Jumbo 800 (Feb 14th)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Solving time 37:46, which is about average for me. A milestone number, and published on Valentine’s Day too, but no sign of a theme. How boring! The puzzle turned out to be one of two halves, with the acrosses seemingly full of clues with very complicated wordplay and the downs full of double definitions. One (34A) that I can’t explain.

Across
1 TYPESETTING – TYPE (character) + SETTING (my job, i.e. the crossword setter).
7 ENCORE – NCO inside ERE.
10 OUZO – O(ld) + U(niversity) + Z (variable) + O(ld).
14 AIRLOCK – I (current) inside (w)ARLOCK.
15 CROATIA – A inside ROT, all inside CIA.
16 GRANDEE – GRAN + DEE
17 SHOREHAM-BY-SEA – (bay shares home)*. A resort next to Brighton on the South coast. I did my bet settling training there when I first joined Ladbrokes.
18 GOLDENROD – OLD inside GEN + ROD
19 MAMBO – MAM + BO(y)
21 UP TO NO GOOD – UP TO (busy) + GOO inside DON reversed.
23 ESCAPE – double definition. Steve McQueen’s finest moment, jumping over the barbed wire fence on the motorbike in The Great Escape.
25 CONSTANT – CONSTANT(inople), former name of Istanbul.
26 CONGREGATIONAL – CON (“with” in Italian) + GREG + AT + IONA + L(ake).
29 SHEBEEN – SHE + BEEN
30 ELEMENTAL – L(ik)E + MEN inside LATE reversed.
31 GODLY – (lan)DL(ady) inside GOY(a).
32 ORBIT – (ast)R(onaut) inside OBIT.
34 JORDANIAN – J(udge) + ??? A decree could be an ORDINANCE, and we have most of the letters of it in there, but I can’t see how it’s supposed to work.
37 SEALANT – SEA + L(ine) + ANT
39 FOR THE MOST PART – FOR THE M.O. + P(ressure) in START.
41 SADDUCEE – “sad, you see”. A rival of the Pharisees in ancient Jerusalem.
43 SPOUSE – S(on) + P(icnic) + OUSE.
44 GALLOPHOBE – O.B. inside GALLOP + HE.
45 ALIAS – A inside ALIS(on).
48 CHARABANC – CHAR + A BAN + C(aught).
49 TORTOISESHELL – TORTOISES + HELL. Slow-and-Solid was the name of a tortoise in Kipling’s Just-So Stories.
51 BATTING – TIN after TAB reversed, then G(ang). Definition is just “in”.
52 IGNOBLE – NOB inside I + (leg)*
53 ACETATE – A + C.E. + TATE
54 TURK – RUT reversed + K
55 PRAGUE – AG inside P + RUE
56 EASTERNMOST – (senators met)*

Down
1 TRANSOM – RAN inside MOST reversed.
2 PERFORMANCE – MAN inside PERFORCE.
3 STOVE – double definition.
4 TAKE A RUNNING JUMP – double definition.
5 IN CUBA over TE (note) –
6 GROSS INCOME – (crime sons go)*
7 EXTRA – double definition, again.
8 CHANGE ONE’S TUNE – and another one, sort of.
9 REGALE – (large, E)*
11 UNDERMANNED – RED reversed + MANN (Thomas Mann, author) inside UN + ED.
13 WATER-SKI – (risk a wet)*
20 OUTWENT – O(peras) U(sing) + TWENT(y).
22 GIGUE – GIG + U(s)E(d)
24 CALL A SPADE A SPADE – double definition.
25 CAST OFF – CAST OF F
27 LAYETTE – cryptic definition, quite a good one too.
28 HEART-SEARCHING – (the cars)* inside HEARING.
31 GRANDMA – ref. Grandma Moses, the American folk artist.
33 BURGOMASTER – GRUB reversed + O(ne-time) + MASTER.
35 APPAL – “a Paul”
36 IRREPARABLE – RR (right reverend) inside I.E. + PARABLE
38 ARCHIPELAGO – (Gaelic harp)* + O (round).
40 HISPANIC – HIS PANIC
42 COLONELS – LONE inside COLS.
43 SACKBUT – SACK + TUB reversed. An old instrument like a trumpet.
46 SALIENT – A LIEN inside ST.
47 HANGAR – N.G. inside HAAR
49 TENSE – double definition.
50 STEIN – and another one to finish!

2 comments on “Jumbo 800 (Feb 14th)”

  2. It was a bit disappointing to see no 800 celebration. I didn’t know about “Slow-and-solid”, Kipling not being a strength. 43D: a sackbut is an old-fashioned trombone – so “like a trumpet” only in terms of “instrument family”, trombone in Italian being “big trumpet”.

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