The official bored-at-work cryptic crossword pass it on thread.

Rufus is super easy level, and some of his cluing is a bit suspect ime. I don't mind his puzzles though.

Rufus is super easy level, and some of his cluing is a bit suspect ime

yep, that's about my level.

What paper is he in? Istr he made easy xwords that were nonetheless fun cause lots of themes &c, or am I thinking of someone else? Did a Simpsons themed one once eg

Rufus is in the Guardian. Ledge, you always seem (to a newbie like myself) like a cryptic go to guy in this thread?!

rufus is good entry level stuff but even as a relative beginner i don't enjoy him - either the answer leaps out at you or if it doesn't the clue's rarely written in such a way that i'm motivated to think about it for long

arachne is easily my favourite i think

xp i meant my own clues - super easy and often a bit suspect. really need to go have a go at doing a full puzzle instead of the odd "ooh that'd make a good clue" moment of inspiration.

Rufus appears under that name in the Guardian and does the easy Monday puzzles, but has done stuff under other names for most other papers too (particularly the Telegraph iirc, although they don't name their setters)

I quite like his Monday Graun puzzles or at least think they're unfairly maligned but then they are, to quote ledge, "about my level"

(haven't finished a cryptic in so long I'm not sure I even have a level any more. got ledge's second, not the first)

I just this second got the second - actually brilliant imo

I like Paul, s/he seems to be quite consciously aiming for some kind of nu-auracaria upstart status, tho I'm a xword dilettante & can't really remember who is who

I seem to either complete grids or get no clues at all, & couldn't tell you why. Completed the guardian in hardly any time whilst on MDMA once

I was thinking of a different person before I think, not rufus

yeah I really liked the second! please could someone give a poor moron a letter or other additional hint for the first?

btw

Man on board heard in the dark (5) (NIGHT. is that a homophone for KNIGHT? ah, yes. chess board.)
― koogs, Tuesday, March 17, 2015 6:30 PM

that "on board" thing appeared in a couple of Guardian Quicks recently! fine by me but my cryptic-fearing quick-crossword companion was not amused
http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick/13964 12D "All the men on board? (5,3)"
http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick/13965 17A "Horse's head on board (6)"

paul is my bf's favourite and has definitely been upgraded since araucaria died. they've brought out a few new ones in the past couple of weeks, i enjoyed screw's debut.

i really feel like there's a massive gap in the market for a setter with, like, modern references...not just the occasional beyoncé clue but incorporating modern slang. my least favourite aspect of them are the old-fashioned slang/military abbreviation shit that i just don't care about at all.

-n--o-- xp

Too many &lits in Rufus. Like I'm hanging with someone constantly making puns.

Maybe said before, but Paul is probably my favourite setter with Aur. gone – surprising and smart clues in any given puzzle, his* range of references & expected knowledge is vg for the modern Guardian audience, really good themer.

btw can I say again my friend's history and culture of crosswords book is great and everyone should read it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Girls-One-Each-Knee/dp/0141977108/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426718920&sr=8-1

Chapter on the nyt xword in the simpsons quotes ilx (nabisco) iirc.

*he is male

^I'm interested, I read that dreadful hornbyesque book about being a crossword fan

just remembered that I did already know paul's sex cause I met a guy in a pub who knew him, there is some hilarious anecdote behind his name or something iirc

Oh I asked for your friend's book for Christmas after yr previous mention and thoroughly enjoyed it, ty woof's friend

I liked the end-of-chapter roundup of some of the best/worst of the Telegraph quick crossword puns; these things brighten my life now I a) don't have the brainpower for cryptics b) have a local pub which takes the Torygraph

i really feel like there's a massive gap in the market for a setter with, like, modern references...not just the occasional beyoncé clue but incorporating modern slang.

ikwym - but I think there are setters who could do it (& would really really enjoy exploring a new field of play), but it's about the venue more than anything – you've got to publish somewhere where the audience will see smh references as fair. (sorry, too sleepy & tipsy to put together a whole ship-in-reverse hms/smh clue there)

fuckboys incapacitated as per Spooner (8)

modern slang still doesn't mean i'm able to work it out :(

ps thanks for the letters wins, I had a feeling I was failing due to some voting time-based ignorance and tbh I still am but now the answer and likely components are apparent I'll do some googling, eh

no idea on the Spoonerism but perhaps it will come to me at 3am as these things often do

i didn't get the 'your vitals' part, but the two bits are both things and match up with the definition so i guess that's ok.

oh, i see now. more classic ledge assemble-from-tiny-bits cluing. 8)

"I.O.U.s" might've been better

whoops I overlooked the "is" in the clue, missed the "s" in my mental rearrangements of the deduced answer, and was going "huh, well 11am must be a standard parliamentary division time or something"

sorry ledge, it is a perfectly fine clue to people who can read

still really liked the second clue!

"I.O.U.s" might've been better

old chestnut, mate. (plus the 'is' was already clued.) i considered 'oxford university heads' or similar but thought that was too obvious.

anyone else exasperated by arachne this sat? SPOILERS, but legend != leg end, coupledoms not an actual word iirc.

i've definitely seen words split like that before, i thought that clue was terrific (and the puzzle in general confirmed why she's my favourite, all her sentences are amusing/elegant in themselves and cryptically she's so neat)

and i rarely have to squint or side-eye her definitions

"coupledoms"

About 2,230 results (0.32 seconds)

legend seems fair enough tbh

idk i'm all for ximenean rule bending for the sake of elegance and amusement, don't mind the odd e.g. 'headcase = c', but legend... it doesn't sound like leg end, damnit.

that one was a bit easier when you get the theme

Oh good a numberless grid to ruin my weekend

(I completed the last one tbf but)

Btw

fuckboys incapacitated as per Spooner (8)

― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:48 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

A clue: some people would prefer (5,3)

xp making progress? I have the theme and more than half the answers, am slowly fitting them into the grid...

Got the theme & some of the clues, not even started fitting them in yet

worth noting that the P (9) cue has been corrected from "set" to "sat", that caused some pausing for thought!

Ha. I put it in anyway with the 'a', even though it didn't show up as an alternate spelling anywhere. Got about halfway through before losing steam, can't be arsed to go looking up obscure [redacted theme spoiler].

I'm determined but yeah, I keep working out the themed ones & going "is that a thing?" & having to check. One of them doesn't even show up on the 1st page of google, so I thought I'd got it wrong!

gonna put this one to bed

fuckboys incapacitated as per Spooner (8)

― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:48 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

-a--e-e-

If you want to share the F: "Sweet donkey (4)" answer should you have it I wd be very grateful...

all I could come up with for that was "fool", which is unsatisfactory. Still struggling with the grid, I've started filling in a couple of places but it's like pulling teeth

yeah not perfect though it could well be. If that's right I will have all the 4 letter words, which is a big help, so thanks!

it's weak but satisfactory, both clue words are definitions if it's correct

M: Two months acting (7) I think I have, but can't see why. It's a thematic answer. Wins? Anyone?

we finished the easter crossword though I can't parse the D or G themed answers for the life of me. had a better time with it than some others of late. I'm rarely motivated to fit the answers into the grid, luckily my bf cares about that sort of thing.

Neil - that M is one of the annoying ones where one of the words in the clue is randomly abbreviated to its initial

"fool" seemed pretty obvious to me? donkey/idiot, dessert/fool

yeah it's two months plus "a" - I assume that this is from abbreviated job titles, eg "AD" for "acting director"? Seems tenuous to me. My rule of thumb w/abbrevs is that they should be in the dictionary, like if you look up a (abbrev.) in a decent dictionary & it says acting then fair enough. I'd also make exceptions for commonly used internet slang abbrevs & the like

I don't really like this puzzle at all tbh, might give up

fuckboys incapacitated as per Spooner (8)

― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:48 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

-a-teme-

[Paxman "come on!"]