Jumbo 783 (Nov 1st)

Solving time 25:05, which may be close to my PB for a Jumbo. I don’t get the time to solve them much these days, so normally only bother when it’s my turn to blog (about once every 5 weeks or so). I actually solved this last Saturday, after checking the calendar and realizing I’d missed it! 60 clues in all, so that works out at 25 seconds per clue, which is how I remember it – a steady solve. I didn’t get stuck on anything, but nor did I ever feel I was racing through it.

Across
1	RUTHLESS – LES (chap rather than “the French”) + S(on) after RUTH.
5	NAPLES – NAP + LES (the French – normal service resumed).
9	AMBLING – (g)AMBLING
14	FRESNEL LENS – S,N + ELL (45 inches), inside FREE N,S. A new one for me, a Fresnel lens is one used in lighthouse lamps.
15	MELLIFLUENT – (minuet l(ine) fell)*
16	GLASS – LASS after G(ood)
17	CATERER – CAT + ER twice. Asparagus is the full name of Gus: the Theatre Cat in T. S. Eliot’s poem.
18	MOUSETRAP – MO + USE + PART reversed. Although hard cheese might be used as bait in a mousetrap, it isn’t the trap itself!
19	ETESIAN – ETE (summer in Cannes, French été) + first letters of “Sight Is Always Nice”.
20	SNAKE IN THE GRASS – SNAKE = wind, GRASS = fog. Fog is grass that grows after the hay is cut, according to the BRB.
22	ON THE TILES – (let in those)*
23	FLEECE – FLEE + C(orvin)E.
25	TWIG – double definition, gum implying gum-tree.
28	PACKAGE HOLIDAY – PACK + AGE (get on) + HOLIDAY.
30	DENOUNCE – DEN + OUNCE
32	ACCURATE – A/C + CURATE.
34	CONSTANTINOPLE – (innocent postal)*. Currently Istanbul, it has also been called Byzantium, New Rome and Stamboul.
37	OMEN – O(ld) + MEN
38	YOO-HOO – another Dr. Who clue – we’ve been getting a lot of them lately!
39	SECOND HAND – SECOND + HAND. A charade clue that’s almost a double definition, a bit like Don Manley’s clue for CROSSWORDS on the BBC4 programme the other night.
43	IN THE LAST RESORT – cryptic definition of a four-word phrase!
45	ILLNESS – STILLNESS minus the first letters of Seriously Tiring.
47	EPAULETTE – AU, LET inside (Pete)*.
49	HAARLEM – HAAR (sea fog) + L + ME reversed.
51	GUANO – ON + AUG, all reversed.
52	CRESTFALLEN – FALLEN after C + REST.
53	INESSENTIAL – (isn’t in lease)*. Enjoyed the definition, which deserves to be in Chambers.
54	RED MEAT – “read meet”, homophone.
55	RUSSET – RUST around S(ag)E.
56	SCREAMER – CR inside SEAMER. Cricket references in clue and answer. Harmison & Co. could do with a few more like that!

Down
1	REFUGEE – RE + FUG + E(urop)E
2	THERAPEUTIC – (Their teacup)*
3	LANDSLIDE – LANDS + L(ake) + IDE (a type of carp)
4	SELF-CONFIDENTLY – (Contend flies fly)*
6	AUSTRIAN – (Straussian)* minus S,S. I’m amazed that I haven’t seen a clue like this before, as the Strauss family were Viennese. Then again, maybe it’s an old chestnut that I’ve just missed…
7	LA MARSEILLAISE – very intricate wordplay which I’ve only just figured out: L(iberal) + (LIES + RAMA, all reversed) + L(i)AISE. It’s the French national anthem, of course.
8	SALAMANDER – MAN inside (RED + ALAS, all reversed). More tricky wordplay, but like 7D, it’s easy to get and figure out how it works later.
9	AZIMUTH – first letters of Attracting Zander In Minutes Up + TH(e).
10	BELLE – “Bell”, as in Alexander Graham. What should we call this, a cryptic homophone?
11	INEBRIATION – IN (among) + E(nglish) + B(rought) + (I in RATION) – yet more convoluted wordplay.
12	GATEPOST – GAT + EP + SO reversed + T(ime).
13	PEST – hidden in “enveloPE-STuffer”.
20	STEROL – ST + LORE reversed.
21	GET DOWN – double definition, using both meanings of “duck”.
22	ORPHAN – PRO reversed + HAN
24	ELECTRONIC MUSIC – (I’m eccentric soul)*
26	SIT ON ONE’S HANDS – SI + TO + NONES + HANDS. What a great surface reading though!
27	LEGEND – LEG-END
29	ARRANGE – RANG inside A(ccounts) + RE
31	TALENT – A,L “in TENT”
33	COME TO A HEAD – COMET + O + AHEAD
35	PLANETARIUM – MUIR + A + TEN + ALP, all reversed.
36	ROTTWEILER – WEIL(l) inside ROTTER. Kurt Weill being the German-American composer.
40	DILIGENCE – double definition.
41	SILENCER – LE inside SINCE + R(evolution).
42	GO NATIVE – (Give NATO)*.
44	ATTRACT – A + TRACT around (portrai)T.
46	SPOILER – S(econd) + P + OILER
48	LITRE – LIT. + R(elativity) + E. Mcc could be read as 1000cm³ = 1 litre.
50	LIED – double definition. A German song is a Lied, which has also entered the English language as a song in classical music.