Times Jumbo 1095 (7 Jun 2014)

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Solving time: About two and a quarter hours all told – I’m clearly out of practice at these big ones

This should have been published yesterday, but I forgot about it. Clearly, my reliability hasn’t improved in my absence.

I quite enjoyed this one even though it did take me several sessions. I didn’t know 15a, but having looked her up, I rather like the clever way that the wordplay backs up the definition. It gets my COD. I also had no idea that a calculus could be a kidney stone. I read maths at university so there’s only one type of calculus that I’m familiar with.

Well done to crypticsue for noticing the nina that I missed – four of the down clues (symmetrically placed) mention the four card suits as part of longer phrases – IN THE PUDDING CLUB / DIAMOND WEDDING / CALL A SPADE A SPADE / CROSS ONES HEART – well spotted, Sue!

cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this

1 MOUNT + AI + NASH (John Nash, the 18th/19th century architect who planned much of central London
7 BAD + GEaR – to ‘ride’ someone being a colloquial term for ‘winding them up’ or badgering them
10 DAM + N
14 CHEVIOT = (THE + O + VIC)* – A breed of sheep
15 TARPEIA = sAbInE sPy + RAT all rev – Not someone I’d heard of, but I worked it out from the wordplay. She was a Roman commander’s daughter who allowed the besieging Sabines into Rome in exchange for the promise of gold, but they killed her instead. A neat use of the wordplay to reinforce the definition
16 TRIP + O (round) + bibLIcal
17 UNPRETENTIOUS = (PRUNE)* + TENT + IOUS
18 ORANGEADE = RANGE (catalogue) + AD all in OE
19 SKATE – dd
21 UNDER-STUDY
23 JA(LOP)Y
25 C + ON + CLU(D)E
26 DEGENERATENESS = NET in (S + SEA) + RENEGED all rev
29 AND + IRON
30 ROLE MODEL = (E + DOME) rev in ROLL
31 SYRIA = S + AIRY rev
32 DENSE = (NEEDS)*
34 CE’S + StATION
37 SE(R + VAN)T
39 A HANDFUL OF DUST = (FOUND FAULT + DASH)* – I’ve heard of the novel, and the film adaptation, but I didn’t know it was by Evelyn Waugh.
41 PASTICHE – hidden
43 OBTUSE = hOB + T + USE (value)
44 DEPENDENCE = (NEED PC NEED)*
45 SH(IR)E
48 THEREWITH = THREW (pitched) + IT (appeal) + H all about Employer
49 LETTERS PATENT = SPA in (LETTER + TENT)
51 PROJECT = Cantilever in (PRO + JET)
52 AGA SAGA = (A GAS) + (A GAs)
53 A + BREakfAST
54 S + PEW
55 GOA TEE – That’s West Indian, as in Western India, not the Caribbean.
56 KIDNEY STONE = (ID + N) in KEYSTONE – Not a meaning of Calculus I’ve come across before, but the wordplay and checkers left little doubt.
Down
1 MOCK-UPS = M + (UK COPS)*
2 UNEXPLAINED = DENIAL + P + XENU all rev – I’d never heard of the supposed alien dictator at the heart of Scientology, but the rest was clear enough.
3 TRIBE = TRIEs about B
4 IN THE PUDDING CLUB – cd
5 APTITUDE = (AT TIED-UP)*
6 HARBOUR SEAL = ARBOURS (retreats with trees) in HEAL (to restore)
7 B + LESS
8 DIAMOND WEDDING – cd
9 ENTRAP = RAP after ENT
11 A + VOCAl + DOPE + A + R
12 NAIVETY = NAY (No, old-style) about (I + VET)
13 DISGRACE = S in DIG + RACE
20 ENLARGE = rev hidden
22 THERM = TERM about Heat
24 CALL A SPADE A SPADE = CALLAS (Maria, soprano) + PAD (flat) + (PAD in EASE)
25 C(LAUD)IA
27 SE(A)TTLE
28 CROSS ONE’S HEART = CROSS + O + (SHEAR in NET)
31 STRATUS = STARTS (jumps) rev about Under
33 NEAR THE BONE = EARTH in BEN rev + ONE
35 ADDLE = “AD’LL”
36 IN SIDETRACK
38 ARCHIPELAGO = ARAGOn about CHIP (circuit) + EL (in Balearics, the)
40 DISH + EVE + L
42 ON DEMAND = NAMED + NO all rev + D
43 OCTOPUS = (COP’S OUT)*
46 ENTITLE = TIT in hENLEy
47 BI(ST)RO
49 LE(AS)E
50 ACRES = C in ARES (Greek God of war)

3 comments on “Times Jumbo 1095 (7 Jun 2014)”

  1. Apparently this one took me an hour to solve. I am also delighted to report that I spotted the Nina (my New Year’s Resolution being to try to do so) – DIAMOND CLUB SPADE and HEART all appear in the Down solutions. Thanks for the review.
  2. 56 mins for this one, and I was happy with my time because I thought it was a tricky puzzle. TARPEIA was solved from the wordplay and GOATEE was my LOI.
  3. I’m comforted to see that my LOI was also Andy’s. I also took heaps of time to get 50d, and 15ac, which it turns out I didn’t know; I had Porsena in the back of my mind.DNK IN THE PUDDING CLUB either, or, I’m happy to say, the Scientology thing.

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