Jumbo 1096 – Saturday 14th June

Posted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Nice easy solve this one, did not know the ESPRIT in 54A, but the letters were there from the anagram. May well have struggled with 36D, had the same clue not come up recently, as it may be considered a bit obscure.

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Across
1 KILIMANJARO – KILO, outside of I MAN, JAR. Whole is just “Peak”
7 TRANSFORMER – TRA(i)NS, FORMER=old.
13 CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH – CLEAN=simply, L=line, inside BILL OF HEATH (Prime Minister)
14 CAKED – double def, with the slightly cryptic SPONGED=made of sponge=like a cake, nicely doubling up for the surface read.
15 SISKIN – IS reversed, then SKIN = the largest organ
16 POSITRON – POSIT = put forward, then NOR, reversed
17 ORINOCO – OR=gold, then (COIN)*, then O=nothing
19 ATTENTION – double def
21 HANDSOME – If you don’t give it all away, you “HAND SOME”
23 BETA – BET=risk money, A=answer
25 TRENT – TREN(d), (wes)T
27 PRECIS – Russia became the Commonwealth of Independent States, so it could be described as Pre C.I.S.
28 GRAND OPERA – GRAN=relative, DOPE=fool, R=runs, A
30 DRIFTERS – double def
31 CHRISTOPHER FRY – Kit=christopher, Fry=cook
34 TAKING DOWN A PEG – A peg is a word for a small alcoholic drink
35 CRITICAL – CRITIC = reviewer, L=left, around A=article
38 MAINSPRING – MAIN=sea, and SPRING=well are both sources of water
40 MAKE DO – double def
41 CARGO – CAR=vehicle, GO=journey, whole is “hold contents”
43 SIKH – sounds like SEEK = go after
44 ECHELONS – (onesel)* around CH=church
45 COALFIELD – IF reversed, inside ALE, all inside COLD
48 QUARTAN – AN(y) after QUART
49 SEASONED – hidden in (moro)SE AS ONE D(oes)
50 ORACLE – O=old, RACE=people, around L=pounds
53 AZERI – A1 = main road, around ZER(o) = almost nothing
54 ESPRIT DE LESCALIER – (peter sellers, i acid)* – literally the “wit of the stairs” used to describe the coming upon a witty riposte when it is too late to use it
55 EAST GERMANY – EASTER, MANY, around G
56 RESPECTABLE – RE:SPECTACLE, with one change being C to B

Down
1 KICK-STARTED – one of those hard to classify clues, not really a cryptic definition, more a straight def with a qualifying rider slightly tongue in cheek.
2 LEEDS – D=died inside LEES=dregs for the city that seems to crop up almost once a month in a cryptic somewhere!
3 MANSION – MAN’S IN=at home around O
4 NAIL – NIL=love, around A=article
5 ALL ROUNDER – tongue in cheek cryptic def
6 OFF WITH HIS HEAD – Queen Elizabeth beheaded the Earl of Essex, and the Queen of Hearts in Alice and Wonderland wished the same of most people.
7 THE BRONX – HEBRON, then X=vote, all after T=time
8 ALL IN – (f)ALLIN(g)
9 SCHOOLMAN – (has monocl)*
10 ORCHID – OR=men, CHID=rebuked
11 MAKE ONESELF SCARCE – double def
12 RADIO GALAXY – RADIO= BBC, perhaps, XY = axes, holding GALA=festival
18 SIMPERED – SIMP(l)E = like Simon, not left. RED=embarrassed
20 THE PICKWICK PAPERS – PICK=choose, WICK=something to burn, inside THE PAPERS=whats printed each day
22 SPRITE – P(laced) R(ink) inside SITE
24 DOMESTIC – DOME=head, STIC(k)= a lot of physical force
26 TITANESS – AT IT, reversed, then NESS = head
29 NINE DAYS WONDER – (daisy renowned n)*
32 PERSONAL – RE, reversed, SON, inside PAL
33 TWINGE – TINGE=suspicion, around W=with
34 TIMES SQUARE – this crossword grid is a square in the Times.
36 LLOYD GEORGE – from the song “Lloyd George knew my father”
37 SEYCHELLES – sounds like SAY SHELLS
39 RACONTEUR – (race to run)*
42 MORALITY – MOR(t)ALITY
46 FAR EAST – FARE=manage, AS=when, T=temperature (minimally)
47 STRING – R=run, in STING=sharp pain
49 SEPIA – (pea is)*
51 CLIMB – C(lean) LIMB=part of body
52 ISLE – (a)ISLE

5 comments on “Jumbo 1096 – Saturday 14th June”

  1. My sheet says ‘easier than the Times ‘ordinary’ crossword’. The Jumbo only took me 25 mins to solve which means it must have been extra easy.

    Thanks for the blog.

  2. I found this pretty straightforward too, but I slowed myself down a lot at the end by putting in TREND at 25ac, which was careless and made 26dn challenging.
    I didn’t have a clue about the song but it wasn’t really necessary.
  3. I think I was a little tired when I did this one because I forgot to time it, and my notes only say that it took me under an hour. ESPRIT DE L’ESCALIER was unknown, my LOI, and I definitely needed all the checkers to work it out.
  4. I’m struggling with OR=MEN in 10 down – I’m sure it’s obvious but I would appreciate it if someone could help me with how you get OR from MEN ?
    1. It’s one of those staple crossword bricks which you just learn as fact, along with RE, ME, RA etc etc. I believe it stands for “Other Ranks”, but is synonymous with soldiers, hence men.

      Other similar use covers the navy – OS, RM etc, and even police, detectives etc etc

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