Times Jumbo 980 (19 May 2012)

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Solving time: 1hr 40m

I didn’t get very far in the first 40 minutes, so I put it down and came back to it the next day. I was clearly in a much better frame of mind then as the answers came much quicker then, and I finished probably the last three-quarters in an hour.

I thought this was a pangram, but on closer inspection I see there’s no J.

cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this

Across
1 C + INCH – 8⅓ feet is 100 inches
4 BOWDLERISE = (WORDS + BILE)* + critiquE
9 TI(MB)ER – the cry of a lumberjack
14 SECTIONAL = (COASTLINE)*
15 WILD AND WOOLLY – dd
16 NIT RATE – Nits are louse eggs, so their rate might be measured by an egg timer.
17 OBSCENITY = O + BSC + Excessive + TIN rev + nastY
18 AN + VILe
19 GNOMES OF ZURICH = Z in (INFORMEr + COUGHS)*
22 TO(E)N + AIL – the definition is ‘one’s extreme’, a toenail being the furthest point of the body from the centre
25 HOPPING MAD – dd
27 CALL THE SHOTS – dd
30 LOTUS = Used in LOTS (rafts)
31 UNAWARES = WAN (faint) rev + ARE all in US
32 CREAM TEA = M (large number) in CREATE (cook up) + A
35 SCHOONER – dd
36 METALLIC – dd – that’s ‘irony’ as in like iron
37 LEAVE – dd
39 IN + CREAm + SINGLY
41 TEASER + VICE
43 ESTONIA – rev hidden in dubAI NOT SEnegal
45 OPEN UNIVERSITY = (PREVIOUS NINETY)*
48 QUART = sQUAT about R
49 IMITATING = skIrt + IT in MATING – I’m not convinced about ‘essentially’ meaning ‘the centre of’, but the surface was wonderful so I’ll let it pass.
51 FISHEYE = IF rev + YE (you) after SHE
53 IMPERTURBABLE = ELBA + BRUT + REP + MI all rev
54 INNERMOST = ST after INN + (MORE)*
55 FIDDLE – dd
56 GEORG SOLTI = (GOO + GRISTLE)* – I liked the well-disguised definition ‘he conducted’
57 ALERT = ALE + afteRTaste
Down
1 C(A + SIN)O
2 NICOTINE PATCH = (PATHETIC CON IN)*
3 HAIr + FA
4 BONKERS = BON + K + wEnceslas tRied eScargots
5 WALDORF SALAD = (ROD + LAW) rev + SALt in FAD – just makes me think of Fawlty Towers
6 LE(W + IS)G + UN
7 ROLFE – hidden in contROL FEarless
8 SPANISH FLY = (FISHY PLANS)*
10 I + SO + LATE
11 B + OLIVIA + NO – the currency of, you’ve guessed it, Bolivia. Olivia was a countess in Twelfth Night
12 ROYAL = LAY + OR all rev
13 A DAY AT THE RACES – dd – both definitions excellently disguised – ‘time for a better’ and ‘picture of Marxist antics’ – my COD, plus an excuse to include a link to the great Chico Marx on piano
20 MAID’S TONE
21 I DARE SAY = (EASY RAID)*
23 LASSA FEVER = Spread + SAFE all in LAVER
24 PHILISTINE = PINE about tHIs + LIST
26 GLUTEUS MAXIMUS = MAXIM + US after GLUT + SUE rev
28 SM(ALL)ARMS
29 PATELLAE = puT in PAELLA + tablE
33 TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE = (HEAD + THE LOTION)*
34 SLEEPING PILL – cd
38 UNSOCIABLE = C in (IN A BLOUSE)*
40 CATNAPPED = ANT rev in CAPPED
42 BUS + I + NESS
44 NATURAL = bURp in NATAL
46 EFFENDI = dEaFaId about FEND – a respectful term for a Turkish man
47 BE A TIT – although where I come from, there is nothing bird-like about ‘being a tit’
48 QUI + F + French
50 AMBER – I got this from the definition alone. I’m not sure about the wordplay – I think it’s CAMBER without the C.
52 SYRIA = AIRY + Season all rev

2 comments on “Times Jumbo 980 (19 May 2012)”

  1. 27:44 here for an interesting and enjoyable puzzle. I wasted time trying to fit ANGELS into the first word of 19ac (I had the N and S in place) and GOLGI into the second word of 56ac (I had the L and I in place, but didn’t know his first name was actually CAMILLO) despite having sung under GEORG SOLTI’s baton a number of times as a member of the LSO Chorus back in the 1960s and 1970s.
  2. 89′, but I got 50d wrong; one of those times where I threw in something (arbor, influenced by ‘shade’) and then forgot to go back and check. I was also slowed down by failing to mark the (5,5) enumeration of 56ac, thus wasting a lot of time looking for a 10-letter solution. 31ac took time, too, especially as I didn’t see how UNAWARES could be defined as ‘suddenly’–a rising tide could catch one unawares, for instance.

Comments are closed.