Times Jumbo 997

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
39:41 on the club timer – which confirms I found this quite a tricky one – with one error, in which I don’t think I was alone, to judge from comments on the Club forum. Not sure if this was because I was out of practice, or off the setter’s wavelength, or simply because it was a tough puzzle…

With Jumbos I generally confine myself to discussion of answers which I think might be a) less straightforward for inexperienced or non-UK based solvers, or b) especially elegant / questionable. However, as always, if a particular clue is not discussed, please feel free to raise it in comments for explanation or discussion.

Across
1 CATHARTIC – CATHay minus AY + ARTIC(ulated lorry). I only knew this word in its figurative sense, but a cathartic drug is an real purgative.
6 ALRIGHT – solveR in A LIGHT; these days I don’t think you tend to see puzzle instructions referring to “lights” so much, i.e. the answer that goes in the grid.
10 CHOIR – 0 in CHIRp.
13 OMNIBUS – NIB in (SUMO)rev.
14 SWING – double def. with a DBE indicated with a question mark.
15 TRUE BLUES – Time + RUE + BLUES. The people we’ll soon be seeing at the appropriate party conference asking why the government isn’t doing more of the things They like.
17 BISHOP – Bible 1’S HOP &lit.
18 BOOTLESS – BOOTLE + S.S.
19 ARTISTE – ART (as in the pianist) + IS TheatrE.
22 OVERSTRAIN – OVERS (today’s cricket reference) + TRAIN.
23 ACHILLES HEEL – SHE in [A CHILL EEL].
29 FLEMING – Now then. Obviously my view is coloured by the fact that I plumped for FLEEING, but the – not entirely clear? – parsing seems to be: “Belgian (def) novelist (2nd def) before change of heart would be running away (this word is FLEEING with the middle letter changed)”. I think I was confused, presumably intentionally, by the odd use of two consecutive definitions which require a lift-and-separate. Am I wrong to say that the way this is phrased allows both answers, as well as being a little ungainly?
30 EPISCOPE – Son in [EPIC (film genre) OPEN]. Derived from wordplay, as I didn’t know the object before.
32 ELEVATED – V.A.T. in [English LEEDS].
39 UNASSAILABLE – UNA’S + [AIL in SABLE]; proof against non-weather storming, of course.
44 PASTE-UP – PASTEUR with a P for the R. From the days when you literally glued copy to the page before sending it to the printers.
46 TAFFRAIL – A F,Female in TRAIL (come at the end). One of those maritime words I think I must have picked up from reading Hornblower books.
54 SALVE – (LEAVES)* without thE.
55 GLASGOW – [AS(=say),eveninG] in GLOW.
57 EARHART – (ARATHER)*; the famous aviatrix.
 
Down
2 TENNESSEE WILLIAMS – TENNESSEE, WILL + (SIAM)*.
3 ALBATROSS – A Large BAT ROSS, a splendid &lit.
5 COSMOPOLITE – (POLEMICSTOO)*; another word I wasn’t familiar with, but easily deduced from context and wordplay.
7 RAGTIME – RAG (daily paper) + (EMIT)rev.
9 THUMBNAIL – (HouseMANBUILT)*.
10 CABARET – Clubs + A BAR + E.T..
11 OCULI – (COULD)* + I. I wondered if this was a clue created by a setter who’d lost a morning’s work to computer failure.
12 RESIGNEDLY – SIGNED in RELY; it must be three years since I signed a cheque.
20 SLEEPING CARRIAGES – cryptic def.
21 PROFIT – PRO (player) + FIT (match).
24 COGENT – pleasing play on words, suggesting that a businessman could be a CO. GENT.
25 SUCRE – (U.S.)rev. + CREW without the West
31 IDEATE – I’D EAT + twingE.
33 DRAFT DODGER – DRAFT + DODGE (City) Right.
35 EMOTIONLESS – (LIMESTONESO)*. One of those anagrams which suddenly emerges from the most unlikely looking source material.
43 BROOKLET – Revolution in BOOKLET.
47 FREESIA “FREEZE” + (A1)rev.
49 LEAGUE – double def.
51 ANTON – Time in ANON.

6 comments on “Times Jumbo 997”

  1. Whizzed through this in a mere 99′; not sure now why it took me so long, as I have almost nothing scribbled on the paper. I did waste time, though, solving 42d because I misspelled MEDICINE as ‘medecine’. DNK EPISCOPE, and didn’t understand how I got PASTE-UP, so thanks for explaining that. I took a good deal of time to get FLEMING, but once I got it I didn’t see anything odd about the clue. What would be the function of ‘Belgian’ if the answer was ‘fleeing’? COD to 23ac.
  2. 23:35 for me. I agonised for some time over 29ac before deciding that FLEMING was the more likely answer. However, I think Kevin’s reading of the clue, which (if I understand him correctly) isolates “Belgian” as a definition of the answer, removes any doubt.
    1. Of course, as it occurred to me later, not all Belgians are Flemings, and not all Flemings are Belgians; but yes, that’s how I read it.
  3. Hm, found quite a lot of this straightforward but struggled rather to finish it off, with odd clues like 11dn and 25dn needing time to mop up.
    I sympathise re the Belgian novelist, but the clue cannot really be read in two ways..
  4. Just back from 2 weeks hols. Can someone put me out of my misery and tell me the ans to 41a, please?

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