Jumbo 805 (21st March)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Didn’t record a time, but it was around the half-hour mark (however long it took my train to get from Euston to Milton Keynes on Wednesday night). Still, as I solved it only a couple of days ago it’s still fresh in my mind. No tricky vocabulary at all really, and I’d expect a few of the quicker solvers to have finished this in well under 20 minutes.

Across
1 TOSSPOT – TOPS SOT reversed.
5 CATARACT – double definition
9 FIASCO – IF rev. + AS + CO.
13 PROMENADE CONCERT – cryptic def? Not sure where the misdirection is though, seems like a straight def. to me.
14 STRAFE – hidden in “fast RAF effort”.
16 SETBACKS – SET (decided) + BACKS (defence).
17 ABBÉ – A + B(ishop) + BE, accent ignored (as always). French for an abbot, although now used as a courtesy title for any priest. The only puzzle I can think of that explicitly tells you to ignore accents is the Spectator. Everywhere else it’s just assumed that you will anyway (apart from the occasional barred puzzle that insists you DO use them).
18 WATERSHED – (Saw three-D)*. Usually 9 pm in the UK, after which the kiddiewinks should be in bed and TV progs can start swearing and showing “scenes of a sexual nature”.
20 HOME RULE – looks like a straight definition at first, but it’s HOME (in) + RULE (principle). Mind you, the only Irish Question I know is “Whose round is it?” (just kidding, Niall – but I have a lot of Irish friends ;-))
21 PRESELECTED – PRES. + ELECTED
24 ANONYMOUS – ON + MY reversed, inside A + NOUS (sense)
25 OVERLIES – OVER (part of a test, as in cricket) + LIES.
26 FIRM – Replace the A in FARM with an I. Nice surface, but read it literally and you’re given the answer.
29 ALEXANDRINE – X (ten) inside (I learned an)*. A verse form that was in vogue as a crossword answer about a year ago, if I remember correctly.
31 SIGHT SCREEN – (scenes right)*. 2nd cricket reference of the day. Just finished watching the 5th ODI against the West Indies. Brilliant hat-trick from Freddie, but how the hell did we win that series?
33 CASTER SUGAR – CASTERS (bait??) + U(nnoticed) + GAR (fish). Can’t see any justification for CASTERS = bait, other than the usual cryptic convention where FLOWER = river etc.
36 INVALIDATES – IN + VAL + 1 + DATES.
38 SAIL – I (one) inside SAL(on).
39 BAD BLOOD – double definition, the latter a bit cryptic.
41 REGISTRAR – GIST inside RARER rev.
44 OPENING TIME – OPENING (e.g. a book I suppose) + TIME (the magazine). Locals are pubs of course. Now the licensing laws have relaxed, this isn’t such a big deal any more.
45 PROCLAIM – PRO + CL(ass) + AIM
48 GUATEMALA – U(niversity) + (team)*, all inside GALA. I suppose it depends where you live how faraway it is!
49 SUNG – double definition + wordplay (SUN (paper) + G(ood)). The Sung dynasty ruled China from 960-1279 AD.
50 BASILICA – B(lack) + SILICA around A.
52 IRITIS – IT inside IRIS. That’s my mum’s name.
53 CIGARETTE LIGHTER – cryptic definition, but I doubt if anyone’s fooled by the rugby surface reading.
54 GANDHI – another cryptic definition with a good cricket surface. I was puzzled by the “spinner” bit though until I looked him up on Wikipedia. Apparently he hand-spun the yarn to make his own clothes.
55 CREDITOR – C(leve)R + EDITOR.
56 SEMINAR – SEMI (house) + RAN reversed.

Down
1 TYPIST – another cryptic definition. Did Rufus from the Guardian set this one?!
2 SPOTTY – S(on) + POTTY
3 PREDATORY – P(ower) + RED + A TORY
4 TRACK RECORD – TRACK + RECORD, straightforward charade.
5 CREW – double definition, verb + noun.
6 TROUBLESOME – ROUBLES in TOME.
7 RACKET-PRESS – RACKET + PRESS. A contraption that’s not seen any more these days. Who still uses a wooden racket?
8 CARTWHEEL – W(ife) + HE, inside CARTEL.
10 INTERNET – (w)INTER (i)N (p)ET. I don’t suppose there’s any point in complaining that “surfing place” is the World Wide Web, not the Internet. They’re pretty much synonymous these days.
11 SPAGHETTI WESTERN – P (minimal money) inside (stage hit we)* + STERN (back).
12 OVERDID – VERDI inside O(ld) + D (key)
15 STEEPEST – EPEE rev. inside ST twice (ways).
19 QUISLING – QUI (French who) + SLING. Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian politician who supported the Nazis.
22 DAMASCUS – D (hundreds) + AMASS around CU (copper). Capital of Syria.
23 WOMEN’S LIBERATION – yet another cryptic definition, but I don’t see the misdirection.
27 MINISTRY – MINIS (cars) + TRY (overcome). Nice &lit referring to the Ministry of Transport, but I don’t think TRY is a synonym for “overcome”, especially when “attempt” wouldn’t harm the surface at all.
28 ACID – C(old) inside AID.
30 AGED – AG + (hair)ED, clever wordplay disguised as a cryptic definition by example. I liked this one.
32 GOVERNOR – hidden in “takinG OVER NORthern”.
34 SHANGHAI – (Ghana shi(p))*
35 RHODE ISLAND – “rode” + ISLAND.
36 INDEPENDENT – PEN + ED reversed, inside INDENT (to order). The alternative meaning of “indent” was new to me.
37 LEGAL EAGLES – (allege a leg’s)*
40 BRIGADIER – (air bridge)*
42 SPIRIT GUM – SPIRIT + MUG reversed. “A preparation used by actors to attach false beards, etc”, according to the BRB.
43 LIVERISH – LIVE (as it happens) + (i)RISH.
44 ON GOING – ON (concerning) + GOING (condition of (race)course). Which is something of interest to most of us today for the Grand National!
46 MINTON – MINT ON. Thomas Minton, the potter who designed the famous willow pattern.
47 FAIRER – FAIR + ER.
51 STAR – STAR(t).

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