Jumbo 1126 – Saturday December 27th

Author   fathippy2Posted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
This was a jumbo of average difficulty which went in with few hold-ups. It struck me on reflection that it was perhaps slightly looser than the normal Times standard, which is neither a good nor bad thing, but does offer more variety. I assume that the Jumbos adhere to all the usual rules that the dailies do, but perhaps the editor has more flexibiliy to push the boundaries.
Across
1 A TALE OF A TUB – Answer clear from checkers, but I dont really know how this parses. There exists the Wife of Baths Tale, and “A tale of a Tub”, so it may just be the differentiation between Baths tale and his wifes. I hope there is a little more to it though.
7 STEADY STATE – STEADY=girlfriend, STATE=public=not private, whole is the theory
13 A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP – Hereford is a bull and Worcester can be china
14 THINE – THIN=inadequate, E=english. Def is “The reader’s (possessive) no longer” – suggesting an archaic word.
15 MOZART – OZ=Australia, inside MART=fair
16 SPADEFUL – (pals feud)*
17 ISRAELI – reverse hidden – (n)I (k)S(i)R (t)A (s)E(i)L(l)I(f), def is just “National” which provides good diversion within the surface reading.
19 LODGEMENT – GEM inside LO=watch, DENT=slight damage
21 BALMORAL – BALM=something soothing, ORAL=said
23 SNAG – NAG=horse, after (rancher)S
25 CAJUN – CA=about, JUN=thirty days of summer
27 TALK UP – TALK=spill beans, UP=over, whole is TOUT
28 DESERT BOOT – DESERT=maroon, B=black, TOO=unduly, reversed
30 SAKHAROV – (has, K, or a V)* where K is from K(urdish)
31 FOLLOW MY LEADER – MY=gracious, LEADER=editorial, after FOLLOW=track
34 COLLECTIVE NOUN – COLLECT=prayer, I’VE, O=love, in NUN=religious. Exaltation, for one, is the definition
35 FUNEBRAL – (burn leaf)*
38 GLASS FIBRE – (big far less)*
40 STRONG – RT=right, reversed inside SONG=air
41 STAIR – if you put STAIR between A&E you get Fred Astaire
43 ODDS – DS=policeman, after OD=overdose=take too much
44 PALOMINO – I inside ON, MO=second, LAP=circuit, all reversed
45 TOURNEDOS – Whole is just “CUT”, as in of meat. TOURNE(y) then DOS = functions. The risk here is to think TOURNAMENT, and write TOURNADOS, but usually shortening refers to a single letter off.
48 CHRONIC – CHRONIC(le)
49 LONGHORN – LONG=desperately want, HORN=cape. Lower is a crossword type hint for cattle, “one that lows”
50 APPEAR – PA=per annum=a year, reversed, then PEAR=conference, say
53 NOYAU – reverse hidden (ec)NO YAU(garap)
54 BOUNCEBACKABILITY – (cob I in black beauty)* – a word allegedly coined by Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie ?!?
55 I REST MY CASE – I, REST=remains, M(ainl)Y, CASE=patient
56 ANNIHILATOR – ANN=girl, I L=left, around HI=greeting, then ROTA=list, reversed

Down
1 ALARM CLOCKS – A LA R = in the style of Queen, MC=rapper, LOCKS=jams, whole is “rousing items”
2 ABUZZ – Whole is “humming”, this is a strange loose wordplay, B(irds) inside AUZZ = GAUZE, with ends removed and “stretched”. Not sure why the stretching only applies to the end and a single letter, but it gets the answer and I guess that is enough.
3 ENLARGE – (general)*
4 FANG – (injectio)N inside FAG=pain
5 TO CAP IT ALL – TO CAPITAL = London bound, L=learner driver
6 BOIS DE BOULOGNE – (doubles, oo, begin)*
7 SCAFFOLD – S,CAFF=cheap restaurant, OLD=familiar
8 ETHEL – ET=film, HEL(d)=briefly gripped
9 DUPLICATE – DUP=Irish party, LATE=into the small hours, around I,C. Whole is “match”
10 SATIRE – SAT=day, I, RE=engineers
11 ALICE IN WONDERLAND – ALICE=female, muse=WONDER, around IN=home, then LAND=win. Whole is just “Fabulous”
12 EVENING STAR – (in vast green)*
18 SEA TROUT – SEAT=place in parliament, ROUT=heavy defeat
20 DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE – cryptic def
22 ONE TWO – hidden in (n)O NETWO(rks)
24 ST HELENS – S, THE=article, LENS=glass
26 NEAR EAST – NEST=cosy home, AREA=quarter, inside
29 CLAUSTROPHOBIA – HO=house, in (subtropical)* then A
32 YOUNG GUN – double def
33 OVERDO – DO=note, after OVER=deliveries
34 COGNOSCENTI – CO=carbon monoxide=gas, then NO SCENT=lack of odour, inside GI=soldier
36 LORDS PRAYER – LORDS=house, PR=proportional representation=voting, AYE=yes, R=republicans
37 COSTA RICAN – COST=something quoted, A(f)RICAN=continental, not loudly
39 IRASCIBLY – reverse alternate letters – (d)I(a)R(f)A (h)S(a)C (d)I(h) B(u)L(c) Y(m)
42 PINNACLE – L, CAN=vessel, reversed inside PINE=tree.
46 NUPTIAL – LAIT(y)=people (nearly all), PUN=joke, all reversed
47 INSULT – (sunlit)*
49 LAURA – AURAL=hearing, with last letter to first
51 EVICT – E=European, VICT(or)=champion, without gold
52 NASH – N=name, ASH=tree

5 comments on “Jumbo 1126 – Saturday December 27th”

  1. I found this trickyish, but at least I managed to finish it without any stupid errors, which was uncharacteristic of my solving (particularly of Jumbos) over Christmas.
    In 1ac I suppose the idea is that a ‘wife of bath’ might have written a tale of a (bath) tub, but in this case didn’t.
    I like seeing (non-)words like BOUNCEBACKABILITY. I look forward to seeing ‘sticktoitness’ in the near future.

    Edited at 2015-01-12 07:43 am (UTC)

  2. Lots of DNKs on this one: 9d (I guessed ‘REP’, which didn’t help matters), 21ac (the hat), NOYAU, CHRONIC.31ac took some time because in the US it’s follow-the-leader. Somehow 1ac didn’t bother me, probably because I got it at once from the enumeration.
  3. There is no conceivable connection between the two works cited in 1ac, except for the words bath and tub.. so I think it is just intended as a jokey cd
    I have a bottle of noyau. It is about 20 years old and the bottle is nearly full, which is all you need to know about noyau.
  4. I agree with your comments about “pushing the boundaries”. The clues seem fair. But often, somehow, at the limits of difficulty/acceptability.

    32 down: Colt, maybe, full of energy (5,3)
    YOUNG GUN
    I do not see how this works as a double definition.
    I can see one definition: [a young boy], maybe, full of energy.
    But the other definition seems to be along the lines of: [a pistol], maybe, full of energy.
    The second one seems very awkward, even allowing that the rounds in the pistol may be “full of energy”.

    39 down: So cross regulars of my club hid cash, afraid to turn up (9)
    IRASCIBLY
    I do not see how “So cross” is a definition for IRASCIBLY.

    —
    Clive Tooth

    1. I think I probably agree with your comment on the first of these, but it is one where, once checkers are in place, there is no going back! Double def was the wrong description to use, more of a cryptic def with two concepts in play – young horse/gun. Unless I missed something clever, it doesnt quite hang together perfectly in the way that most “strict” clues do.

      I quite often moan at these sorts of clues where soft allusion is made to an idea on the pretext of being cryptic, and this is probably doing that in duplicate. An example of this might be for “Skeleton key”, where something like “Nobody’s way in” might be a good cryptic def, whereas “Way in, perhaps for bones” is clearly not (apologies for the hastily assembled crap examples)

      On the second one, my take on “so cross” would be to put a comma after “so”, in the sense of “thus” to imply the adverb. Hence “he acted irascibly”=”he acted thus, being cross”=”he acted so, cross”

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