Jumbo 928

Author   sghansonPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
This was hard work, with a number of excellent clues. I believe I have almost all sorted out, but I am still left with one where the wordplay is unclear to me – to put my mind at ease I would be grateful for an explanation of 52A – [edit] thank you to keriothe for the enlightenment.

I did not time myself as it took several sittings – but it was an enjoyable slog, especially when the light dawned on some of the trickier clues.

Across
1 LIBRETTOS – ET = visitor from afar, in BRISTOL*  
6 BASHFUL – double definition. Red = embarrassed (or shy)  
10 DUBAI – DUB = call, followed by I, A(nswer) reversed (or going to the west)  
13 MILLENNIUM BUG – MILL = factory, EN = in (French), N.I. = Northern Ireland = province, (h)UMBUG = hoax  
14 RECOVERED – R(ous)E, COVE = fellow, RED = socialist  
15 ON APPRO – O(ld), PRO = master, around NAP = drop off  
16 DELILAH – L(oud) in HAILED = drew attention of, reversed. Cops is used as the containment indicator  
17 EOLITHS – (THE SOIL)*  
18 NEAR AS DAMMIT – N = knight, EAR = attention, DAMMIT = curse. I wavered between DAMNIT and DAMMIT for the last word, and I can see from the Crossword Club forum that a number of others did as well  
20 SMALL PRINT – MALL = walk, in SPRINT = fast run  
23 TROUT – if one takes the TR out of STRONG, one is left with SONG = air  
24 FORTHWITH – FORT = defence, H,H = hours, around WIT = intelligence  
25 SYRINGE – S(tation), (IN GREY)*  
26 GUTTER PRESS – (scandal-mongerin)G, UTTER = say, PRE = before, S.S. = craft  
28 SUBCONTRACT – SUB = BUS (= public transport) reversed, CONTRACT = purse  
30 FOR ALL I CARE – FOR ALL = universal, IRE = rage, around CA = about  
32 WELSH RABBIT – WELSH = default, RABBIT = gas (as in chatter)  
34 OSTRICH – MOST RICH = most well endowed, with its head removed (in the sand). Very clever, even if the answer is clear from the checking letters  
36 DECIMATED – DEC(ember) = number of days, followed by I MATED = chess champion’s claim  
38 HULLO – HULL = shell, O = duck  
39 ETON COLLAR – (NOT RECALL O)*  
41 LOLLIPOP LADY – I POP = I go quickly, LAD = boy, all inside LOLLY = ready (money). And the whole is a cryptic surface. I’m not sure how this would go down with any US solvers.  
45 CHINWAG – CHIN = punch, WAG = celebrity girlfriend  
46 LOTUSES – LOTS = can be drawn, around USE = practice  
47 SCROOGE – SO = the truth, CR = King Charles, OGE = EGO = I, reversed. Another fine clue  
49 Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure  
50 AT ONES WITS END – ATONE = make up, S(econds), WIT(h), SEND = dispatch  
52 HADES – You tell me, please! I know the answer is correct from my Crossword Club score but the wordplay escapes me. Dante’s Inferno leads to Hell = Hades, but I could not find anything relevant for Perec. Thanks to keriothe Georges Perec wrote a novel called La Disparition that didn’t use the letter e so had no es!  
53 PAYSLIP – PAYS LIP + service (from the clue) = gives only verbal support  
54 MARSHLAND – MARS = ruins, LAND = light, around H(ot)  
 
Down
1 LAMPOON – O = round, in LAMP ON = something we might switch in dark  
2 BALD AS A COOT – TOO, C(old), SAD = dismal, LAB = workshop, around A(rea), all reversed. Unlocked = without locks = without hair. Another clever one  
3 EYE UP – last letters in thE balconY wherE yoU droP  
4 TENFOLD – T(emperature), ENFOLD = wrap up  
5 SOU – SOU(k) = market  
6 BOBSLEIGH – (BIG, B(lack), HOLES)*  
7 SAGELY – SAY = come out with, around GEL = posh lass  
8 FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS – double definition, the second of which is “work”  
9 LACTEAL – hidden reversed in paelLA ETC ALso  
10 DEVELOPER – DEVELOP = contract (an illness), E.R. = leading lady  
11 BURNT SIENNA – (EU BAN IN)* around R.N. = Royal Navy = fleet, ST(reet) reversed. Took me ages to work out the wordplay.  
12 INDUS – INDUS(try) = hard work  
16 DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY – DUES = expenses, around FIRM*, AND = with, followed by GAY = bright, around ALLOW = permit  
19 ATTWELL – A = article, T,T = times, WELL = expertly  
21 TWENTY-TWO – TWENTY = score, TWO sounds like TOO. One of the lines marked on a rugby field, at 22 metres from the goal line. I can still remember it being 25 yards!  
22 JIGSAW – J(udge), I SAW = witnesses statement, around G(oes)  
23 TUG OF LOVE – double definition  
24 FOPPISH – FISH = cold customer, around O(ld), P,P = pages  
25 SLOSHED – (rehearsal)S, LO = behold, SHED = cast off  
27 SPEECH – SCH(ool) around PEE(r) = Lord  
29 Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure  
31 RETROFITTED – (TREE TO DRIFT)*  
33 BALLAD OPERA – BALL = bouncer, ADO = trouble, PER = via, A  
35 INCHWORMS – INCH = to edge, W(ith), OR = gold, M(ark), S  
37 MOONSTOMP – MOONS TO MP. Not a mature political statement.  
40 LEG SLIP – LEG = GEL = application, reversed, SLIP = piece of paper  
42 POST-WAR – POST = send, WAR = RAW = green, reversed  
43 YIELDED – (w)ELDE(r) in DIY = home improvements, reversed  
44 ST PAUL – double definition  
45 Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure  
48 RETCH – R(ubbis)H around ETC = and rest  
51 Deliberately omitted – please ask if unsure  

5 comments on “Jumbo 928”

  1. Georges Perec wrote a novel called La Disparition that didn’t use the letter e. Had no es. Geddit?
    Tricky but very enjoyable puzzle I thought.
    1. Thanks – groan!

      I had found the author in Wikipedia, but found nothing in the titles of his novels. I didn’t look into the content.

      Perhaps a little obscure?

      1. Very obscure, I’d say. The book was quite well known in France when I lived there years ago but I didn’t remember the name Perec. It had to be HADES though, and then some time after solving I twigged and thought “oh, Perec must have written that daft book.”
  2. This was a lot of fun, tempered by the struggle to get the last 3 or 4 in. I’d never heard of Attwell, and somehow didn’t think of TT for ‘times’; had to go to Google. At 46ac, once I got the ‘draw lots’ bit, I could only come up with ‘locusts’, which wasted lots of time trying to justify ‘cus’ (abbrev. of ‘custom’?), and which made 44d impossible. I was incredibly dense about 44d, which should have been easy. Thanks for the explanation of TROUT; I’d never have figured that out. I simply figured that T?O?? had to be TROUT, that trout are strong swimmers, and that Schubert wrote a wonderful song (as well as the quintet), ‘The Trout’. Whatever works, I suppose.
  3. I made the mistake of starting this when I was feeling a little tired, with the result that I finished, feeling totally exhausted, 54:12 later. An excellent puzzle though, with a good number of clues suitable for a Championship final. NEAR AS DAMMIT was perhaps a little cheeky as we’d had GODDAMNED the week before. No problem with the Perec clue. (According to the wikipedia entry about him he compiled crossword puzzles for Le Point.)

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