (10)

An envelope (‘inlaid with’) of ERNAC, an anagram (‘design’) of ‘nacre’ in TABLE (‘altar, perhaps’).
11 TSE-TSE
New set admits another set in insect life (6)

An envelope (‘admits’) of (‘another’) ‘set’ in TSE, an anagram (‘new’) of ‘set’.
13 COMPROMISE
Jeopardise settlement (10)

Double definition.
14 ALL THE SAME
Still a lack of variety (3,3,4)

Double definition.
16 RESIGN
Make someone take notice? (6)

Cryptic definition.
18 PUSHOVER
Not a difficult opponent to topple? (8)

Cryptic definition.
21 INVERT
Turn up in green (6)

A charade of ‘in’ plus VERT (‘green’).
23 ABOUT
A fight in the neighbourhood (5)

A charade of ‘a’ plus BOUT (‘fight’).
24 TREE
It has branches in every street (4)

A hidden answer in ‘sTREEt’.
25 BEST
Finest — and worst! (4)

Double definition.
completed grid

22 comments on “Guardian 26,700 by Rufus”

  1. Thanks to Rufus and PeterO. I took a few minutes getting FOX-CUB (saw the cub but was slow with the fox) and ADONIS (though I liked the clue), but otherwise proceeded very quickly.

  2. Thanks to both blogger and setter.

    I read 18d as a double definition: “not a difficult opponent / to topple,” with the latter definition implying the two-word phrase “push over.” I think if you don’t read it that way, the clue wouldn’t be very cryptic.

    As an American non-cricket fan, I’m always worried about cricket references such as that in MONEY SPINNER, but it turned out to be one I actually had heard of.

  3. Thanks Rufus and PeterO
    Almost entirely a write-in, but enjoyable all the same – much better than last week’s. LOI was TREE! I particularly liked AS PER USUAL and LICENTIOUS.

  4. Thanks Rufus and PeterO

    It was a straightforward puzzle today from Rufus. Agree with the mrpenney interpretation of 18d.
    Finished with ADONIS in the NE corner – don’t really know why because have seen variations of that clue many times.

    If one is looking for a harder version by him – found his alter ego Dante offering in the FT on 28/9 a bit more of a challenge

  5. [For a considerably more challenging puzzle, try today’s Quiptic – so challenging in fact that blogger and responders haven’t managed to parse some of the clues!]

  8. Thanks Rufus and PeterO

    j2o @ 6: if you beat someone in a (normally one-to-one) contest you best them. It’s a slightly archaic usage, but perfectly valid.

    hth

  13. Mostly straigtforward as you’d expect from Rufus, but I had a few wavelength problems so it wasn’t a pushover. Last in was MOAT after AS PER USUAL, which was probably my favourite.

    Thanks to Rufus and PeterO

  14. Solved between Liverpool Street and Paddington. Last in were COMPROMISE and MOAT, dds and cds being the Rufus constructions that give me most trouble, and often leave one intractable clue, but not today. SLYBOOTS was a new word but gave no problems after a couple of crossers were in.

  17. re 4dn

    Until I started doing cryptics a couple of years ago I had never come across neat as a synonym for cattle.

    I realise that it appears fairly often in clues but I don’t like it. People often assume – wrongly – that you have to be clever to do crosswords; a more useful attribute is the possession of spare time.

    If I tried to explain this clue to family or friends, they would just shrug their shoulders and give me a funny look.

  18. Yes, I fully agree with grandpuzzler – a perfect example of what Rufus does.

    Without any irritations today.

    Jovis @17 – one comes across ‘neat’ from ‘neat’s foot oil’, which is still around. I hear what you are saying though, but provided the clue is gettable (and here we have ??-EYE as a type of Daisy), I do think the very occasional crossword in-joke (shock = hair, match = wedding etc, …but maybe not offensive=TET, Notice=D, or Appeal = IT/SA, perhaps!)) is part of the general fun. And if clear cluing leads you to discover a new word – even if it is archaic – that can be interesting too. But I do take your point about it being offputting for newcomers… which is a bad thing.

  19. Kathryn’s Dad

    I think there is no doubt that I got the easier job today!

    If anyone is counting, you might have expected me on tomorrow’s Guardian. I swapped with Eileen (to whom thanks), since in a very short time I will have to leave for my flight to England. As a result, the next couple of my Guardian blogs will be later than usual – but hopefully not too late.

  20. As a lot of people have said a this was a pleasant diversion with some neat clues! 🙂

    Although it was almost a complete write in it was still enjoyable as there were no “dodgy” clues. I think Rufus is being a little more precise with his cluing lately. Long may it continue.

    Thanks to PeterO and Rufus

  21. Like some others here, I do get a kick out of the typical Rufus clues, they make me smile “a fight in the neighbourhood” “turn up in green”, etc., as well as the cryptic definitions that sometimes don’t appear to be at first.

    Thanks Rufus and PeterO

  22. Thanks Rufus and PeterO.

    All done on the tube between Canary Wharf and Waterloo with the exception of MONEY SPINNER which took another ten minutes for some strange reason.

    Almost typical Rufus fare but enjoyable nonetheless. I say ‘almost’ because for a change I didn’t think any of the CDs or DDs were at all iffy.

    So thanks again.

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