Jumbo 1271

Author   PenfoldPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic

I’m going to try and schedule this blog to appear automatically on Saturday morning as I’ve got to be up early to catch a train.  When Mrs Penfold asked me if I wanted to go to London to see a Dell I thought she was going to buy me a new laptop, but it appears we’re off to a concert at Wemberley.

I thought this was going to be another low to mid-difficulty puzzle as the top half went in fairly easily, but I got horribly bogged down at the bottom and eventually finished after an hour spread over two sessions.  Maybe it was too much wine on Fathers’ Day that caused the problem.  I’ve only commented on clues I thought warranted comment: do ask if you need enlightenment on one of my omissions.

First in was RULER, last was TWEEDIEST


Across

1
POSTMAN’S KNOCK – POST MAN’S KNOCK.  Is this peculiarly British?  I forget the rules but I think it involves kissing.

8
NEW GUINEA – (agenuine)* around W with “bum” as the anagrind

15
ROMANOV – ROMAN OV{id}

16
NOMENCLATURE – T(he) U(niversity) in NO MEN CLARE

17
SOOTHSAYER – SAY in SO OTHER.  Nice clue construction.

18
INNATE – INN ATE

19 
EXAMINER – EX A MINER

24
GREENFINCH – E’EN F(unds) in GRINCH.  I didn’t know grinches existed outside the world of Dr Seuss.

30
PARTISAN – P(ottery) ARTISAN

31
FALLIBLE – ILL reversed in FABLE

34 
NITRATES – IN reversed then (atrest)*

35
RELEVANT – R.E. LEVANT.  A new one on me – levant means to bolt or abscond, especially to avoid paying debts.

36
MINT – DD

39
CIRCUIT BOARD – C + I + (idoubtcar)

40
FLASHLIGHT – LASH in FLIGHT.  The definition, A SHINER, was nicely woven into the surface reading.

43
AFLOAT – O in A FLAT 

44
TOMMYROT – TOMMY (private as in British soldier) + ROT{a}

45
ASPIRE – (bisho)P in A SIRE with father being a verb in the cryptic reading

49
PETIT FOURS – (utterfopsi)*. Cue debate about whether, if you’ve got more than one of them, you have petits fours, petit fours or even petits four.

53
GAGARIN – A RIN{g} after GAG

54
BASILICAN – SILICA in BAN with “from a church” being the definition

55
IN USE – I.E. around SUN reversed

48
EXTIRPATE – (atextripe)* for a not particularly common word meaning to uproot, remove or destroy completely


Down

1
PARENTING – PARTING around (th)E (childre)N

2
SOLOMON – SOLO MON(day)

3
MARINATING – M.A. then IN in RATING

4
NESTLE – last letters of ON THE GLORIOUS etc. The Backs is a picturesque area to the east of Queen’s Road in the city of Cambridge, England, where several colleges of the University of Cambridge back on to the River Cam, their grounds covering both banks of the river.

5
KNOW THE SCORE – DD

6
OUTBREAK – OUT + BREAK

8
NARCOLEPSY – (slee)P in (yarnclose)* 

9
WARMTH – WAR + first letters (starts) of MACHINE THAT HARDLY

10
UNMISTAKABLE – (abankmustlie)*

12
ADVERTISEMENT – AD appears in both LOADING and UNLOADING

20
ISOLATED – AT (avenu)E in I SOLD

22
DRIBBLING – BIRD reversed + BLING

23
NIPPIEST – P (piano = soft) + PIES in NIT

25
ELECTORAL – anagram of TO RECALL (candidat)E

27
ROAD-TEST – A in ROD then TEST (match)

28
SIDE DRUM – SIDE D(rive) RUM

29
PINK CHAMPAGNE – PINK CHAMP then N(ational) in AGE

32
MANUFACTURER – MATURER around A in NUFC.  NUFC = Newcastle United Football Club whose nickname is the magpies. 

33
BALLET DANCER – BALANCER around LET D(aughter)

37
HONOURABLE – (labour)* in HONE

38
CLASSIFIER – LASSI F(ish) in (rice)*

41
TWEEDIEST – I think this caught out a few biffers who went for TRENDIEST but that doesn’t parse as it’s DIES in TWEET

42
FRUITLET – FRET around {s}UIT (carouse)L.  A fruitlet is an immature or small fruit.

46
INTRUDE – {p}INT RUDE

47
CORNEA – CORN EA(ch)

48
OPEN UP – PEN(itentiary) in O.U.P.

50
TIGHT – DD I think on the basis that tight can mean both snug and drunk but I’m not sure what “where’ll” is doing.

52
AS IF – hidden

 

17 comments on “Jumbo 1271”

          1. I had to look up ‘whoosh moment’, and I guess you’re right; it was intended facetiously, anyway. I think this is where I should insert an emoji or whatever, but I don’t do those.
  2. Evidently POSTMAN’S KNOCK is the UK version of US ‘Post Office’, and it does involve kissing. I didn’t know this at the time, but with checkers and def it seemed like the best bet. DNK SIDE DRUM, but no problem. And of course hadn’t the vaguest idea of what the Magpies were doing. I wondered about ‘where’ll’; I wonder if it’s a typo for ‘where I’ll’? A snug is a room in a pub, according to my dictionary. COD to RELEVANT (but then I knew the word).
  3. Thanks Jack, I just realised I’d forgotten to add the title and came here to fix that.
  4. This took me half an hour, which counts as moderate for me.
    In French it’s undoubtedly PETITS FOURS, but in English it’s whatever people use. Collins (the only one to specify) gives both, and a quick google suggests that both are in use.
    Enjoy the gig, penfold. It gives me an excuse to share a terrible joke, which is always welcome.
    Why did Adele cross the road?
    To say hello from the other side.
    1. Gig cancelled- she’s damaged her vocal chords from all that swearing.
      1. Oh dear. I know she’s had a lot of trouble with her vocal chords, and I remember reading that she was going to have to give up live performance altogether. I’m supposed to be seeing Jonas Kaufmann in Otello in a couple of weeks and he’s had the same problem so I’m at least half expecting the same thing.
  5. I struggled with this for just over 2 hours, although I may have taken breaks, but finished up with TRENDIEST instead of TWEEDIEST. Hard work! Thanks setter and Penfold. Sorry to hear your concert’s been cancelled. I turned the TV on when I woke up and saw that news.
  6. This was this mornings head-line news in Shanghai! Poor Mrs. Penfold and you! – I sincerely hope that Adele does perform again and that you get tickets.

    horryd- Shanghai

  7. Not a difficult jumbo.LOI FRUITLET.Please explain 21a,which l have as GANDHI.l know GH is ‘tip’ of Galbraith,but the rest l can’t parse.
    Ong’ara,
    Nairobi,
    Kenya.
  9. What’s happened to 51ac? 50d – a snug is a cosy part of a bar in which to enjoy a drink (and in the old days a smoke).

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