Guardian 24344/Rufus - what a scream!
Posted by ilancaron on March 17th, 2008
The serial number is probably a misprint online. Anyway, a rather good Rufus I thought - an &lit here and there, a couple of reasonable cryptic definitions. Overall a pleasant accompaniment to my first cup of tea of the day. And by posting this early I hope I’ve recovered lost karma points for being late on Friday.
Across
| 1 | RAN,CID - nice shift of meaning of “rank” from the surface to the definition. |
| 5 | PARA,NO,ID |
| 11 | CUT=score, AND=with, THRUST=truths* |
| 13 | P(IT)Y - &lit for the appropriate emotion when encountering extreme poverty. Well… we all give money to the homeless don’t we? |
| 14 | S[ill]Y,NDROME=modern* |
| 17 | FLAME,NCO - Sweetheart’s just FLAME here and not E or WEE. |
| 18 | CANT - two meanings. |
| 24 | ONE(SIDE)D - SIDE in done*. Good surface. |
| 25 | AS,SAS,SIN - ref. the Brit SAS special forces. Again, surface holds together well. |
Down
| 1 | A,MO,S - second is just a “MO” and our prophet is from the OT not the Koran. | |
| 3 | C,ATACLYSM=(stay calm)* - disaster is our anagrind and upheaval is our definition. | |
| 4 | DRAFTS=”draughts” - another nice clue with the surface misleading towards military DRAFTS. | |
| 5 | PUT ONES FOOT DOWN | |
| 6 | R(OAST)ING | |
| 8 | INVESTMENT - two meanings | |
| 12 | VILLA,IN,O,US - ref. Aston Villa (English football team). | |
| 15 | RECESSION=(once rises)* - nice &lit again. | |
| 19 | SCREAM - groan. As it were. | |
| 21 | DOG,MA - ref. DOG lead. | |
| 22 | BETA=beat* - I like “offbeat” indicating a jumble of beat but would a purist complain? |
March 17th, 2008 at 10:57 am
20. Fiddlesticks
Got this from the wordplay .. but what’s the definition?
March 17th, 2008 at 11:03 am
20. FIDDLES,TICKS: definition is ‘bows’.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Can anyone please explain why 9A (Contract)means pick up a bargain?
And why is 7D (Nicer)to be more exact?
March 17th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
9a Double definition: contract = pick up as in a disease; contract = bargain
7d nice means exact or precise (its original sense), so more exact would be nicer.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
4D Can anyone explain how “draught” and “draft” are used in the UK? In the USA “draft” is used for all senses, except for “checkers”.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Not comprehensive, Ygor, but ‘draft’ is mainly used for writings, plans etc and ‘draught’ for almost everything else - drink from casks, current of air etc.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
We draw a bank draft or have an overdraft, but have draught beer and play draughts. We might write the first draft of a novel, or get a draughtsman to draw up some plans. We don’t have a military draft any more, but if we did I think it would be the same spelling as in the US.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Many thanks.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:22 am
Help ,can anyone give me the answer to 16 down and why. John D
March 21st, 2008 at 9:10 am
INCENSES - two meanings