Jumbo 889 – 18 September 2010

Author   7dpenguinPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
I really enjoyed solving this one at the time and found it difficult to really get going. It took around 42 minutes in all which, even allowing for my final 5 minutes spent on 28d , is a good bit longer than average. Having written the blog though, I can’t really see why it caused me any trouble. Perhaps that’s the sign of good clueing – once you know an answer it looks easy.

Across
1 PARASITICAL –  P.A. + (RACIALIST)*. Always nice to get a nice, easy one at 1 across
7 CICERO – ICE in CRO[-c]
10 CORM – I kicked myself when I eventually got this one. “Either side of chrysanthemum” is C or M
14 OFFSIDE – FF (following pages) + 1’S rev in ODE
15 REGIMEN – REGION with ME for O
16 BORODIN – “Borrow” + DIN
17 LORD PRIVY SEAL – gosh, little room, close up
18 TOSS FOR IT –  TOSS the I in FORT. 
19 DWARF – included in announceD WAR From
21 TOUCHSTONE – TOUCH TONE around S. A jester who lived in a forest in As You Like It.  Because Shakespeare wrote it, it’s seemingly ok to expect us to not only know the character’s name but also where he lived. Mind you, the wordplay made it easy enough to get.
23 PILFER – REF LIP rev
25 GRIMALDI – GRIM then LD (lord) in A1. Joe Grimaldi is reckoned to be the first white-faced clown
26 BABES, IN THE WOOD – excellent clue, the definition is just “show”
29 TANNERY – I thought of TANNERY almost immediately, but couldn’t justify it. I was blinded by the ER for Queen leaving TANNY=Hear. It eventually dawned that the Queen is ANNE and she’s in TRY
30 DESDEMONA – (DEED SO MAN)*
31 [-g]ARDEN – a forest in Warwickshire probably most famous for its golf course
32 EAT UP – [prepar]E A TUP
34 APRIL,FOOL
37 GRASSED  -two definitions. Although the meaning is apparent, I’ve never heard of the phrase “grassed catch” meaning a dropped one
39 LORD OF THE FLIES – two defs (Beelzebub and novel) and one word play (LORD Of THE LIES around F)
41 DRAGOMAN – MA in DRAGON. An interpretor and guide in the near east
43 BRIDIE – BRIDE around I . A Scottish pie made of minced beef and onion. Highly recommended to my fellow pie fans
44 ASSEMBLING – BLING after A then MESS rev
45 MAS,AI
48 CROQUETTE – CROQUET the T[h]E. I’ve only heard of the tatty only version, but apparently a proper croquette contains meat.
49 HEAVENLY,TWINS
51 STIRRUP – two defs. A bit of an odd surface here unless I’m missing something. “Bone one puts the boot into”
52 INCLINE – IN LINE with C in
53 E-MAILED – ME rev than AILED.
54 PULP[it]
55 S,EVENS
56 GERRYMANDER – RY (lines) in GERMANDER

 
Down
1 PRO,W,LED
2 REFORMATION – REF then M in ORATION
3 SKIM,P
4 THE BIRTHDAY PARTY – (A THIRD BY)* then PART all in THEY. One of Pinter’s finest
5 CARRY OUT – CAR then Y in ROUT. 
6 LOGGERHEADS – LOGGERS around HEAD
7 CAME,L – L being L[-ate]. The usual treatment for CAMEL
8 CONSTANTINOPLE – CONSTANT then PEOPLE with IN replacing PE (exercise)
9 ROB US, T
11 OLD TRAFFORD – (T[homas] LORD)* then AFFORD. Manchester United’s or Lancashire Cricket Club’s ground – same area, same name, different grounds
12 MONITOR – NIT in MOOR
13 DRIFT ICE – RIFT in DICE
20 FRAME, UP
22 THERE – [vica]R in THEE
24 STRANGERS GALLERY – (GANGSTERS REALLY R[un])*
25 GET REAL – quite a contrived one here. It’s EG rev replacing MON (my french) in MONTREAL
27 DUNEDIN – DUE DIN[-e] around N
28 ODER NEISSE LINE – My last one in and I was determined to get it! After around 5 minutes I worked out that “Owed a nicer line” was what was required and was very pleased when Google confirmed my answer to be correct. It’s the border between Germany and Poland. The setter’s use of “some say” makes this homophone perfectly acceptable
31 AMALGAM –  A then ALGA in MM (millions)
33 TERRITORIAL – two meanings
35 LILLE – very clever – “three people on the move training” is 3 learner drivers = LLL including 1 then E[uropean]
36 OVERBEARING – 2 defs, on a bit cryptic (having too large a family)
38 SEMI S,KILLED
40 OBITUARY – really easy cryptic def
42 LIFE PEER – L[ord] IF EPEE R
43 BACKS UP – 2 defs again, one making me smile (what annoying people get)
46 INSIDER – this week’s cry for help. The clue is “Member of charmed circle a prisoner at Dartmoor finally”. I can see “member of charmed circle”=insider, “Dartmoor finally” is R which leaves “A prisoner”=inside . This can’t be right can it?
47 STAPLE – anagram of Palest pastel pleats.
49 HOCUS – (SUCH + O)*
50 TIARA – A [-k]RAIT rev. A krait is a snake

3 comments on “Jumbo 889 – 18 September 2010”

  1. I did write in Oder Neisse Line, because what else could it be, but did not understand why until coming here.
    I think your analysis of 46dn is quite correct.. INSIDE = “a prisoner” (eg “Jerry has spent half his life inside”) + R from Dartmoor. The clue looks OK to me, if a teensy bit inelegent.
    1. If one is a prisoner one is inside, so the two terms can be regarded as interchangeable

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