Jumbo 1185 (New Year’s Day)

Author   mohn2Posted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
I thought this one was of about average difficulty, with nothing so devious as to cause much trouble even to those who may have overindulged the previous evening. An interesting mix of clues, though, from Dickens to al fresco bodybuilding.

Solving time: 20m 14s

* = anagram, dd = double definition, {} = omission

Across
1 ROBOTIC – ROB (Steal from) + OT (books) + I + C (chapter)
5 PSALMIST – S (introduction to sing) in PAL (intimate) + MIST (film)
9 BAFFLE – reversal of ELF (Goblin) + FAB (wizard, as an adjective)
13 CHRISTMAS PRESENT – CENT (Money) around (TRASH + MISERS)* with P inserted. Interestingly, not in Chambers.
14 SPIRIT – dd
16 RAINDROP – IN + D{aka}R (outskirts of Dakar) + O, all inside RAP (tap)
17 BALL – dd
18 ASTRAKHAN – A + STRAN{d} (short thread), around A + K{id} (kid’s head) + H
20 KIRIBATI – K + I + RIB (make fun of) + AT + I (first in impressive), for the island nation in the Central Pacific
21 BANANA SPLIT – BANANAS (off one’s trolley), + L inside PIT (hole)
24 CHILE PINE – PILE* (anagrind is “high”) inside CHINE (ravine). The online enumeration was incorrectly given as (4,5). Also known as the monkey puzzle or Araucaria.
25 STAND PAT – T (close to agreement) + AND (also), inside SPAT (petty quarrel)
26 EVIL – reversal of LIVE (as it happens)
29 FASHIONISTA – ASH (dust) + ION (particle) + IS, all inside FT (paper) + A (article)
31 HARVEST MOON – (OVER A MONTH)* around S (beginning of September), with the definition a part of the surface reading and a reference to the harvest moon being the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox (22nd or 23rd of September)
33 IMMORTALISE – MEMORIALIST*
36 BITTER LEMON – BITTER (severe) + LEMON (disappointment)
38 GREY – initial letters of Gallop, Really Exceptional Yearling
39 MONSTERA – MON (Start of the week) + ST (way) + ERA (time), the plant genus whose possibly most famous manifestation is more commonly known as the Swiss Cheese plant. I didn’t know this when it came up in the main cryptic a few months ago but it stuck in my brain.
41 BILL SIKES – ILLS (misfortunes) inside BIKES (those chained and sat upon – cryptic definition). In this case “Dickensian” is a noun and the answer is a character in Oliver Twist.
44 COMPORTMENT – PORT (left side) inside COMMENT (criticism)
45 CANISTER – IS inside CANTER (a pace of a horse)
48 UNDAUNTED – hidden inside moribUND, AUNT EDith
49 OPUS – last letters of tO keeP yoU joylesS
50 ESURIENT – E (European) + SENT (despatched), around initial letters of Upmarket Restaurant – Indian. A word I’ve only ever seen in crosswords.
52 PRESTO – PRESTO{n} (port, docked)
53 BRIGHTON PAVILION – (NORTH BOLIVIAN PIG)* Amusing surface.
54 TASTER – TATER (spud) around (sandwiches) S
55 UP IN ARMS – dd, the second literal
56 DITTANY – DITTY (Little air) around AN. I dimly remembered this.
Down
1 RECORD – dd
2 BARKIS – BIS (once more, musically) around ARK (ship), referring to the David Copperfield character Mr Barkis, whose most famous quote is “Barkis is willing”
3 TEST DRIVE – TEST (international) + DRIVE (shot)
4 COMPOSITION – I inside COMPOST (rotter) + IN around (captivating) O (love), definition “story, perhaps?”
5 PASS – dd, the first perhaps most often encountered in Mastermind
6 ADRIATIC SEA – A + (RED ASIATIC)*
7 MUSCLE BEACH – homophone of MUSSEL (marine life) + BEECH (tree), the definition a reference to a famous outdoor physical fitness location in the Venice neighbourhood of Los Angeles (though this isn’t the original Muscle Beach).
8 SUNTANNED – N{o}T (not disheartened) + ANNE (girl), inside SUD (the South of France, i.e. the French word for “south”)
10 APPLAUSE – APPLE (Fruit) around AU (golden) + S (pips ultimately), definition “round, perhaps?”
11 FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE – (VOTE FOR HIM OK FEEL)*. Collins: “British informal Used to accompany an exasperated request or to express dismay”.
12 EXTINCT – EX (Partner no longer) + T + IN + CT
15 STONE-AGE – SAGE (wise man) around TONE (character)
19 WATER-SKI – WATERS (Muddy, perhaps, i.e. the blues musician) + K (lowest part of bank) + I
22 SCOFFING – dd
23 MIDSUMMER MADNESS – 2000 is MM, which is the middle of the word “summer”, giving us MIDSUMMER, + MA‘S (mum’s) about a reversal of SEND (dispatch), definition ” Excess in June”
27 LENINIST – reversal of NINE (cardinal), in LIST (file), definition “Red”
28 ET AL – reversal of LATE (having departed)
30 IN RE – hidden in LatIN REsults
32 RATSBANE – ANTBEARS*
34 APOSTATE – A + PO (river) + STATE (land)
35 ELECTRON GUN – (ENCOUNTER LEG – E)*, definition “Beamer” and a cricketing surface
36 BEAN COUNTER – BEAN (Head) + COUNTER (opposing)
37 ELLIS ISLAND – reversal of SILL (border) inside ALIENS* + D (heading for dirty)
40 SPEED TRAP – SPEED (Drug) + TRAP (mouth)
42 SPEARMINT – SPENT (used), around ARM (limb) + I (iodine)
43 COQUETTE – CO (Company) + QUEE{n} (man not entirely, with “man” used in the sense of a chess piece) around TT (sober)
44 CRUMPET – C + RUM (drink) + PET (cat, say)
46 REGINA – REG (A number of cars, i.e. registration) + IN + A, definition “Victoria?” – a reference to Queen Victoria
47 STINKY – TIN (Element) in SKY (the heavens), definition “high”
51 INNS – IN + N + S (opposite directions, i.e. north and south)

8 comments on “Jumbo 1185 (New Year’s Day)”

  1. I’ve never seen ESURIENT anywhere, including crosswords; but surely, Mohn, you’ve heard John Cleese use it to explain his desire for some cheese. DNK CHILE PINE, which I think was my LOI.
    1. I’ve hardly seen any Monty Python and that sketch had passed me by. I am tickled though by words that to me seem quite obscure, but which it turns out everyone else knows because of some aspect of culture that for whatever reason I’ve never really investigated (see also: Shakespeare, Georgette Heyer, and many others).
    2. Araucaria was the pseudonym of the Guardian setter John Galbraith Graham. He also set in the Financial Times as Cinephile, which is an anagram of Chile pine. I think that’s the only reason I knew of this name for the tree, though I would guess it’s more commonly known (at least in the UK) as the monkey puzzle.
  2. Mohn2 – thank you for the blog, sir. DNK Mr. Barkis and could not parse Midsummer Madness.

    I can’t find the blog for the Jumbo of 28/12. I only have one question – would someone mind?

    12 d Ingenious beam supported at one end against failing (5) CLEVER
    I just don’t understand the cryptic.

    Many thanks in advance.

    1. C(anti)LEVER
      against = anti failing ie removed from cantilever, a beam supported at one end. Def: ingenious
  3. Memories of this crossword lost amongst the amazing barrage of jumbos around Christmas.. though I do remember failing *yet again* to appreciate in reasonable time that any chess piece = man.

    Really this has been an exceptional winter crossword season, absolute flocks of them and no turkeys!

  4. One error at 2d, wrote BERTIE which I should have got as ‘bis’ has appeared here before. (Ong’ara, Nairobi )
  5. Happy New Year, and good evening from Huntley, Illinois.
    I’m winding down this uneventful day by watching the AKC National Championship Dog Show on Aminal Planet tonight. ☹ I <3 concluding the first night of the new year watching dogs please a giant audience. Unfortunately, it does make me somewhat sad because I don’t have a dog with me. Yes, I do have a dog; however, he’s at home in Woodstock, Illinois with my parents.
    I do get to see him quite often, though—that is, if the weather cooperates with no snow or bitterly cold temperatures that would ultimately prevent my mom from bringing him to have a visit with me and my friends. I <3 watching dog shows because it makes me think of all the amazing tricks my dog knows how to do, since he’s training to be a certified therapy dog.

Comments are closed.