Jumbo 714 – Herod, Henry and George

Author   petebiddlecombePosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Original copy lost, so I solved this again. I think it took me the usual 15-20 minutes for an easyish jumbo. Just explaining what I think are the toughest few clues here – ask in comments if you need any others explained.

Across
18 UNEASY – ref. “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”, somewhere in Shakespeare, he writes from memory. Google says: Henry IV Part 2, Act III, Scene I, Line 31
25 SMITTEN – TIM = man in NETS, all reversed
48 ENRICH – clue: Decorate Caruso, losing love for husband.
In the week of Pavarotti’s death, the papers may have reminded you that Caruso = Enrico (the star tenor of his day). O=love, replaced by H=husband.
58 EX=Exodus,C(ELLEN)C,Y – mostly clever construction, but “Exodus” is clued by that bête noire of mine, “good book” for part of the Bible rather than the whole thing. For the umpteenth time: this simply does not work unless someone can find an example of one of those people who talk about the “good book” (Dot Cotton?) using it in this way. Just goes to show how much influence xwd bloggers have …
 
Down
2 INST(ITUTION)AL – teaching = TUITION, and the “I promoted” tells you to move one of its I’s upwards.
4 CO(LONE)L,INCH,I(E)F – wasn’t sure about lone=uninhabited – it turns out to be in Chambers, though not my editions of Collins or COD.
8 KINEMATICS = (sack in time)*
30 G.R. = ‘one of six kings’,(h)UNTERS – One of six Kings could be Henry too.
42 BET HE’S D.A.
44 ANTIPA(s),THY – Know your Herods: the slaughter of the innocents Herod (“Herod the King, in his raging …”) was Herod the Great. The one who gave Salome John the Baptist’s head on a platter was Herod Antipas, his son – hence ‘second Herod’. And when ‘third Herod’ gets used, that’s probably H Agrippa (son of H Antipas). But that’s not the full set – see the Catholic Encyclopedia for two more Herods.

4 comments on “Jumbo 714 – Herod, Henry and George”

  1. Thanks for the 44D explanation. I had the right answer but would never have guessed why.

    I also had queries against:

    20A – AMPERAGE? I’m ok with the definition and “wise man” = MAGE, but where does PER come from? “Revealed”? I can’t justify it.

    50D – CHIC? “Stylish companion”, fine, but how does IC = “having complete comntrol”? IC = In control????

    1. 20A: Clue: “Current strength a wise man revealed by being contained” A = A, wise man = MAGE, and … by = PER. Also watch out for a=PER as in “a mile a minute”.

      50A: nearly right: i/c = “in charge of” (also “in command” in the Concise Oxford, which seems to fit better)

      1. Thanks. I thought of “by” = “per” but was puzzling over “revealed”. I suppose that’s just part of the surface?

        I look forward to reading your comments on Jumbo 717 eventually which seems to have some dodgy things going on with “semi” in two clues so far. I haven’t completed it yet.

        1. I think ‘revealed’ is supposed to mean ‘shown in the grid’. Times cryptics use stuff like this occasionally to help the surface meanings. In this case, my reading is that ‘A MAGE’ is ‘revealed’, with PER being contained in it.

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