Times Jumbo 1172

Solving time of 25:53, which suggests something very much at the easy end of the spectrum. Indeed, now I come to write it up, most of the vocabulary was pretty straightforward, and where it wasn’t – perhaps with ventures into philosophy, or wine-making, or modern drama – the wordplay was perfectly clear. One item which raised an eyebrow, but I suspect that’s a proof-reading error rather than one of semantics.

Across
1	HIGH TABLE – HIGH, T{ime} ABLE &lit. The dons being the Oxford or Cambridge sort, the scoffing involving excellent food.
6	COMMERCIALISE – (ME, SOCIAL CRIME)*. The anagram saves one from having to decide if -ISE or -IZE is preferable.
13	NAEVI – E{nglish} in (IVAN)rev.
14	LANCASTRIAN – LAN(=network), CAST, R{un}, IAN.
15	EQUIP – E, QUIP.
16	SHOULDER BAG – SHOULDER(=bag), (GAB)rev.
17	OPINIONATED – [N{ame} 1,ON] in OPIATED.
18	TRYSTED – TRY(=hear), ST{reet} ED{itor}.
20	EMOTIVE – E{conomies} MOTIVE.
21	GUNSHOT – GUN(=piece), SHOT(as in “gave it my best shot”).
23	GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS – one of those phrases where there is a literal meaning which is not the one which is ever meant.
27	AGO – A GO.
28	DISOWN – dISh in DOWN(=sink).
29	ABOARD – A{rea} BOARD(=food).
31	PREMISSES – PRE{P}, MISSES. Looks very odd to the eye with the double S, but that is how you distinguish the plural of “premise”, meaning a proposition, from, er, “premises”, as in the word meaning “building and surroundings” which has no singular version.
34	DEFENDANT – (FED)rev, END(=purpose) ANT(=soldier).
35	TESTER – double def. Stay in a well-appointed country-house hotel and you’ll come across beds with a tester or half-tester; or you may have one at home, for all I know.
36	INSANE – INANE(=empty) “boxes” S{mall}.
39	SIR – SIR{e}.
40	BRIDESHEAD REVISITED – (BRITISHIDEADESERVED)*. As I often say, one of the good things about the Jumbo is that it allows good long anagrams like this.
42	EYEWASH – {hedg}E, YEW, ASH.
43	AMNESIA – (MEN)* in ASIA.
45	REORDER – RE: ORDER.
47	ANTIPYRETIC – [1 P{ill}] in (CERTAINTY)*.
48	ONTOLOGICAL – cryptic def. i.e. the surface tries to make you imagine you are in a philosopher’s study admiring his bookshelves and describe that feeling, but if you split the sentence another way, you’re looking at the definition “description of being”, in “what philosophers study”.
51	OUTRE – OUT(=revelaled) R.E.
52	EXCLAMATORY – EX(=husband no longer), C{arna}L AMATORY.
53	MIAOW – (Women’s Old AIM)rev. A queen is a female cat, should you be wondering how that definition works.
54	STREET THEATRE – def. “drama in a way”; (SETTER)*, [AT in THERE].
55	TEDDY BEAR – TED D{odg}Y, BEAR.
Down
1	HONEST TO GOD – (NOT THE GOODS)*.
2	GREGORY – GR (George Rex instead of the far more common Elizabeth), E{uropean} GORY(=bloodthirsty). Even if you’re no expert on Popes, this is a pretty famous name, thanks to the calendar and the chanting.
3	TWILL – W{ife} in TILL. I try not to be a language pedant, but this sort of thing is physically painful to me…”a draw with money”? “Drawer” was intended, I suspect, but has been lost somewhere in the setting or editing process…
4	BILLET DOUX – Nice here being the city in France, of course, where this would be the native term.
5	ENNOBLE – NOB(=VIP) in [EN(=French “in”), LE(=French definite article)].
6	CHANGE OF HEART – literal and metaphorical usages.
7	METHODISM – METHOD IS M{atter}.
8	EDIFICE – (IDE)rev. + F{ish} + ICE.
9	CONNING TOWER – (TINONCEWRONG)*. The bit at the top of a submarine, from which all the conning takes place.
10	APENNINES – NINES following A PEN.
11	INUIT – IN, UNIT losing its N{ame}.
12	EXPEDITIONS – [X(=times), P.E.] in EDITIONS.
19	THROW-IN – double def.
22	HEAD START – (HARDESTAT)*.
24	TASK FORCE – T{he} ASK FOR C.E. In pre-internet days, a friend of mine who was in the profession always checked the new Yellow Pages so he could continue to take perverse pride in the entry which said “Boring – see Civil Engineers”.
25	HABITUE – A BIT(=rather) in HUE.
26	TOP GEAR – double def. To be read in the voice of Jeremy Clarkson.
30	DISPASSIONATE – [IS PASS ION{a} (the Scots island without its A)] in DATE(=agreed time).
32	IONESCO – 1’S CO{Y} describing (in the geometric sense of “lying outside” ONE. Eugene Ionesco, leading figure in the “Theatre of the Absurd”; I am enormously familiar with his name. And have neither read nor seen any of his works.
33	PARISH PRIEST – (PHRASESPIRIT)*.
34	DESPERADOES – (PEERSAD)* in DOES(=cheats).
37	ELDERFLOWER – ELDER(=father), F{ine}, LOWER(=cheaper).
38	OVERPLAYED – OVER, PLAYED.
40	BLASPHEME – (PMHESABLE)*.
41	HANDCRAFT – HAND(of cards), C=100, RAFT(=large amount).
43	ARTICLE – ARTIC, as in articulated lorry, L{ocomotive}E.
44	ACTS OUT – (CA.)rev., S{ervices) in TOUT
46	DECLARE – L{earner} in [CAR in DEE].
48	TUTOR – {lou}T in (ROUT)rev. i.e. “beating, up”.
50	GAMAY – MA in GAY. If it’s not the best-known example of the fruit, I suspect that’s down to the fact that French wines usually advertise their region rather than the actual grape. Gamay is, for example, the grape of Beaujolais Nouveau, so I suspect a lot of people have drunk it without knowing.