Jumbo 1046 – July 27th

I reckon this may be my quickest Jumbo to date, as almost all the clues went in on first read or thereabouts. There was nothing bad about the cluing, it just seemed quite clear cut, and where there was harder wordplay, the definition stuck out to lend a hand. I slowed briefly with the last couple, being 8 and 15, however this was only slight. Thumbs up to 25A as a great surface/wordplay combination. As an aside, I am trying to cut down on the time it takes to blog a Jumbo, so have stopped parsing every last bit of the wordplay where it seems obvious. I dont think this detracts from the information flow, and if it does, feel free to ask!

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Across
1	QUARTET – ART inside (ban)QUET
5	SUSTAINED – US inside STAINED. Fed the verb is misled by capitalisation
10	POND – PD = paid, outside ON = working
14	IN-LINE SKATING – INK around LINES then (GIANT)*
15	GIRONDIST – GIST around IRON, D
16	ENTERPRISE – ENTER = compete in, PRISE = lever. Another misleading capital.
17	TO THE LETTER – (HEEL,T)* inside TOTTER. a nice change from the landlord style clue for this answer!
18	INEPT – (f)I(a)N(c)E then PT = part
19	TOILET SOAP – TOI = work almost, LETS = allows, OAP = pensioner. I guess the “almost” could work for either TOIL or LETS, although it normally refers to the last letter being dropped, not the first.
21	HURDLE – HURLED = chucked
23	CONFIGURE – (EU FORCING)*
25	STASI – ST = street, AS = since, I(ndexing). Definition is “force behind wall” – very nice lift and separate for Wall St.
26	OVERHIT – H = hard, I = one, in OVERT
28	TEAR OFF A STRIP – double def
31	HOMICIDAL – HOM(e), I CID, AL = Capone, say.
33	RAINSTORM – RA (sun god) IN STOR(e), M
35	SELF PORTRAITS – (STARTS PROFILE)*
37	RESOLVE – double def
38	MEDIC – I/C , after ME = 1st person, D = died
40	OBTRUDING – (BIT GROUND)*
42	DEBRIS – (i)RIS, after BED reversed
44	UNBECOMING – double def
46	SUCRE – got this from definition alone (fairly easily) but took an age to figure out the wordplay when typing this. Hats off to the complexity! (ECUADORS)* = (SUCRE, ADO)* !!
48	QUARRELSOME – (MOSQUE)* around (b)ARREL. Def is “up for scrap”
50	SHIN GUARDS – cryptic def
52	ANTIPASTO – A N TIP, AS TO = regarding.
53	POETIC LICENCE – cryptic def. I assume in competition, the penultimate letter could either be a C or an S, as I am unsure as to whether one or the other is “more correct”.
54	EARL – (p)EARL(y)
55	ARISTOTLE – ARISTO, T(a)LE
56	RUSSELL – sounds like RUSTLE

Down
1	QUIP – QUI(t), P
2	ATLANTEAN – A,T, LEAN outside ANT
3	TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – nice concise clue for such a long answer, TINKER = potter, TAILOR = specialise, SOLDIER = private, SPY = agent. Def is slightly cryptically “novel career choice”
4	TOSSPOT – TOPS SOT in reverse
5	STABILISERS – (BRALESS IT IS)*
6	SPINELESS – cryptic def, slightly odd in my eyes – not sure what the surface was.
7	ANGST – hidden in (pyongy)ANGS T(hrongs)
8	NIGHTMARISH – I inside NIGHT MARSH. NIGHT sounds like KNIGHT, hence “Sir, said”. MARSH = SLOUGH.
9	DARKEN – DAR(e), KEN
11	OMITTED – O, MITT, ED
12	DETERGENT – DETER GENT = put honourable man off.
13	IN REDUCED CIRCUMSTANCES – double def
18	INCITER – IN = popular, CITER = quotation provider
20	SCALPEL – SCALP, (he)EL
22	TOMMY ROT – YR inside TOM, MOT, = rise and fall of Ministry of Transport.
24	UNFROZEN – (RUN OF)* , ZEN
27	HADJI – HAD = enjoyed, JI(b) = short sail
29	ADIOS – I inside ADO, S
30	RESIDUE – RESI(t) , DUE
32	LASAGNE – SAG inside LANE
34	MEMENTO MORI – M, (NO MORE TIME)*
36	PROHIBITIVE – PRO HIVE, outside I BIT
37	RED SQUARE – RED = communist, SQUARE = conventional
39	CROWS NEST – cryptic def
41	INCIDENCE – IN (musi)C I’D (f)ENCE. whole is “frequency”
43	BOASTER – (AT SOBER)*
45	GIGGLER – GIG, G, L/R = both hands, outside E = note.
47	PLASMA – (AS LAMP)*
49	EXPAT – double def
51	BELL – BE = live, L,L = lines