Over the last few months the Saturday Jumbos having been absolute crackers and this was no exception. I can heartily recommend them to anyone who hasn’t really given them a good go. They take a good bit longer than the dailies but are well worth the investment. There was plenty of trickiness here and very few gimmes, which led to a total time of 1hr 13m (my first ever single-sitting Jumbo solve). On writing this blog I realised there were one or two clues which I thought were a bit dodgy, but hey, who cares? Due to having nothing better to do with my time, I’ve done all the clues again, reproduced the clues and highlighted the definitions
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | TH(WACK)ING – WACK being an informal greeting in Liverpool “All right Wack, ‘ow’s it goin’ lah?” |
| Article about Scouser’s mate striking (9) | |
| 6 | SAPID being DIP AS rev |
| Pleasant to swim when doing backstroke (5) | |
| 9 | CHIPPER – double def, ‘Chips’ being the proper word for french fries, often confused with crisps in America |
| Cheerful employee in fast-food joint (7) | |
| 13 | EX TRA[-it] |
| Minor actor in old feature – it has been withdrawn (5) | |
| 14 | SEVERAL – well hidden |
| Some participants in Christmas Eve rally (7) | |
| 15 | G(ROUNDS)EL – suggesting “GEL” is the plummy English way of pronouncing “GIRL”. A really easy weed to grow. Belongs to the botanic family Asteraceae so I suppose Daisy is just about acceptable |
| Daisy, posh girl nibbling sandwiches (9) | |
| 16 | ALESSANDRIA – (ASIAN LEAD[-e]RS)* |
| Asian leaders (but only one European) assembled in Italian town (11) | |
| 17 | TROUSERLESS – double def, the “slacks” being trousers. I say ! |
| Slacks off so, like actors in farce sometimes (11) | |
| 18 | PEG OUT – I can only see a definition here – anyone help? Edit: Thanks to Tony Sever in comments who points out that a peg can be a short measure of, eg, whisky thus rendering the clue a passable &lit |
| Drop unconscious (3,3) | |
| 19 | NOT ARIES – arf arf |
| Legal experts born under one of eleven zodiac signs? (8) | |
| 21 | ENMITY – M1 in TYNE* |
| Antagonism as motorway is routed through Tyne development (6) | |
| 25 | SANCTION – double def |
| Confirm penalty (8) | |
| 26 | MICHAELMAS TERM – a terrible cryptic def. Lucy Cavendish is an unfamous college at Cambridge University, fall is autumn and Michaelmas is the name of the term running from Sept/Oct to Christmas in Cambridge (and Oxford). Utter pants! |
| Fall for Lucy Cavendish? (10,4) | |
| 28 | CON(T)E – I can’t find anything on the whole interweb that links ‘conte’ with ‘story’. The question mark suggests there may be something clever going on though. |
| Story’s thread initially apparent in regular shape? (5) | |
| 29 | ME RELY – an easy one at last |
| Just bank on me (6) | |
| 30 | WHOLESALER -(HOW A SELLER)* very nice |
| How a seller can become retailer of large quantities (10) | |
| 33 | AUSTE[-n] + R(L)ITZ – one of Napoleon’s wins |
| Nameless writer left sheltering in hotel in battle (10) | |
| 35 | FUN[-d] RUN |
| With financial reserve a bit short, organise event to raise money (3,3) | |
| 36 | PO(SE[-t])D – pod in this case being a school of dolphins, whales, porpoises or peas |
| Assumed set is wasting time in school (5) | |
| 38 | STATE OF AFFAIRS – double def, one whimsical |
| Situation in land noted for illicit relationships (5,2,7) | |
| 40 | COACHMEN being COMANCHE* |
| Wild Comanche riders (8) | |
| 42 | GEN TRY – very clever indeed, ‘dope’ being information and ‘crack’ being an attempt |
| Upper class types using dope and crack (6) | |
| 43 | [-c]LIMBER UP |
| Train mountaineer to ignore cold, heading for higher point (6,2) | |
| 44 | BE(A N 1)E |
| Hat, a new one worn by worker (6) | |
| 47 | A RC HIM E DEAN – the chap who supposedly shouted ‘Eureka!’ (or ‘ΕΥΡΗΚΑ!’ to be smart-arsed) when he discovered the principle that an object immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object |
| Like a man of principle, English cleric backs a Roman Catholic male (11) | |
| 50 | S(PACE F)LIGHT – nicely built up |
| Rate of progress fine in delicate journey to another planet? (5,6) | |
| 52 | SWIVEL GUN – a cannon on a stick |
| Weapon – a revolver? (6,3) | |
| 53 | LEAD OFF – suggesting ‘lead off’ could be a clue for DEAL |
| Initiate deal? (4,3) | |
| 54 | NORMA[-l] – another mention for Penfold’s mum. Norma is on Peter’s list of opera you need to know the name of. Now we also know it’s by Bellini |
| Line from conventional Bellini opera (5) | |
| 55 | PIKELET , being (LEEK)* in PIT[-ta]. Pikelet is a small fish that likes a bit of crumpet |
| Crumpet and cooked leek in bread? No ta (7) | |
| 56 | SCARF – being FRAC[-a]S rev. |
| Hoo-ha about mislaying a square of fabric (5) | |
| 57 | TORCHIERE being (HERETIC OR)*. It’s a tall lamp |
| Heretic or nonconformist see the light (9) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | TREFA being the first letters of ‘the rabbinate examine food ascertaining’. Pretty clever &lit. Trefa is food forbidden under Jewish law |
| Leaders of the rabbinate examine food, ascertaining it is so? (5) | |
| 2 | WITH EGG ON ONES FACE – I like a clue that makes me laugh |
| Looking ridiculous after carelessly consuming chocolate at Easter? (4,3,2,4,4) | |
| 3 | COAL SCUTTLE being C + (LAST TO CLUE)* ‘nuts’ was used in the same way earlier this week in the daily crossword |
| Compiler’s first and, bizarrely, last to clue a container for nuts (4,7) | |
| 4 | IN(SAN)E |
| Mental hospital situated in centre of Fontainebleau (6) | |
| 5 | G OVER N OR |
| Official, note, having control of new soldiers (8) | |
| 6 | SARS A PA RILL A, sars being severe acute respiratory syndrome |
| After nasty virus, old man jumps into a stream, wanting a drink (12) | |
| 7 | PILOT LIGHT |
| Indicator to airman seeking land (5,5) | |
| 8 | DOGGO – take no action = DO O with two ‘goods’ kept |
| Take no action, keeping goods hidden away (5) | |
| 9 | CROSS BEAM |
| See supporter smile with satisfaction after kick infield (5-4) | |
| 10 | [-s]IGNOR AMUSES |
| Topless Italian entertains dimwits (11) | |
| 11 | PA’S S(enil)E |
| Assistant’s extremely senile, no longer with it (5) | |
| 12 | RE L(unch) IS H |
| Sauce on top of lunch is hot (6) | |
| 18 | POST CHA(I)SE |
| After hunt, one’s carried in old coach (4-6) | |
| 20 | SHE P(HER)D, tender being one who tends |
| Tender female paid to accommodate another one (8) | |
| 22 | THE GLASS MENAGERIE – (ELGARS ENIGMA + THESE)* |
| Play Elgar’s Enigma variations with these (3,5,9) | |
| 23 | FOR MAL – read all about Malcolm Muggeridge here |
| Supporter of Mr Muggeridge was officially recognised (6) | |
| 24 | IMP(R)UDENCE |
| First hint of redness in cheek – is that rash? (10) | |
| 27 | GRATEFUL – more whimsicality |
| Appreciative, given such an adequate supply of coal? (8) | |
| 31 | LONDON – double def |
| Home of Cockney writer (6) | |
| 32 | QUARTERS TAFF |
| Pole lodging with Welshman (12) | |
| 34 | ELECT R(I C)EEL |
| Singled out item of angling equipment in which I caught fish (8,3) | |
| 36 | PACKED LUNCH – Lacked punch |
| Switching starters, went without alcoholic drink in meal at midday? (6,5) | |
| 37 | SALMONELLA being ONE in (SMALL)* + LA |
| Nasty bug I caught in unusually small US location (10) | |
| 39 | FLY WEIGHT – apparently some people believe that WEIGHT sounds like WAIT, but I don’t |
| Small, aggressive man causing delay at the airport it’s announced (9) | |
| 41 | PUT(A B)OUT |
| Annoyed about a book being made available (3,5) | |
| 45 | LAY SUP |
| Reserves were prone to drink (4,2) | |
| 46 | REEFER being REF E’ER rev |
| Judge always done up in close-fitting garment (6) | |
| 48 | CLINK – nice one, jug and clink being slang terms for the slammer |
| Sound made when hitting glass and jug (5) | |
| 49 | ERNES – contained in ‘prefer nesting’ – nice use of ‘boxes’ |
| Certain birds prefer nesting boxes (5) | |
| 51 | TRADE – E DART rev |
| Rise of European missile business (5) | |
I wasn’t too taken with “daisy” for GROUNDSEL, or with “Mr Muggeridge” for MAL (did anyone ever call him by the shortened form of his forename?), but otherwise didn’t have any objections – in particular I had no objection to MICHAELMAS TERM (just an old-fashioned Times clue, and entirely acceptable to this old-fashioned Times solver) or to WEIGHT sounding like WAIT (it certainly does in the world of crosswords).
I took 18A to be a rather loose & lit: drop = PEG (as in a “peg” of whisky); OUT = “unconscious”; PEG OUT = “drop unconscious”.
CONTE (28A) is defined in Chambers (2003) as “a short story (as a literary genre)”. Isn’t that OK – or have I misunderstood what you’re getting at? (I admit the question mark seems unnecessary – perhaps it was accidentally displaced from 18A?)