Jumbo 862

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
The usual Jumbo rubric: as the solution is available alongside (or indeed before) the blog, comment is confined only to references that might remain obscure to overseas / inexperienced solvers even with the answer visible, or anything I thought notably good or deserving a question mark; other clues happily discussed by request, please comment if required.

Without wishing to damn with faint praise, this was a very decent, if unexceptional, puzzle; a couple of things had me reaching for the dictionary / Google to check before blogging, while feeling pretty certain that wordplay had already given me the only possible answer.

Across
1 UPSET THE APPLE CART – UP + SET + THE APPLE CART. Not a play with which I am familiar, I’m afraid.
14 MIDDY – [I(rritate D.D.] in M(otor) Y(acht). Despite my knowledge of Hornblower, I don’t recall seeing this abbreviation of Midshipman in the puzzle before.
17 MONARCH – ON(e) in MARCH. Some springlike weather would be nice in my part of the country, certainly.
21 HANDBOOK – AND B(lack) in HOOK.
23 OFFA – OF F(ootball) A(ssociation).
25 THRUM – THRU + M(ass). Nice onomatopoeic word, “thrum”.
27 MODEST – an unusual first name. As so often, my first thought was of Monty Python’s Decomposing Composers. Modest Mussorgsky: 1880, going to parties; no fun anymore, 1881.
40 ARDOUR – =”‘ARDER” in the Cockney vernacular, at least according to the best traditions of this puzzle. For the benefit of those outside its reach, the Queen Vic is the pub at the centre of EastEnders.
41 CUTIN – CUT + IN; my botany is very poor, but the wordplay and the derivation are obvious.
44 SIDE DRUM – [IDE in S(on) and D(aughter)] + RUM; this was new to me, but apparently the percussion section is known as “the kitchen” to musicians.
45 ALOOFNESS – (FOOL)rev. in A NESS; there is, however, no indicator that FOOL (i.e. JESTER) should be reversed, at least online. Missing word?
54 LIEUTENANT COLONEL – cryptic def.; ranks vary worldwide, of course, but as far as I can tell, Lieut. Col. is the next step up from Major in all the armies likely to be relevant for our purposes.
55 CRESTFALLEN – C(onservative) + (LEARNS LEFT)*; following on a week of news stories about Labour narrowing the poll lead on the Conservatives, this was a gem of a surface.
 
Down
1 HOUSEMASTER – HOUSE + MASTER; possibly not elsewhere in the world, but in UK gaming circles, lotto=bingo=house.
4 OAHU – wOmAn + H(onolul)U. Oahu being the island on which Honolulu sits, which makes this another fine surface.
6 SUPERPHOSPHATE – SUPER (‘fine’) + (SHOP)* + (ranc)H in PATE; I’d heard of phosphate as a fertiliser, so the leap to the super version was not a great one.
7 GRECIANS – EC1 (postcode of parts of the City of London) in GRAN’S; the inference being that one who knows Greek is by definition learned. Sadly I’ve forgotten most of mine.
8 NIAMH – 1 A.M. in N.H; one of those Irish names whose pronunciation can be a minefield for the unwary (see also Caoimhe, Eithne, Siobhan etc.).
9 EXTEMPORE – EX + TEMP + ORE. I did check on Sweden’s status, and it appears they are not keen to join the Euro just yet.
20 HERE’S MUD IN YOUR EYE – cryptic def.; one of those somewhat obscure drinking-related expressions which sounds as if it ought to crop up in any 1940s screwball comedy worth the name.
29 TRISTRAM SHANDY – [SIR T(homas)]rev. + TRAMS HANDY; a novel usually described as “unfilmable”, though I fear my younger self thought “unreadable” was closer to the mark.
33 FELLOE – [E(nglish) LL] in FOE; careful choice of the word revolver disguising that it’s to do with wheels, not guns.
39 SCINTILLA – =”SIN TILLER”; as usual my botany let me down, as I was unaware of the meaning of “stem”; but again, not hard to deduce.
47 BEDSIT – B. ED‘S IT (as in Sex Appeal).

4 comments on “Jumbo 862”

  1. I’m still puzzled by 31a for which there’s no comment above. The answer must be CHARACTERISTIC. As many weeks have passed, I’ll repeat the clue which is “Typical daily undertaking relating to disputation”.

    I can see daily=CHAR and possibly undertaking=ACT, but what is the rest?

    Thanks for any further help with this ancient puzzle. (I, for one, would welcome abandoning the “usual Jumbo rubric”. Could we possibly have an explanation for every clue?)

    1. daily = CHAR
      undertaking = ACT
      relating to disputation = ERISTIC (from the ancient Greek eris, meaning ‘strife’)

      Regarding what I describe as the “usual Jumbo rubric”, I’m afraid you overestimate either my devotion to the cause, or the time I have to devote to it! With daily puzzles, the regular bloggers, myself included, will always discuss more or less the entire grid because a) the amount of work involved is not unreasonable for what has always been a labour of love, and b) these puzzles attract anything up to 50 individuals who actively comment, and many more who read without commenting.

      The Jumbo has twice as many clues to blog and – based on the number of comments usually being low single figures – attracts a small fraction of the interest, which is certainly a consideration when I’m deciding how much of the puzzle to discuss, though I usually aim for about 50%, more if the puzzle is a particularly interesting one.

      This probably means I will miss out a clue that someone wants to see, but as indicated, I’m always happy to provide further explanations on an ad hoc basis.

      Hope this helps.

      Tim

  2. Wow! Thanks for teaching me a new word, ERISTIC. I intend to use it at every opportunity.

    Belated thanks to topicaltim for explaining this. And I certainly recognise the amount of work that goes into blogging. Much appreciated.

    Bob

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