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

Jesus fucking Christ, rufus

Guardian Cryptic crossword No 26,975, 4 Across: Unaltered, it's as I designed (2,2,2)

very poor

Serves me right, I read the first six paragraphs or so of the special instructions for the prize this morning & was like fuck this I'll take a look at the Monday

Even for rufus this one is insulting but it almost works as a joke

LOL I solved the Rufus one so quickly as STASIS (which I thought was a poor def for unaltered) and then saw the 2,2,2.

Never mind, that doesn't make stasis. I should be concentrating on work.

RACES

May be a bits-and-pieces indicator indicating the letters TT.

Why is this??

The TT Races = an annual motorbike race on the Isle of Man:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man_TT

(tbf I'm not sure I've ever seen this in a crossword and while I could get to "race" from TT could probably not get to "TT" from "races", but I am p out of practice at the whole cryptic crossword thing)

Thanks. The clue was in yesterday's Rufus: He races in circles (4)

The crossers were _T_O, so I figured it had to be OTTO, but is there some famous Otto this alludes to, or does "he" just = "man's name?"

TT is kind of archaic but there were more meetings than the Isle of Man in the past so it used to be a better connotation maybe

http://www.arcade-museum.com/images/105/1058094102.jpg

I think "TT Races" is a general term for the event, it's always been held on the Isle of Man afaik

And yes, he = man's name

Another one I don't get: At university or to university be a bits-and-pieces indicator indicating the letters UP.

Why up?

"Up" is a snobbish British archaism meaning to be attending a university, as in "he's gone up to Oxford"

Thanks. I learned that and "stump up" in one clue.

that was the Guardian from the other day wasn't it? Seem to remember nearly finishing that one...

Yeah, the most recent Rufus. I can generally do him and the Everyman, the other days not so much.

I learn new slang every day: TROT = RED, really?

Er, yeah? Is it that you're reading as the verb 'to trot' rather than Trot qua Trotskyite?

No, I get that, but I'm American. I've just never heard anyone called a Trot. Commie, more likely.

As in "he declared that the Corporation was a ‘nest of long-haired Trots.'" I've never seen this.

Ah, it's really common over here. We do specific left-wing bickering more than fearing a general Red Menace.

Removal of Bush or Blair, unfortunately associated with Nazi (9)

I laughed so hard at this one.

ha

Ha, that's excellent. Was that in the Guardian? Sounds like one for Private Eye.

Yes, Guardian.

Lol accepted. And yeah, v Private Eye

very good

Guardian seasonal bumper prize xword has a theme of interest to those of this parish, or the adjacent one.

I've got all but two of the theme clues, can't explain two of them, never heard of one of them.

> I've got all but two of the theme clues, can't explain two of them, never heard of one of them

Xenia???

i liked this:

V Leading vocalist with a poor single (8)

have about 15 answers, have filled in exactly 1.

Yeah we got almost all of them before putting any in, but it came together fairly quickly after that. Forgot about xenia, is probably like the G, not famous but the only thing the setter could fit in the grid by that point. The F is the more well known one that I'd never heard of.

are all the theme answers from the '80s? i haven't had a chance to really properly pore over it but I expected a few more to leap out at me...

I actually looked up Xenia and dismissed it on the grounds of being too obscure even for cryptic crosswords, haha

They're mostly eighties but not all.

is F a fictional [theme] from a film? i don't understand the porridge bit.

i liked B, bit of dickens in there...

This has been quite enjoyable - have about three-quarters done, about ready to start fitting them in to see if that helps reveal the rest. E (non-theme) seems a bit cruel for the time of year

xp F is irl afaict, I think I figured out the porridge part with a bit of googling but not 100% sure

they do that thing that I hate tho (and complain about every bank holiday) of unnecessarily throwing in definitions to the "undefined" thematic clues, which makes a mockery of the whole conceit 😡

It's the setter showing off innit, doubly insufferably in the case of 'savoyard castle'. What was the porridge then, I couldn't get that even with googling.

the w clue annoyed me so much too

re porridge, I'm not confident - the explanation I landed on doesn't really explain the king part, for one - but I'll go into it more in a day or so when ppl are ready for spoilers

i had one too many for F. n is a proper [theme] n + 1 is a fictional [theme]

I'm intrigued! I had an irl one that didn't fit any part of the clue and an irl one that kinda maybe sorta in parts

spoiler: this is wrong - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052809/

disappointed i didn't get the king part (have googled and it makes sense). but there's a bit of overlap with the rest of the clue so it didn't really matter (but it did).

thoroughly disliked this crossword, both extremely difficult and unsatisfying. the quarter of it i've managed to do, anyway. i think i'm actually getting progressively worse at cryptics though, and my patience for reference points only pensioners understand has worn thin

the second V is maybe the worst cryptic crossword clue i've ever seen. both Ws are annoying for separate reasons. have no idea how to parse the first I. if what I have for the first T is correct it's a term that literally only exists on the internet in relation to this crossword. 90% of the theme answers are shit.

also i have literally no ideas on how to get the second F, none at all

Oh yeah I never returned to that - looking now I haven't got the second V or either T, and my reasoning for F is shaky as F

ok I started fearlessly filling in answers and now I'm coming along pretty well, but yeah wtf at that second T I'd be interested to know if anyone has ever seen or heard that used

*first, rather

A box containing tar, carried by shepherds for anointing sores on sheep.

took some tracking down, have never come across this word in the wild as far as i remember

https://www.wordnik.com/words/tar-box

sources and a 19th century usage linked here