Jumbo 858 – The Birds

Author   sghansonPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
I timed myself roughly for this one – aiming to be quick, and finished in under 30 minutes, so it was not too taxing. I did check two solutions afterwards, but references confirmed my entries.

I am not sure whether the birds are a theme – but four in the same Jumbo must be unusual.

Across
1 BOWLING OVER – someone could run up in a sport other than cricket, but I am OK with the double definition
7 PLANTAGENET – PLANT=machinery,AGE,NET.
13 AHEAD – HE in A AD
14 APPROVE – A ROVE(r) around PP
15 GUACAMOLE – GUAM=island, OLE, around A C(old)
16 HOLLANDER – HOER around L(ake),LAND=estate
17 ASAFOETIDA – (i do a feast)*. Luckily managed to spell this right first time without checking letters
20 RAW DATA – cryptic definition, with dope meaning information
22 NUTTERS – UTTER in N,S, being bridge partners
24 AT LARGE – double definition
25 DOTTEREL – LED reversed around OTTER. The first bird
26 WE ARE NOT AMUSED – (a tremendous awe)*. An observation attributed to Queen Victoria
28 RAITA – RITA (from Willy Russell’s play and the film Educating Rita), around A
29 TREMOR – ROME,RT all reversed
30 SWORD DANCE – cryptic definition
33 DOWITCHERS – DOERS around WITCH. The second bird. I had heard of it as I had only recently read a blog posting on Caught by the River about a birdwatching trip to the Scilly Isles, and a dowitcher was one of the rare species seen
35 CONCUR – CON,CUR
37 PIPIT – PIT = (fruit) stone around PI(ous). The third bird
39 THE FOUR SEASONS – cryptic definition
41 WATER RAT – WA(i)TER = serving man,RAT
44 Deliberately omitted – ask if puzzled
45 STERILE – STILE=steps around E.R.
46 STABILE – STABLE=stall around I
47 STURDINESS – (undress,sit)*
49 INDO-CHINA – IN, CHINA=mate around DO
53 Deliberately omitted – ask if puzzled
54 TIGRESS – T,(d)IGRESS
55 SALAD – S(outh) A(frica) LAD
56 DEMIGODDESS – cryptic definition  
57 THIRD PERSON – double definition, cleverly done
 
Down
1 BLATHERED – B.ED (Bachelor of Education degree) around LATHER
2 WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS – cryptic/double definition
3 INDRA – hidden in raIN DRAma
4 GRANDPARENT – (pregnant,d(o)ra)*
5 VIPERINE – VINE around PERI=fairy
6 ROOM AT THE TOP – double definition
7 PIED-A-TERRE – PIERRE around DATE
8 AGGRO – A GO around GR(eek)
9 TOASTMASTER – cryptic definition
10 GRAND SLAM – GLAM(orous) around RANDS. I thought the plural of Rand was Rand, but I may be nit-picking. The solution was clear enough
11 NOON – ON reversed then normal
12 TREF – T(he) REF. Tref means not kosher, which I did not know before, but checked afterwards
18 PRESENT PARTICIPLES – cryptic definition. Both hoping and praying are the present participles of their verbs
19 DEAD HEAT – D(E)AD,HEAT
21 ABEYANT – ABE=Lincoln,(mone)Y,ANT
23 SANDWICH – SAND,W.I.= Womens Institute,CH
27 TEARLESS – a reformed ripper may tear less
28 REDSTART – RED,START. The fourth bird
31 DIPTERA – (partied)*. Flighty little types are flies not birds!
32 NO END IN SIGHT – sigh is sight with no end
34 HORSE AROUND – cryptically heros is an anagram of horse
36 RHAPSODISED – (odd phrase is)*
38 Deliberately omitted – ask if puzzled
40 ON A STRING – double definition
42 THE WARDEN – THE DEN = Millwall’s old ground around WAR. The Warden is by Trollope. Millwall’s new ground is The New Den.
43 BERIBERI – sounds like berry,berry
48 Deliberately omitted – ask if puzzled
50 CASTE – CAST(l)E
51 SPUD – DUP’S reversed. The D.U.P. is the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland
52 Deliberately omitted – ask if puzzled

4 comments on “Jumbo 858 – The Birds”

  1. I found this one a little lacklustre with nothing particularly clever or amusing. I really don’t like clues like 17a. If you haven’t heard of the word ASAFOETIDA you have very little chance of solving it. I had all the checkers, knew it was an anagram of “I do a feast” but still couldn’t make anything that looked like a proper word or anything that could be pronounced. Even looking at it now, it just looks like a jumble of letters. I haven’t come across TREF or DOWITCHERS either, but thankfully the wordplay left little doubt.
  2. Solved in around 35 minutes on the train home the Monday after publication. The only one I had trouble with was DOWITCHERS, which I put in from the wordplay and confirmed later when I got home. Asafoetida is a pungent Indian spice that tastes a lot better than it smells! The French name for it is merde du diable!

    If the birds had been symmetrically placed it might have been a theme, but only four in a Jumbo is probably just a coincidence. It’s a shame they don’t do thematic Jumbos any more. Before it went weekly (and when it was still 27×27) it used to be much more challenging and usually thematic.

    PS Slight typo in 36D, too many H’s.

  3. It looks as though only birds are allowed to comment on this puzzle. Four birds was one too many to me. I managed to work out Dowitchers, which I had never heard of but I had to look up Dotterel, annoyingly because I have come across it before.

    I got Asafoetida straight away but, even with the anagram, I had to wait for all the checkers before I could spell it.

Comments are closed.