If I kept accurate records I reckon this one would have been close to my fastest ever Jumbo, taking 22:16. It’s good to have a nice easy one once in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed racing through it. The downside, from a blogger’s perspective, is that it doesn’t leave very much to talk about. You may even notice a lack of complaint about the obscure artist at 4dn, probably because I managed to “guess” it correctly.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SHINDIG – HINDI in S[eek] G[uidance] For a long time I was trying to justify S-LATIN-G as a party |
| 5 | SHOWGIRL – (WHO)* then RIG rev in S[atche]L |
| 9 | HECTIC – HE + CT (court) +IC (in charge) |
| 13 | ENVIRONMENTALIST – (SERVANT NOT IN LIME)* |
| 14 | SCREEN – CR (councillor) in SEEN |
| 16 | CAN,NAB,IS |
| 17 | SERF – hidden in [u]SER-F[riendliness] |
| 18 | SORTILEGE – [penci]L + EG in SORTIE. My last in, arrived at via wordplay only. I’ve never heard of this word which, as the setter tells us, means “drawing lots” |
| 20 | AFTER YOU – V is after “U” in the alphabet |
| 21 | NEARSIGHTED – (THE READINGS)* |
| 24 | CHRONICLE – CHRONIC + L[at]E |
| 25 | TAHITIAN – this week’s famous painter, TITIAN around A H[eights] (see 3 dn) |
| 26 | TSAR – reversed in [d]RAST[ic] |
| 29 | EX,TRADITION |
| 31 | SUPER,[e]VENING |
| 33 | MINOR PLANET – (MAN + INTERPOL)* |
| 36 | SECOND,GUES[t]S |
| 38 | ROOT – two defs |
| 39 | CALLISTO – CALL,IS,TO – one of Jupiter’s moons. Excellent misdirection to use “Buzz” here for call |
| 41 | ARTIFICER – (A TERRIFIC)* |
| 44 | DETER,MINIS,M |
| 45 | LADYBIRD – 2 defs, one slightly oblique referring to Jemima Puddleduck as a “lady bird”. What do you call a women who plays snooker whilst balancing a pint of ale on her head? Beer-tricks Potter |
| 48 | OVER,ISSUE – it’s the law. You have to have a cricket reference in at least one clue. |
| 49 | TRIP – two definitions as in “going on a jolly” and “trip the light fantastic” |
| 50 | STEADIER – A DI (detective inspector) in STEER |
| 52 | GO AWAY – GOA + odd letters of WeArY |
| 53 | AT THE END OF THE DAY – 2 defs and a fitting footballer’s cliche to be included during the World Cup. Come on England! |
| 54 | TILLER – another double def, on being a shoot that sprouts from a blade of grass |
| 55 | PRISONER – PRIER around SON |
| 56 | TURF WAR – RAW FRU[i]T rev |
|
|
|
| Down | |
| 1 | S,KETCH |
| 2 | IRVING – two famous people, one an actor, the other a songwriter |
| 3 | DORSAL FIN – (FOR ISLAND)* |
| 4 | GENTILESCHI – (THE CEILINGS)* an obvious anagram but I needed all the checkers and best fit the rest of the letters. I guessed this one right, GENSILETCHI losing in the final. Tony Sever will probably think she’s a really well-known artist. |
| 5 | SPEC – CEPS rev |
| 6 | ON THE BUTTON – another two defs |
| 7 | GOLDFINCHES – D[uke] in GOLF + INCHES |
| 8 | RESISTANT – (TRAIN SETS)* |
| 10 | ETC,[t]HINGS |
| 11 | THE REST IS SILENCE – THERES[a] + ‘TIS + SILENCE (gag). Hamlet’s last words in a play named after him. |
| 12 | CON,TEND |
| 15 | FRESH, AIR – “AYR” . I think “further” and “fresh” both mean “new” here but it doesn’t quite work for me. |
| 19 | BY DESIGN – (DAY BEGINS)* |
| 22 | SCREAMER – another double def, one being a bird found in the wetlands of S America |
| 23 | WRITING ON THE WALL – twicely indicated |
| 27 | REGIS,TRY – ref Bognor Regis, a seaside town in West Sussex |
| 28 | BERG – a pair of allusions. I must say I liked “ice in the drink” as one of them |
| 30 | A,UR,A |
| 32 | PO,CHARD’S – more English geography, Chard being a town in Somerset. |
| 34 | LEAKIEST – (LAKE SITE)* |
| 35 | TEST,MATCHES |
| 36 | STOOL PIGEON – (TOPSOIL GONE)* |
| 37 | NOT A BIT OF IT – 2 defs, one a bit cryptic that made me smile (“all or nothing”) |
| 40 | LEICESTER – this took some working out! It’s LICE + STER[n] (almost back) around E |
| 42 | FORGATHER – FORGER around (HAT)* |
| 43 | IRRITATE – IRATE around RIT, short for RITARDANDO, a musical term meaning gradually slowing |
| 44 | DR,OUGHT |
| 46 | MILDEW – “mill due” |
| 47 | PRAYER – Alfred Jules Ayer, the crossword setter’s second favourite philosopher, after P[iano] [tune]R |
| 51 | ODER – RE DO rev |
John is USA