It took exactly 26 minutes to solve this one and I thought it was a cracker. This was a Jumbo of 60 great clues where the setter seemed to use every device available with lots of good, solid clueing. I have a bit of a moan about two of the clues, but it’s hardly worth bothering about. I haven’t done my usual full analysis this time – if there’s anything I’ve missed, feel free to comment. Apologies for lateness in posting this report.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 6 | E.g. Lincoln, assassinated by rebel, originally an actor (7) |
| A,B,R a HAM – A,B and R being the first letters of “Assassinated By Rebel” | |
| 10 | How Socrates ended – in disgrace, no end of it (5) |
| S[-t]IGMA – probably my favourite clue. Socrates is Greek and ends in “S”, the Greek equivalent being “Sigma”. “No end of it” meaning “remove the T” was just the icing on the cake | |
| 14 | Pens, perhaps, article on English or Welsh city (7) |
| SWANS,E,A – excellent surface | |
| 18 | Starts off cold, that is the opposite of hot (3,3) |
| [-c]OLD [-t]HAT – simple clue, perfectly executed | |
| 20 | Preserve that grand spectacle in Arizona (6) |
| CAN,YON – Yon, a shortened for of “yonder”, is still very much in use in my part of Lancashire, so this clue gets my seal of approval. “Yon clue’s o’reet fer me” | |
| 23 | What postman brings over? (10) |
| DELIVERIES – another example of a simple clue, well delivered. Is it illegal to not have a cricket reference in the Times Crossword? This one is OVER = 6 balls (or deliveries) | |
| 25 | Tendency to go astray in sailing or flying (8,3) |
| ORIGINAL SIN – (IN SAILING OR)*. Again nothing spectacular, but well-constructed ( I think I may need a thesuarus soon) | |
| 29 | State of India, with fool not yet PM (5) |
| ASS,AM – easy clue but I liked “not yet PM”=AM | |
| 39 | Jump aboard repeatedly, holding one vegetable (6,5) |
| SPRING ON(I)ON – aboard repeatedly being ON ON – marvellous | |
| 43 | Dancer from Ireland breaking into song endlessly (9) |
| BALL(ERIN)A[-d] = if it says Ireland it’s either ERIN,EIRE or NI | |
| 47 | Fish will, we hear, cook in hot water (6) |
| CODDLE – sounds like COD’LL. This one just made me laugh | |
| 56 | Like some eleven, having no pressing needs (3,4) |
| NON IRON – it probably says “11” in the dead tree version. Is there anybody left in this world who thinks the people responsible for the online version may possibly give a monkey’s that this is still causing problems with the t’interweb version? The answer to eleven is GOLF CLUBS. More excellence from the setter | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Faith I left, in part (8) |
| RE(L,I)GION – one of my two minor grouses. Shouldn’t it be “left I in part”. Although it probably doesn’t prevent anybody solving the clue, it just seems wrong. Am I being too picky? | |
| 3 | Jeopardize one’s morality, primarily by embracing a policy of assertive expansion (11) |
| IMPERI(A)L,1’S,M – excellent surface again | |
| 5 | Was rude about instrument I messed up (12) |
| DIS(ORGAN,I)SED – in an age of ancient crossword references, it’s lovely to see “dissed” | |
| 9 | Female chess-player finding mate at end of play (7) |
| MIRANDA – Whinge number 2. At the end of The Tempest Prospero oversaw a game of chess between Miranda and Ferdinand. The winner went on to meet Gary Kasparov in the final. I really hate this type of clue. For anyone who hasn’t read the book, we’re only left with “female”. I accept that I may only be complaining because of a gap in my knowledge, but only grudgingly. | |
| 11 | Their members use them (4,5) |
| GOLF CLUBS – I think this is a brilliant find by the setter. Others may consider it more chesnutty than turkey stuffing. Let me know | |
| 12 | Bad habits, including new sort of liqueur (7) |
| ABSINTH – being (HABITS)* with N in. I only included this clue because it gives me the excuse to say “absinth makes the heart grow fonder” | |
| 28 | Couple initially leaving one state for another (6) |
| [-ar]KANSAS – is there any other word in the English language where an S sounds like a W. This one definitely IS a chestnut, but a nice chestnut all the same. | |
| 33 | Running with maximum possible speed to get to other side of station (7,5) |
| C,HARING CROSS – one for the more scientific. In the equation E=MC2 the C refers to the speed of light. Before CDs the speed of sound was about 33 rpm | |
| 44 | Foreigner from hospital I angrily removed (7) |
| hospITAL I ANgrily – superbly well-hidden | |
| 51 | Capital from odd parts of Africa chap raised (5) |
| ACCRA – the odd letters of AFRICA CHAP, but backwards. Excellent end to an excellent puzzle | |
One comment on “Jumbo 784 (08/11/08)”
Comments are closed.