Inspired by Peter’s full blog of Jumbo 749, I thought I’d put myself through the same torture and explain every answer on this one. Well, “Britain’s Got Talent” has finished, the kids are in bed and my wife is watching a programme about a 73 stone American man, so I may as well. As a one off, and since the crossword is now almost two weeks old and we’ve all forgotten about it, I’ve also included the full clues as a reminder (in italics). Also, hopefully as an aid for beginners, I’ve emboldened the definition parts of most clues (Double defs have one in bold, cryptic defs have none). The crossword took just over an hour to complete, the write up considerably longer. It has to be said that I felt there were one or two hurried clues in the bottom half, but this was more than made up for in the rest.
Sorry to take up so much space, the stuff you’re looking for is way down there somewhere
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | GINGER TOM. Doesn’t quite work for me |
| No Spice Girl! | |
| 6 | CLAPPER – double def |
| One heartily greeting another? That rings a bell | |
| 10 | (o)NE PAL – china (plate) = mate in cockney rhyming slang |
| Only loveless China neighbour of Tibet | |
| 13 | FLATTER – another double def, one referencing the phrase “flatter to deceive” |
| Do so to deceive when all smoothed out? | |
| 14 | TOA(DIE)S(t) |
| Slimy amphibious types croak, in not entirely good health? | |
| 15 | PER(K)IL+(enem)Y |
| Sovereign in danger close to enemy, though with cheerful manner | |
| 16 | WHAT NEWS ON THE RIALTO? – (IN TWO HEARTS WHEN A LOT)*Some Shakespearean guff from The Merchant of Venice |
| In two hearts, when a lot wrong in play, bridge subject to this enquiry? | |
| 17 | E,GO – took much longer to get than it should to get this one |
| I travel by plane, ultimately | |
| 18 | AVA, TAR – before it was an image to help identify us on this blog, it was the ‘descent’ or incarnation of a divine being (deva) or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth in Hindu philosophy. Read all about it here |
| Sailor after Ms Gardner (heavenly body!) | |
| 20 | CORNET – yet another double def, one being an alternative word for an ice cream cone. |
| It’s blown, though its contents cold | |
| 21 | E,VERG(R)E,EN(d) |
| Not all shrubs are right in English border, and shortly die | |
| 23 | COMPLEX, I, ON |
| One getting on with difficult character | |
| 25 | RACE C(O)URSES |
| Here, bet people swearing, having pocketed nothing | |
| 29 | RAISE – anyone for double defs? |
| Lift from rear | |
| 30 | PHARMACY , being HARM in PACY |
| Medical establishment quick to bandage injury | |
| 31 | INTER POL(and) – if it isn’t a double def, it must be sport, this time football and Inter Milan. I don’t want to upset the Americans but it isn’t soccer, it’s football. The silly game that people in suits of armour play in the US has nothing to do with feet. |
| Team of Milanese country, and dropping as a world force | |
| 34 | BALL C(r)OCK – more sport, this time cricket. A bouncer is a ball which is pitched short so it bounces high. As far as I can see it’s an attempt to get the batsman out by killing him with a blow to the head. Who said cricket was boring? Other types of cricketing delivery include Googly and Yorker |
| One controls the flow of runs from man injured after bouncer, for example | |
| 36 | TEE, N(I)EST – I don’t know what the word “from” is doing here |
| From most insignificant place from which I drive, I entered home | |
| 37 | P(HOT)O – where would we be without the River Po? |
| Picture that’s steamy put in river | |
| 39 | APHRODISIAC – cryptic def. “a bit of the other” is a euphemism for “hanky panky” which is a euphemism for “a bit of how’s your father”. Superb clue |
| The other spur | |
| 41 | LEG SPINNER – two cricketing refs for the price of one, the whole answer and the use of ON for LEG. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin anti-clockwise at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left (as seen by the bowler) — that is, away from the leg side of a right-handed batsman. See, this cricket malarkey is easy! |
| Bowler on top | |
| 43 | GR(ASS, L)AND – August in this sense shouldn’t really have a capital A, but it doesn’t bother me at all |
| In August, equine beginning to like grazing here | |
| 45 | (f)UN WELL |
| Topping fun, very funny | |
| 47 | F(L)OR,A,(funera)L |
| Such tributes left to cut for a funeral, ultimately? | |
| 49 | (pen)NIL(ess) |
| Love when penniless only needing heart | |
| 50 | THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP – (HYPE SOLD OUT HISTORIC)* |
| Book given hype sold out – historic novel | |
| 52 | HIGH TEA – chestnut clue of the day award |
| Meal eaten up? | |
| 53 | W(HIT)ISH |
| Pretty snowy sensation in dream | |
| 54 | ARIZONA – being AN OZ I R A all reversed |
| An Australian island beginning to resemble a backward state | |
| 55 | MATCH – we haven’t had a double def for a long time |
| Suit and tie | |
| 56 | ENRAGED – being (ANGERED)* I think the setter must have been in a hurry |
| Angered, furiously! | |
| 57 | THIN K(TAN)K – where KK=2000. I’m not sure that TAN=LEATHER |
| Body of experts producing fine leather in two-thousand | |
| Down | |
| 1 | GIFT WRAP – took a long time to realise that this was just a cryptic definition. “With a good rip torn off” really looks like there’s some wordplay going on, but it just refers to how it’s removed from the prezzie. |
| Covering paper with a good rip torn off? | |
| 2 | tiNY A LArge. Again the clue was well disguised as wordplay when, in fact, it was a simple hidden word |
| Not completely tiny, a large antelope | |
| 3 | EATING APPLE – TIN,GAP in (A PEEL)* |
| Can hole through a peel put off its consumer? | |
| 4 | THROWN – double def |
| Parties are so confused | |
| 5 | METROPOLITAN – double def, one being a line on the London Underground and the other being the bishop of a metropolis |
| Line taken by senior bishop? | |
| 6 | CHASTEN – “king in the distant future” being CHAS TEN or Charles X. Marvellous! |
| Humble king of the distant future? | |
| 7 | ALIMENTARY CANAL – (MAINLY A LA CARTE N(osh))* &lit-ish |
| In which mainly a la carte nosh primarily processed? | |
| 8 | PE(STILE)NCE |
| Coppers guarding steps, evil force | |
| 9 | REPULSE – S(L)UPER reversed + E(nemy). HMS Repulse was apparently a battlecruiser. A “cracking” bit of wordplay ruined by a needlessly obscure definition |
| Battlecruiser cracking up, maintaining length ahead of enemy, initially | |
| 10 | NARROW GAUGE – I’m not sure if this works properly but I like it. It refers to both a thin line and narrow gauge railway |
| As such, it’s a fine line | |
| 11 | PR,ICELESS – I really like “manipulation of image”=PR |
| Wonderful manipulation of image, far from slippery? | |
| 12 | LAY DOWN |
| Amateur experiencing the blues record | |
| 19 | AS (l)OC(I)AL – “local” being the pub nearest your house. |
| When pub’s roof blown off I wrapped up, getting cold | |
| 22 | (I)VES PUCCI(ni) – not convinced that Charles Ives is well known enough to be given this treatment , but Puccini is. |
| Explorer beheading one noted chap and another, leaving Northern Ireland | |
| 24 | NUMBER CRUNCHING – very weak cryptic def |
| Process of chewing over data? | |
| 26 | CENOTAPH – (CAN’T HOPE)*. I like this clue a lot. |
| Can’t hope to replace those who fell on it | |
| 27 | S(ALL)OW – nice use of “meat pasty” to try to throw us off the scent |
| One-hundred per cent filling in source of meat pasty | |
| 28 | ARABIA – BAR reversed in A(s)IA |
| Peninsula where restriction’s lifted within continent, not having succeeded | |
| 32 | PI(ONE)ER |
| Launch – one ramming coastal feature | |
| 33 | TEN GALLON HAT – T(ENG,ALL,ON)HAT |
| American apparel that captivates English, every one worn | |
| 35 | CROSS STITCH – that’s the answer, what more can I say? |
| Short pain proving a bind | |
| 37 | PENALTY KICK – haven’t had a sporting clue for a long time. A cryptic def , “Good chance spotted?” . the ball is placed on the penalty spot and there’s a good chance there’ll be a goal |
| Good chance spotted? | |
| 38 | WINDFLOWER – snake being a verb in this case, although the windflower is poisonous. |
| Plant snake over river | |
| 40 | HEADLIGHT – giddy=light headed. |
| Given shiner, giddy? | |
| 42 | FLAP JACK – “to wave the flag” is clever |
| It’s sweet to wave the flag | |
| 43 | G(ill)INGHAM |
| Town in Kent binning bad material, checked | |
| 44 | AVER AGE – definitely in a hurry |
| Declare time is nothing special | |
| 46 | WOR(R IE)D |
| Promise to contain river that is far from calm | |
| 48 | KI(n)G (m)ALI – the largest city in Rwanda |
| Unnamed ruler over leaderless nation’s capital | |
| 51 | HOO(c)H,A |
| Bootleg liquor, ton missing, leading to a commotion | |
Great write-up Ken, and fully deserved by a puzzle which was tremendous fun to solve. The APHRODISIAC is one of those clues that will go down in the pantheon of the unforgettable, but this puzzle had it all; loads of inventive wordplay and huge variety in level of challenge. OK, a Jumbo is perhaps a daunting prospect for an inexperienced solver, but the inclusion of some give-away chestnuts was always going to serve as an encouragement to those who might have found surrounding clues a struggle.
A cracking puzzle all round, and this extensive blogging of it is essential reading for all who want to discover how cryptic clues are constructed.
Well done Mr Setter and well done Mr Penguin.
Here’s a quickish sample of Ives: the Variations on America, with some spectacular pedal work in the last couple of minutes from this velvet-clad organist, presumably filmed in about 1973.
Showing the clue underneath is a great idea, and goes some way to overcoming the time lag problem with the prize crosswords.
Paul S.