This took what seemed an age to get a foothold into but, once I had, the answers came thick and fast. In the end it took 33:27 making it round about my average. After writing the blog though, I reckon I must have made heavy weather of it and some will have found it pretty easy. My last 5 minutes were spent getting my last 4 answers – 22d (not difficult but I just couldn’t see it), 9dn,26a and 24a. Things you notice when writing the blog – not many anagrams but lots of reversals
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | EX,POSITIONS |
| 7 | SEED[y] CAPITAL – my second to last in. I saw CAPITAL almost immediately but couldn’t get past the unlikely SPEC for the first word until the penny finally dropped |
| 13 | WEIGHTING – supposedly sounds like “WAITING” but doesn’t. The definition refers to the extra dosh payed to teachers etc who work in London and have ludicrously expensive housing to pay for. They then retire at an early age, sell their two bedroomed flat and use the proceeds to buy a castle in Scotland. As far as I’m aware, none of the profit is ever payed back. |
| 14 | CLAUDIA – CL, AUDI[t],A |
| 15 | SMALL – L LAMS reversed. “return of fifty pounds” is brilliant |
| 16 | RE,A,DER – DER is RED rev |
| 17 | KNEE DEEP – NEED in KEEP |
| 18 | ELEGANT – GEL rev in E,ANT. I was a little dubious that I had the right answer as GEL for GIRL just didn’t seem right. It is though, the OED says she’s “an upper class or well-bred girl”. Does that mean she can’t be both? |
| 20 | KEEP ONES EYE ON THE BALL – 2 defs one slighty cryptic. Sometimes I’m disappointed when one of the long clues is really easy, but this time I was struggling a bit and was glad of the help. |
| 23 | CORONER – CORNER (free kick at footy) around O (ball) |
| 24 | DIMETER – DIM [p]ETER – my last one in, hampered a little by writing organiseS instead of organiseD at 5 down and not realising for far too long. It’s a line of verse with two metrical feet (about 61cm) |
| 26 | SETLINE – T[his] L[ies] in SEINE. For non-anglers, it’s a long fishing line with other smaller ones branching off it |
| 28 | LICK – LIK[e] around C |
| 29 | PORTUGAL – OR + TUG in PAL |
| 32 | DISCUSSED – “damned to hell” = DIS CUSSED. Very nice |
| 35 | FRICASSEE – FRI(day) + SEE around C[h]A[p]S |
| 36 | S,COFFIN,G – G[oodies] |
| 37 | GRAN – Included in southerN ARGentina when reversed |
| 39 | SWEDISH – ED in SWISH |
| 41 | ADDRESS – [d]AD DRESS |
| 44 | BLOOMER – 2 defs |
| 45 | WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING – the music mafia would have got this one easily. Hugo Wolf was an Austrian composer |
| 49 | SWOUNDS – SOUNDS around W[ife]. I thought “looks like it’s SWOUNDS” when I first read the clue but didn’t put it in until all the checkers were in place. I’d heard of ZOUNDS but not SWOUNDS. Apparently they’re both contractions of God’s wounds, a bit like the Australian “strewth”, I suppose |
| 50 | DOME,STIC – “STICK” |
| 51 | ARMADA – ADAM and RA all rev |
| 53 | AMPLE – MP in ALE. I’ve just noticed we haven’t had an anagram, not even as part of a clue, yet. Is this a record? |
| 54 | OLD ROSE – (RED LOOS)* Aah, here’s one now |
| 55 | TRAGEDIAN – (GET IN RADA)* …and here’s another |
| 56 | ARRANGEMENT – ARRAN then ME in GENT |
| 57 | PENNY A LINER – PEN + A LINER around NY. I haven’t seen this before but it’s a journo who gets paid by how many words he writes |
|
|
|
| Down | |
| 1 | EDWARD – I eventually realised this was hidden in wagED WAR Duly |
| 2 | PRIVATE, PRACTICE |
| 3 | SCHLEPPING – SCH[ool] + L + EPPING, an ancient forest in SW England |
| 4 | TWIG – two meanings, one being to understand (grasp) |
| 5 | ORGAN,IS ED – I auto-piloted an S as the last letter causing lots of trouble with 24a |
| 6 | SE,CRECY |
| 7 | SPACEPORT – PACE in SPORT |
| 8 | END UP – “like Mia?” is AIM written upwards |
| 9 | CEASELESS – EASEL in CESS. Another unfamiliar word for me, but it’s there in the dictionaries as “an artist’s stand”. Only kidding, cess is a tax |
| 10 | PASSEPARTOUT – PASSÉ+PART+OUT. I’ve met this before, probably in a past crossword. It’s a picture frame where the glass and backing card are held together by adhesive tape. |
| 11 | TRAVAIL – ART rev + “VEIL” |
| 12 | LOLITA – A TILL around O all reversed. There’ve been a lot of reversals this week! |
| 19 | ENORMOUS – ONE rev + R + (SUMO)* Told you |
| 21 | TIRED OF – TIF[f] around REDO |
| 22 | DEADENER – DEER around A DEN |
| 23 | COLD FISH – C + OLDISH around F |
| 25 | MAG,US |
| 27 | INSTRUMENTATION – this week’s complicated buildup. IN then [ma]T[ch] + RU MEN in STATION |
| 30 | THE[m],BANS |
| 31 | LOOSE – OO (love on two occasions) in LSE (London School of Economics) |
| 33 | SONGBOOK – (BONGOS)* + OK |
| 34 | MAGIC LANTERN – or perhaps this is the complicated one. It took a while to realise that Mother was MATER, not just MA. It’s MATER around GI (Joe) + CLAN, then N(ew) |
| 38 | MOTHERWELL – M(inisters) then THE in ORWELL. Blair isn’t really Tony, but the real last name of George Orwell.Motherwell used to be a big steel-producing town in Scotland |
| 40 | HAILSTONE – (IN A HOSTEL)* well hidden ‘gram I thought |
| 42 | DREAMBOAT – (MET ABROAD)* but this one wasn’t |
| 43 | SACRISTAN – SIR + C rev in SATAN |
| 45 | W,HOPPER |
| 46 | PASTE UP – PAST,EU,P |
| 47 | TSWANA – first letters of “that some West African naturally acquire” a language spoken in BOTSWANA and elsewhere |
| 48 | BANNER – ANNE in BR(itish) |
| 50 | DODGE – 2 meanings |
| 52 | WAVY – V in WAY |
One comment on “Jumbo 894 – 23rd October 2010”
Comments are closed.