I seem to have got lucky again. After a few run-of-the-mill Jumbos this was a great one to get to blog with barely an easy clue in sight. Lots of wit and cleverness gave me several Penny Drop Moments as I finally worked them out. It did take me 1hr 39 minutes to crack, though, with my last 5 clues taking over 20 of those; which would give me WITCH of about 200 if there was a SNITCH for the Jumbos. Appreciative ticks all over my copy, together with several with questionmarks showing they needed head-scratching to crack the wordplay. It’s hard to pick a favourite. I loved the unusual but neat combination of 12 and 18D, the “going to N Ireland” at 10D, the “wound daily” at 32A and “make a start on this puzzle” at 33D. But the one that gave me the biggest chuckle was the cause of the booking for dissent at 52A. Great stuff! Thank-you setter. And more like this please, editor. Well I liked it. How about you?
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and “” other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Broadcaster cut unserviceable operating area (6) |
| RADIUS – RADIo (broadcaster) “cut”, US (U/S, unserviceable). | |
| 5 | Head across pond east — better fish all round (4,3) |
| CAPE COD – E (east), with CAP (better) COD (fish) “all round”. Nice deceptive definition… and there are plenty more to follow. | |
| 9 | Tools this waster fecklessly holds the wrong way (8) |
| FRETSAWS – Hidden, “holds”, in thiS WASTER Fecklessly, reversed, “the wrong way” -> FRETSAWS. | |
| 13 | Be widely involved with filling in index? The reverse? (4,1,6,2,5,3) |
| HAVE A FINGER IN EVERY PIE – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint. | |
| 14 | Man’s setting off as he pursues girl (5,3) |
| IRISH SEA – (as he)* “off” after IRIS (girl). Where the Isle of Man is. Another sneaky definition. | |
| 15 | Philosopher to talk up article carrying little weight (7) |
| SPINOZA – SPIN (talk up) A (article) “carrying” OZ (ounce; little weight). Baruch Spinoza “…was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Sephardi origin.One of the early thinkers of the Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy.” Oo. Don’t get me started on How Mumbo-Jumbo conquered the world. | |
| 16 | Discontinued your following something corny and crude (6) |
| EARTHY – THY (discontinued your) “following” EAR (something corny). Something corny… ha ha! | |
| 17 | Feature otherwise put out endlessly? Not true! (10) |
| TRAITOROUS – TRAIT (feature) OR (otherwuse) dOUSe (put out), “endlessly”. A bit tricky, that one and one of my last 5 in. | |
| 20 | Compulsion’s growing ultimately to broadcast celebrity feature (6,6) |
| GOSSIP COLUMN – Anagram, “to broadcast” of (compulsion’s + growinG)*, “ultimately”. | |
| 23 | Six go for the French test (4) |
| VIVA – VI (six in roman numerals) VA (go, in French). | |
| 24 | Refuse to handle — leading to trouble for dumps (5,3) |
| BLACK DOG – BLACK (refuse to handle) DOG (trouble, the verb). A term for depression. | |
| 26 | Fish face being devoured by rats in east End (8) |
| EELPOUTS – POUT (face) inside, “being devoured by”, (h)EELS (rats) “in east End”. The Eelpout “…despite its name, the eelpout is not an eel, nor is it related to the pouting. To add to the confusion it is also known as the viviparous blenny but is not related to the fish UK anglers will know as a blenny!” A bit of déjà vu for me…. see here : one of my first Jumbo blogs. | |
| 29 | Leaves unresolved job for decorator (12) |
| PAPERHANGING – PAPER (leaves) HANGING (unresolved). | |
| 30 | Bloomer when at least three detectives prematurely ended ambush? (10) |
| ASPIDISTRA – AS (when) PI (3.14159…; at least three) DIS (detectives) TRAp (ambush) “prematurely ended”. Aspidistra “…are sometimes known as the Cast Iron Plant because they’re almost impossible to kill“. | |
| 32 | Motor part that needs wound daily (4,6) |
| WING MIRROR – WING (wound) MIRROR (daily newspaper). Lovely deceptive surface. | |
| 34 | Blood group O? (6,6) |
| FAMILY CIRCLE – Rather a cryptic &lit… FAMILY (blood group) CIRCLE (O). | |
| 36 | Obsessed with old goal — a form of torture (3-5) |
| ONE-TRACK – O (old) NET (goal) RACK (a form of torture). | |
| 38 | What’s at the heart of propaganda, Leninist, he composed (8) |
| PAGANINI – “Heart of” proPAGAnda, LeNINIst. He was also a virtuoso violinist. His Caprices are widely regarded as the hardest violin pieces of all. Listen for yourself to No. 5 as played by the 19yo Sumina Studer here. | |
| 39 | Cold joint and a little potato (4) |
| CHIP – C (cold) HIP (joint). | |
| 41 | Excitedly greet learned old author’s salutation (6,6) |
| GENTLE READER – (greet learned)* “excitedly”. | |
| 43 | Suffer soreness, having caught illness: good thing you can drive (5,5) |
| BEACH BUGGY – BE ACHY (suffer soreness) “having caught” BUG (illness) G (good). Another where you have to separate out the definition with care. | |
| 44 | Wine requirement has not exactly sunk in (6) |
| MUSCAT – MUST (requirement) with CA (circa; not exactly) “sunk in”. Muscat “..the distinctive grapey aroma is one of its chief properties, but its versatility also makes it an attractive option for winemakers. Muscat may be produced as dry, medium, sweet, sparkling or even dessert wine, and are also used as table grapes around the world – this is why we particularly describe Muscat wine as being ‘grapey'”. | |
| 46 | Secretly backing America, others on the fringes in support (3,4) |
| SUB ROSA – US (America) “backing” -> SU, OtherS “on the firnges”, “in” BRA “support”. I think I only know this phrase from another crossword. | |
| 48 | House police hold in native settlement (8) |
| HOMETOWN – HO (house) MET (Metropolitan police) OWN (hold). | |
| 50 | A moment of extreme agitation in Leicester? (3,6,2,1,5,4) |
| TWO SHAKES OF A LAMBS TAIL – Cryptic definition – Leicester being a breed of sheep. | |
| 51 | Headless corpse has finally cut down children’s writer’s hero (8) |
| ODYSSEUS – bODY (corpse) “headless”, haS “finally” SEUSs (doctor; children’s writer) “cut down”. The intended meaning of the surface eludes me, but it sounds a bit gruesome. | |
| 52 | Jack in Tyne and Wear metro, perhaps, arriving at factory (7) |
| CANNERY – CAN (jack in) NE (North-East; Tyne and Wear) RY (railway; metro perhaps). Yes there is indeed a Tyne and Wear Metro which I used a lot when I lived in the area. “Howay marra wor gannin doon Whitley for a plodge”. If you are not familiar with the term “jack in” see here. | |
| 53 | Steal what player booked for dissent gave back? (6) |
| PILFER – The player booked for dissent gave the REF LIP. Reverse. That made me chuckle. | |
| Down | |
| 2 | With minor injuries, men are unable to stand (5) |
| ABHOR – ABH (Actual Bodily Harm; minor injuries in compariosn to GBH) OR (Other Ranks; men) | |
| 3 | Wearing top I keep in school study (11) |
| INVESTIGATE – IN VEST (wearing top) I GATE (keep in school). | |
| 4 | It’s the same vaccination method, still (8) |
| SNAPSHOT – SNAP (it’s the same) SHOT (vaccination method). Still as in a photograph. One of my last 5 in. | |
| 5 | Friend’s twentieth anniversary (5) |
| CHINA – Double definition. | |
| 6 | Stars stick with a controversial old law (7) |
| PEGASUS – PEG (stick), A SUS (controversial old law). One that’s escaped from a Mephisto here. “Historical – British : relating to or denoting a law under which a person could be arrested on suspicion of having committed an offence.” No I didn’t know that. | |
| 7 | Herbie for one was furious about one blunder a best friend spotted (8,3) |
| CARRIAGE DOG – CAR (Herbie, for one – the Love Bug), RAGED (was furious) “about” I (one), OG (own goal; blunder). Another unknown for me, it is an archaic term for a dalmatian. “A carriage dog or coach dog refers to a type of dog rather than a specific breed. Dogs of this type were usually bred and trained to trot alongside carriages to protect the occupants from banditry or other interference. They were usually owned and used by the wealthy or traders and merchants.“. “Dalmatian’s feet and legs are strong and they could maintain long distances alongside a horse or carriage on rough roads. … The Dalmatian’s strong guarding and hunting instincts were useful when travelling, and in the inns at night they guarded the horses in the stables and kept the vermin down.” | |
| 8 | Casually pass dark horse with raised leg (5) |
| DUNNO – DUN (dark horse) ON “raised” -> NO. | |
| 9 | Smaller sport fund initially one has in reserve (4-1-4) |
| FIVE-A-SIDE – Fund “initially” I’VE (one has) ASIDE (in reserve). | |
| 10 | Remote spot Yankee’s found in going to N Ireland (5) |
| EYRIE – Y (Yankee in the NATO phonetic alphabet) “found in” EIRE (Ireland) “going to N”, i.e. upwards. Nice one, having to separate N Ireland. | |
| 11 | Disparate bits in use — plus four to spare (11) |
| SUPERFLUOUS – (use plus four)* “disparate bits in” | |
| 12 | Welsh borough’s auditor’s being their … (7) |
| WREXHAM – Sounds like, “auditor’s”, WRECKS ‘EM (being their… undoing). A bit of a cheeky ellipsis, that. I’m not sure I’ve seen it used to indicate the clue includes the first word of the next one before. | |
| 18 | … undoing, going with mounting resistance (9) |
| RUINATION – URINATION (going) with the R rising, “with mounting resistance” -> RUINATION. It was a bit of a PDM when I got this one! Another of my last 5 in. | |
| 19 | Surfer enjoying a cruise? (7) |
| ONLINER – Double definition the second a cryptic hint. | |
| 21 | Large gas main interfered with new naval transmitter (9) |
| SIGNALMAN – (L gas main)*, L = large, “interfered with”, N (new). | |
| 22 | Sparkling wine reserved to have with dip (4,4) |
| COLD DUCK – COLD (reserved) DUCK (dip). Another new one on me. See here. | |
| 25 | “Rebuked for holding bishop up” Echo tweeted (9) |
| CHIRRUPED – CHID (rebuked) “holding” RR (Right Reverend; bishop) UP E (Echo in the NATO phonetic alphabet). | |
| 27 | Object to nurse running water, getting you worked up (9) |
| THRILLING – THING (object) including, “to nurse”, RILL (running water). | |
| 28 | Mushroom to eat: keep mum two as a starter (8) |
| SHIITAKE – TAKE (eat) with SH (keep mum) II (two, in roman numerals) in front, “as a starter”. Another of my last few in. | |
| 31 | Milk needing Spanish approval for one’s porridge abroad (7) |
| POLENTA – PINTA (milk), with OLE (Spanish approval) replacing, “for”, the I (one) . Very clever, | |
| 33 | Make start on this puzzle? Without time to explain (3,2,6) |
| GET IT ACROSS – GET I (one) ACROSS (make a start on this puzzle) outside, “without”, T (time). Cracking clue! | |
| 34 | One mocked judge, no longer on world body (6,2,3) |
| FIGURE OF FUN – FIGURE (judge) OFF (no longer on) UN (United Nations; woeld body). Figure for “judge” is a bit of a Thesaurus 3-point turn via “estimate”, I think. | |
| 35 | Court proceedings in which race question all but resolved (11) |
| RACQUETBALL – (race q all but)* “resolved”. | |
| 37 | Board ship, clutching regular selection of tackier souvenirs (9) |
| KEEPSAKES – KEEP (board; board and lodging), SS (ship) “clutching” “regular selection of” tAcKiEr. Nice surface. | |
| 40 | Matter raised after hitch gets approval (6,2) |
| THUMBS UP – PUS (matter) “raised” “after” THUMB (hitch). | |
| 42 | Deer, put in strange setting, broke out (7) |
| ERUPTED – (deer put)* “in strange setting”. | |
| 43 | Letters felt to be poorly received by Scottish bank (7) |
| BRAILLE – ILL (poorly) “received by” BRAE (Scottish bank). | |
| 45 | Busy with pulling up weed in lake (5) |
| TAHOE – AT (busy) reversed, “pulling up” HOE (weed, the verb). | |
| 47 | Simple precis, abridged, shows up (5) |
| BASIC – Reverse hidden, “shows up”, in preCIS ABridged. | |
| 48 | Exaggerated negative impact when wife is absent (5) |
| HAMMY – wHAMMY (negative impact) without the W (wife), “absent”. | |
| 49 | Wit not contained in speech (5) |
| WILDE – WILD (not contained) “in speech”. | |
The only unknown was COLD DUCK, but the parsing was clear.
COD to PILFER, but I also admired IRISH SEA, WING MIRROR, BEACH BUGGY, and GET IT ACROSS.
The WREXHAM/RUINATION conjunction is an example of a clue type that was once common in the Grauniad. I seem to remember that the much-missed Custos (Alec Robins) was one who used it.
The Tyne and Wear Metro, although thought of as a tram, qualifies as a railway as it uses old BR lines for much of its network. I’d be disinclined to use the same analogy for the trams in Edinburgh for example.
You have a nasty case of the “sorenes” at 43A John. I hope it’s not contagious….
Edited at 2021-07-24 07:25 am (UTC)
Carriage dogs familiar of course, to the Heyer Brigade.
And I have some Dry Muscat in the fridge 🙂
I forgot to finish and figure out what 12 was about. Often—even usually—there is no real connection, let alone a vital one, between two clues whose surfaces are linked in this manner.
Never had heard of a CARRIAGE DOG. I had CANNERY, but no idea about “jack in”… Danke!
Edited at 2021-07-24 11:52 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2021-07-25 06:41 pm (UTC)