Not much to blog about. A straightforward solve, which I did not time accurately, but definitely took under 30 minutes. I was thrown for a bit as the website had the correct grid with, I think, the previous week’s Times2 Jumbo clues, so I had to work on the newspaper version.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ERRATIC – EC around TARR(y) reversed, I | |
| 5 | ASHMOLEAN – ASH, MOLE, AN. I visited the refurbished Ashmolean Museum in Oxford recently and was very impressed | |
| 10 | OPAL – O = zero, PAL, so no friend | |
| 14 | INVERTED COMMA – (VARIED COMMENT)* | |
| 15 | TRUMP CARD – TRUMP = brass musical instrument, CARD = eccentric | |
| 16 | DRAWBRIDGE – DRAW = avoid losing, BRIDGE = game | |
| 17 | IL TROVATORE – (TRAILER TOO V(iolent))* | |
| 18 | EVITA – hidden in (mor)E VITA(lity) | |
| 19 | PROVINCIAL – double definition | |
| 21 | CUSTOM – CUS(s) = swear, TOM | |
| 23 | PINSTRIPE – PIN(STRIP)E | |
| 25 | GRAZE – double definition | |
| 26 | BRONWEN – NEWBORN* | |
| 28 | SLAP ON THE BACK – double definition | |
| 31 | TIT FOR TAT – TIT F(O,RT)AT | |
| 33 | SHIFTLESS – double definition | |
| 35 | SERVICE CHARGE – SERVICE = first stroke, CHARGE = race (not sure whether “to net” is superfluous). 10% as a service charge now seems to have been replaced by 12.5% as a minumum! | |
| 37 | MAHATMA – M(illions),AH(ATM)A, where ATM is a cash dispenser | |
| 38 | BRUIN – B(ankruptcy),RUIN | |
| 40 | COTTON BUD – DUB NOT = don’t make knight, all reversed, after COT | |
| 42 | DISPEL – DI = I’D reversed, SPEL(t) = wheat | |
| 44 | FORTY WINKS – FORTY WINS = scores of successes around K = thousand | |
| 46 | ROOMY – YR = your around MOO = low, all reversed | |
| 48 | LIQUIDATING – LIQUID (h)ATING = only (h)appy with solids | |
| 50 | UNIMPROVED – I’M in UNPROVED = dubious | |
| 52 | Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure | |
| 53 | FINNEGAN’S WAKE – (SANK A FEW)* around INN, E.G. | |
| 54 | X-RAY – in the phonetic alphabet W=whisky and is followed by X=X-ray | |
| 55 | TO THE LAST – I had not heard of Hans Sachs, but he was apparently a German meistersinger (“mastersinger”), poet, playwright and shoemaker (Wikipedia), so the last is where the shoemaker works | |
| 56 | Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | EVIL – (we)EVIL | |
| 2 | REVERSION – R,EVER,SION | |
| 3 | THROW CAUTION TO THE WINDS – a yellow card shown by a referee in soccer is also known as a caution | |
| 4 | CLEAR UP – C(LEAR)UP | |
| 5 | ARCHDIOCESE – (CHOIR CEASED)* | |
| 6 | HAMMERING – EMMA reversed in H(ammersmith), RING = arena | |
| 7 | OMANI – IN A MO reversed. I am sure I have seen a very similar clue several times before | |
| 8 | ESTATE AGENT – ESTA (= EATS*),TEA,GENT | |
| 9 | NEURON – N,EURO,N where N is the indefinite number | |
| 11 | PLAY OUT – P,LAYOUT | |
| 12 | Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure | |
| 13 | A PLAGUE O BOTH YOUR HOUSES – cryptic definition. I started writing the answer in and then realised that the third word had to be just o’ rather than on | |
| 18 | EXPOSES – EX,POS(i)ES | |
| 20 | CRACKER – double definition | |
| 22 | ABUTMENT – A,BUT(MEN)T | |
| 24 | Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure | |
| 27 | WATER – WAR around T(erribl)E | |
| 29 | AMISH – AMIS,H | |
| 30 | ASSAULT – A ST around SAUL, being the former name of Saint Paul | |
| 32 | TUESDAY – (SEA DUTY)* | |
| 34 | SUBDOMINANT – (AMBI(e)NT SOUND)* | |
| 36 | INCONTINENT – IN,CON,TINE,NT | |
| 37 | MIDDLESEX – double, slightly cryptic definition. Middlesex are an English county cricket team | |
| 39 | NEW GUINEA – double definition. The island of New Guinea is divided, being partly Indonesia and partly Papua New Guinea | |
| 41 | BOOMERANG – a BOOMER is a big male kangaroo, followed by ANG being alternate letters in cArNaGe | |
| 43 | SEQUOIA – initial letters of South East Queensland Unlike Outback In Australia | |
| 45 | SOPRANI – hidden reversed in sem(INAR POS)sibly | |
| 47 | CARNET – CAT around RNE being alternate letters in orange | |
| 49 | GAFFE – G(ir)AFFE | |
| 51 | BEAT – BE AT | |
but apparently ‘..to the winds’ is acceptable. They will keep changing everything; eventually every combination of letter and words will exist and all writing will be underatken by computers.