Jumbo 901

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Time: About an hour and a half, the last twenty-five minutes of which were spent on the last 5 answers. So most will probably find it on the easy side, there are certainly plenty of fast times on the leader board. That said, my stats are showing that I have one wrong, and I’ve made no typos that I can see, so it must be a genuine mistake. I shall have to check the solution and amend my blog accordingly.

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

Across
6 C(AFT)ANS – I would’ve spelt this with a K, but while both spellings are possible, this is the main one.
10 tISSUE
13 LAMB + A + ST – The essayist is Charles Lamb
15 LACTATE = (CATTLE)* about A
16 MADISON SQUARE GARDEN = (GROAN MARQUIS DE SADE)* + N
17 LEfT
20 BARDIC = (A BIRD)* + C
25 REAPPRAISAL = (PAPER)* + RAIL about SA
29 ADLER = (LEAD + singeR) – Larry Adler is generally considered to have been the finest of all harmonica players.
30 SURPRISE = PRUSsian rev + RISE
31 PORT + ABLE
34 RED EnSIGN
36 COMMANDO = CAN-DO (resourceful when challenged) about OM + Military
37 BAS(Liechtenstein)E
39 PRESENTiMENT
41 SO(Play)HO + CLEAN – The Antigone referred to here is the play by Sophocles.
43 TRAPPISTS = PART rev + PI + STS – An &lit clue
45 E(Preaching)AR + CH
47 READER – dd – Annual / help for college undergraduate BEDDER – dd – a plant & someone who makes students’ beds. This was my last in and I wasn’t 100% about READER, but I still thought it was correct. Well done to those who got it right.
52 PILSNER – rev hidden in childRENS LIPs
53 CORDOBA = COB about (O + DR) rev + A
54 ADIPOSE = arbucklE after DI in (SOAP)*
55 DORIS = ROD rev + IS
56 LI(THE)LY
Down
1 TELEMARK = “TELLY” + MARK – The site of the WWII operation by Norwegian resistance to hamper German efforts to build nuclear weapons. It was made famous in the film starring Kirk Douglas & Richard Harris.
2 L(IM)ED
3 GR + AS + SHOPPER
4 ACT ONE = NOT rev in ACE – A clever surface that is both natural and misleading – my COD.
5 HEAD(QUARTER)S – Although shouldn’t this be “there are outside toilets”? Otherwise where does the final S come from?
7 FATHER CHRISTMAS = (MARCH FIRST HE SAT)* – Today’s obligatory yuletide reference.
8 AIR MARSHAL = AIR + “MARTIAL”
11 SE(A + PLAN)ES
12 unEVEN TERrain
22 EYESIGHT = “I CITE”
24 PAR FOR THE COURSE = PA + R(FORTH)ECOURSE
26 PRO + (TO) + COL
27 LIE + DrEaRy
33 IN + S(Performance)ECT + ORATE
35 SHEEPSHANKS – dd – and here‘s how to tie them.
37 BULLET POINT = BULL + (POTENT I)*
38 PER(SIAN + CA)T
40 E(NAME + LL)ER
42 T(REEF)ERN
43 Thieves + RIPPED
44 SEVERn + A + L
46 dd – a poor example / defence
51 A(GO)RAb

8 comments on “Jumbo 901”

  1. I have the same answers for the clues you have parsed Dave, probably it was just a typo.. I am not doing much better than 50% getting jumbos fully correct. Reluctantly I have had to accept, on the evidence of the new crossword site, that my data entry skills were not as good as I thought they were!

    I thought this was a fair jumbo apart from a couple of dodgy clues. For me the sheepshank one – a simple obscure def. – did not really hit the spot, and I’m not sure about “curl” as a reversal indicator in 52ac. Still, I did get them both..

    1. No, I’ve just checked it again and I’m pretty sure it’s not a typo. It must be one I haven’t blogged.
  2. I was scored 581, and all my answers match daveperry’s; so I’m curious as to where I went wrong.
    30ac: Aren’t there still Prussians among the Germans? I don’t suppose I can complain about the ‘old’, although I did entertain for a short while the possibility of ‘alte’ being involved in the solution.
    33d: body=sect?
  3. I had BUZZARD for 37a,to buzz being what a plane does when it swoops down. This actually seem a better answer than bustard which is the answer I assume you had. Also I couldn’t make out the answer to 46d.
    Best wishes
    Mike
    1. Yes, BUZZARD would seem a perfectly justifiable answer, except, of course, for the incorrect checking letter that it would give you. Luckily, I think I already had the S in place when I came to it, or I may have made the same mistake.

      46d is APOLOGY. It took me a little while to work out how the dd worked after I got it, which is why I spelt it out in the blog as I did.

  4. 47a is BEDDER (a college servant employed to keep students’ rooms in order) and also an annual plant.
    1. Ah, looks like that’s where we all went wrong! I had READER as well, but wasn’t very happy with it at the time.
  5. Yes, that seems to be it.. I had bedder, and got 600.. btw BUSTARD is 32dn not 37ac.
    Except for the crossing letter buzzard seems, if anything, better than bustard..

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