Times Jumbo 887

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
The usual Jumbo rubric: as the solution is available alongside (or indeed before) the blog, comment is confined only to references that might remain obscure to overseas / inexperienced solvers even with the answer visible, or anything I thought notably good or deserving a question mark; other clues are, however, happily discussed by request, please comment if required.

A slightly on the hard side of average puzzle, I thought, in terms of both wordplay and required GK.

Across
5 MAST CELL – MAST=post CELL=room; I was familiar with T-cells but had to guess at the existence of these parts of the body’s defence mechanisms.
9 THESIS – MI6 being the Secret Intelligence Service.
14 STERNE – S(ucceeded) + “TERN”.
16 HOSTELRY – HOST + EL(evated) R(ailwa)Y.
20 WELL TO DO – (DOT)rev. in [WELL + 0].
24 LAUNDRIES – L(eft) A + UNDRIES &lit. Obviously “un-dries” is a rather unusual way of expressing “gets wet”, but this is why they call it a cryptic puzzle.
29 PROMULGATED – PROM + U(nusua)L + GATE + D.
41 FINLANDIA – reFINed baLANce raDIAnt reveals the work which sprang to mins as soon as Sibelius was mentioned.
45 TURNSPIT – TURNS + PIT(as in fruit stone).
50 BIOMORPH – (POORHIMBlot)*; it took a while to decipher that “living form as decoration” was the unusually long definition.
52 EMIGRE – (REGIME)* &lit. Really elegant clue.
55 IRISH SEA – IS H(ard) in [SIERRA]*. No man is an island; except Man, of course.
 
Down
4 ENTHRALLING – (THEN)* + RALL(y)ING.
5 MOBS – M + 0 + B(ank)S.
6 STAR-CROSSED – CROSS in STARED, though if you’re familiar with Romeo and Juliet, the (4,7) gives it away before you even finish reading the clue.
15 TWITCHER – see here for an explanation of the distinctions between twitchers, birders et al.
19 ROSSETTI – (TESS)rev. in ROT + 1; take your pick from Christina, her brother, or even her father.
27 SILK ROAD – SAD around [ILK + R(un) + O(ld)].
30 USER – PUSHER without P(ot) and H(eroin).
32 TREE FERN – REEFER in (Pu)TN(ey).
34 GIVE INTO – GI + [IN in VETO]; I was more familiar with GIVE ONTO.
36 LIGHT OPERA – figuratively for the G&S, literally (in German) for the Stockhausen.
37 ENNISKILLEN – SINNE(d)rev. + KILLE(d) + N (knight in chess notation)).
40 NEIGHBOUR – I must admit I was trying to find something a little more arcane than NEIGHBOURS without the S(on). I think the last time I saw an episode, Kylie was still in it, so it didn’t spring to mind as the soap in question.
42 ASIA MINOR – A SIAM IN OR.
43 BALMORAL – L(ine) in [B(achelor) + AMORAL]; the hat is this one. For future reference, there’s a Balmoral shoe as well.
44 SITWELL – IT in SWELL; again, take your pick from Edith or Osbert.
46 GRETNA – GRE(e)T + N(orth) + A(lliance) &lit.

4 comments on “Times Jumbo 887”

  1. Thanks for your commentary, topicaltim. Please could you explain how 46d, GRETNA, actually works as an &lit. I can follow the wordplay, but not the definition. Surely, in a classic &lit, the whole clue must also be the definition. Here the first part of the clue seems largely irrelevant and only the second part provides a definition of sorts. (Scots weep with English going north – alliance’s beginning here).
    1. Very true, so I guess it’s one of those partial &lits we don’t have a satisfactory term for. The traditional elopement to Gretna would obviously involve English people heading north for an alliance, but no reason why it should require Scots weeping, at least for the purposes of a crossword definition.
  2. Yes. I couldn’t see why the Scots would be weeping. A “partial &lit” seems a rather unsatisfactory structure for a clue. In a traditional clue each word serves either as part of the wordplay or part of the definition. In a properly constructed &lit every word serves a dual purpose. But a partial &lit is just messy. There is nothing to indicate which words have to do single and double duty.
  3. ‘Greet’ is Scots for ‘weep’. With E going, plus N and A, we get GRETNA. Perfect clue.

    John in USA

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