Times Jumbo 738 (Jan 19)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
This was one of the best Jumbos I’ve solved, with loads of great clues. Pretty difficult too, but very satisfying to finish. Took about 50 minutes I think.

Across

5 TAC(I)T,US – Roman historian, whose work I had to study for Latin O-level.
13 NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE – (Hall to a H, intensive care)*. Good anagram, but it would have been pure genius if there had been a health minister called Dicky Hall for example.
14 NE,BRAS,KA – brilliant, “supporters of Newcastle United” for NE bras. Ka is the ancient Egyptian word for the soul or spirit of a person.
15 BLINDER – I had to read the plot of the play to understand the reference to Equus.
17 MIS(CON,DUC)T – DUC = cud rev. (one chewed over)
20 TH(UNDER,B)IRDS – great definition, “whose characters were obviously highly strung”.
26 TICK-TACK – or more usually tic-tac, is the hand signals bookies use at the racecourse.
29 FOR G(ALL)ANTRY – another clever definition, “Cross words”.
32 CAP,RIP,ANTS – those trousers that stop just above the ankle, apparently. New word for me.
36 F, AM I LIAR
39 K,NEE – NEE = “was called”, K = fifth of drinKers, and another creative definition, bender.
41 PO(st)PONES,CLOGS – for me, the best clue of the lot. Excellent surface reading and great wordplay, very well disguised.
46 (j)UN(TWIN)E
50 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE – AS TREE = while actor, the rest is (edit screen drama)*. The actor is Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree who died long before Tennessee Williams wrote the play.
52 PILS,NER – (w)REN SLIP reversed.

Down

3 GET CRACKING – good double definition describing the somewhat truncated life of a bird.
5 T(I)AR,A – I in A RAT rev. Normally tiara = crown in crosswords, but half a crown is definitely more accurate.
7 THAT IS TO SAY – “HAT IS” + TOS=sot rev. inside TAY. A Dolly Varden is a type of hat, from a character in Barnaby Rudge by Dickens.
11 T(HICK)WITTED – to twit is to taunt.
18 INAMORATA – A T A ROMAN I reversed. Italian word for a woman loved – the male equivalent is inamorato.
21 U,NA(SHAM)ED – U, then SHAM inside DEAN rev
27 C(H)AMEL,EON(one*)
31 STUNNER – The Sun’s favourite word?
33 RAISON D’ETRE (arrested in O)* – didn’t get this until I had all the crossing letters. Double whammy of French phrase and apostrophised word.
35 NAKED LADIES – another name for the meadow saffron. Interesting clue type, same as 34 down as well, a loose definition plus cryptic hint.
40 SIZE,WELL – location of a pair of nuclear power stations in Suffolk.
43 FR,E,EMAN – FR + NAME,(wis)E reversed.
45 EL(E)M,I – a tree resin used in varnishes, inks and crosswords.
47 TRAMP – M in TRAP
48 CIDE,R – I think “suggesting killing” is a clue for the suffix -CIDE, as in suicide, insecticide etc. Never seen that before.

5 comments on “Times Jumbo 738 (Jan 19)”

    1. No, looks like someone failed to blog it. If you’re stuck on a particular clue or clues, post it here and I’ll be able to help.
      1. I hope my answers are right – I’m still not re-connected to the site (after nearly seven weeks!)
        15 ac – Brave New World. The refs to M and Neap Court?
        16 ac – Red flag. Why the “number” of revs?
        5 d – Field testing. Fielding around test but how does test = holding hardback. Sth to do w stet?
        18 ac – brain. Brain(y) = bright but the rest?
        27 ac – Billingsgate. The word “originally” is telling us it’s an anag? (If it’s ling in big sale* + T)
        8 d – just moaning that this should have been hyphenated!
        Many thanks for your time.
        Regards,
        Adrian Cobb
        1. 15ac – This refers to Miranda in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, who, on seeing her father-in-law and the Neapolitan Court, says:

          …O, wonder
          How many goodly creatures are there here!
          How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world
          That has such people in’t

          16ac – A “number” of revolutionaries means it’s a song of theirs. The Red Flag is a socialist hymn that used to be the Labour Party’s anthem.

          5d – I was puzzled by this too, but a dictionary search yielded a possible explanation – test² in Chambers gives “a testa”, which in turn gives “a hard shell”. A bit shaky, but the best I could come up with.

          18ac – just a pun on the phrase “right as rain”.

          27ac – Correct. It’s LING (fish) inside (big sale + T)*. You’re right about “originally” being the anagind, and the whole clue is the definition.

          8d – I agree, I whinged about that to myself when solving!

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