Rufus is in the Guardian. Ledge, you always seem (to a newbie like myself) like a cryptic go to guy in this thread?!
― Losing swag by the second (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 19:14 (nine years ago) link
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
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 18 March 2015 19:26 (nine years ago) link
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.
― ledge, Wednesday, 18 March 2015 19:58 (nine years ago) link
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)
― undergraduate dance (a passing spacecadet), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 21:44 (nine years ago) link
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
― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 21:52 (nine years ago) link
I was thinking of a different person before I think, not rufus
― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 21:54 (nine years ago) link
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 amusedhttp://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)"
― undergraduate dance (a passing spacecadet), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 22:38 (nine years ago) link
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.
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 18 March 2015 22:43 (nine years ago) link
-n--o-- xp
― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 22:44 (nine years ago) link
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
― woof, Wednesday, 18 March 2015 22:51 (nine years ago) link
^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
― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 22:55 (nine years ago) link
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
― undergraduate dance (a passing spacecadet), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:14 (nine years ago) link
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)
― woof, Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:39 (nine years ago) link
fuckboys incapacitated as per Spooner (8)
― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:48 (nine years ago) link
modern slang still doesn't mean i'm able to work it out :(
― lex pretend, Thursday, 19 March 2015 11:08 (nine years ago) link
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
― undergraduate dance (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 19 March 2015 11:42 (nine years ago) link
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.
― koogs, Thursday, 19 March 2015 12:17 (nine years ago) link
oh, i see now. more classic ledge assemble-from-tiny-bits cluing. 8)
"I.O.U.s" might've been better
― koogs, Thursday, 19 March 2015 12:19 (nine years ago) link
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!
― undergraduate dance (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:54 (nine years ago) link
old chestnut, mate. (plus the 'is' was already clued.) i considered 'oxford university heads' or similar but thought that was too obvious.
― ledge, Thursday, 19 March 2015 22:01 (nine years ago) link
anyone else exasperated by arachne this sat? SPOILERS, but legend != leg end, coupledoms not an actual word iirc.
― ledge, Monday, 23 March 2015 13:42 (nine years ago) link
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)
― lex pretend, Monday, 23 March 2015 14:56 (nine years ago) link
and i rarely have to squint or side-eye her definitions
― lex pretend, Monday, 23 March 2015 14:57 (nine years ago) link
"coupledoms"
About 2,230 results (0.32 seconds)
― anthony braxton diamond geezer (anagram), Monday, 23 March 2015 15:26 (nine years ago) link
legend seems fair enough tbh
― anthony braxton diamond geezer (anagram), Monday, 23 March 2015 15:28 (nine years ago) link
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.
― ledge, Monday, 23 March 2015 15:46 (nine years ago) link
that one was a bit easier when you get the theme
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Monday, 23 March 2015 16:01 (nine years ago) link
Oh good a numberless grid to ruin my weekend
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Saturday, 4 April 2015 22:33 (nine years ago) link
(I completed the last one tbf but)
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Saturday, 4 April 2015 22:34 (nine years ago) link
Btw
― sexpost TMIing! (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2015 23:48 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
A clue: some people would prefer (5,3)
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Saturday, 4 April 2015 22:38 (nine years ago) link
xp making progress? I have the theme and more than half the answers, am slowly fitting them into the grid...
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Sunday, 5 April 2015 16:17 (nine years ago) link
Got the theme & some of the clues, not even started fitting them in yet
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Sunday, 5 April 2015 18:34 (nine years ago) link
worth noting that the P (9) cue has been corrected from "set" to "sat", that caused some pausing for thought!
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Sunday, 5 April 2015 20:02 (nine years ago) link
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].
― ledge, Sunday, 5 April 2015 22:01 (nine years ago) link
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!
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Sunday, 5 April 2015 22:05 (nine years ago) link
gonna put this one to bed
-a--e-e-
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Sunday, 5 April 2015 22:06 (nine years ago) link
If you want to share the F: "Sweet donkey (4)" answer should you have it I wd be very grateful...
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Monday, 6 April 2015 09:47 (nine years ago) link
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
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Monday, 6 April 2015 10:13 (nine years ago) link
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!
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Monday, 6 April 2015 10:44 (nine years ago) link
it's weak but satisfactory, both clue words are definitions if it's correct
― week of 'puter action (Noodle Vague), Monday, 6 April 2015 10:45 (nine years ago) link
M: Two months acting (7) I think I have, but can't see why. It's a thematic answer. Wins? Anyone?
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 09:19 (nine years ago) link
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
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 7 April 2015 09:54 (nine years ago) link
"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
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 10:07 (nine years ago) link
I don't really like this puzzle at all tbh, might give up
-a-teme-
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 10:08 (nine years ago) link
[Paxman "come on!"]
the G one is pretty neat I think [SPOILERS] think Hunter S Thompson. The D is very confused I, unhelpfully over-clued.
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 10:12 (nine years ago) link
so many are tortuously constructed, not elegant at all. The J one makes a mockery of "not further defined"!
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 10:19 (nine years ago) link
Like don't do double-definition clues for this type of clueset, that's just stupid
― Finn McCoolit (wins), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 10:21 (nine years ago) link