I really enjoyed this one. Lots of crafty wordplay and mostly very fair. There were a couple of Spanish words, seguidilla and arroyo, that I thought were maybe a little bit on the unfair side, but the wordplay gave you a decent chance to get them. My time was 1 hour 15 minutes which is one of my slowest times ever for a Jumbo, but I enjoyed every minute. Most of the delay was probably down to good clueing although I was a bit tired when I was solving it. Lots to admire here, my favourite clue probably being 7 down, a simple word but a belting treatment. Many thanks to the setter
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | MOUNTAIN GOATS – MOUNTING (growing) + OATS (crop) around A[rea] |
| 8 | REHEARSAL – HEARS (judges) in REAL (substantial) |
| 13 | TRUCK – two meanings, one unkown to me (traffic, as in trade) |
| 14 | AMORPHOUS – (HAM SOUP OR)*. One of the few easier clues that the setter spread about the puzzle to give us a way in. |
| 15 | RAMPION – CHAMPION with CH (church) becoming R (right). I’d heard of the plant campion and was sorely tempted to put that in despite the wordplay making it perfectly clear that I shouldn’t. A rampion has bell-shaped and its root is used as a salad ingredient. I haven’t knowingly eaten it. CHAMPION refers to the answer to 35a – ADVOCATE |
| 16 | COURT MARTIAL – COURT (woo) + MARTIAL (poet) |
| 17 | SWEATSHOPS – SHOPS (what an informer does) after SWEAT (slang for an older, experienced soldier) |
| 18 | OXYGEN – this took some working out. It’s O (second in cOmmand) XY (co-ordinates) GEN (facts) |
| 19 | NESCIENT – NET (clear, as in profit) around (SINCE)* |
| 21 | FIESTA – hidden in ifFIEST Areas. I’m usually rubbish at spotting hiddens but this one presented no problems whatsoever. |
| 24 | SEGUIDILLA – (LUIGI LEADS)* Obviously an anagram but I needed all the checkers before I could get it. Even then I was torn between SEGUIDILLA and SAGUIDILLE. In the end I thought the correct answer was the more likely. It’s a lively Spanish dance in triple time. Are there any unlively Spanish dances? |
| 26 | UP-TO-DATENESS – UP TO (doing) then (EAST ENDS)*. Cleverly defined as “currency” |
| 29 | SOLE – sounds like SOUL |
| 30 | MEMSAHIB – (EMMA B[ovary] + HIS)* |
| 31 | CREAM TEA – another tricky one. CREATE (institute) around M (back from jaM and jerusaleM) + A |
| 34 | ROCK,WELL – Norman Rockwell was a US illustrator. I’ve never heard of him but the wordplay made it easy enough to get. |
| 35 | ADVOCATE – two meanings, one being a legal representative in Scottish (and other) law. |
| 36 | POLE – two meanings. Really easy if you knew Chopin was Polish, which I didn’t. I’ve now registered the fact in my mind and look forward to forgetting it at a later date. |
| 39 | THE VERY THING – TH[is] + EVERYTHING (all). I like “this is missing” for TH[-is] |
| 40 | SKIN,FLINTS |
| 43 | SHTICK – STICK (stand – I can’t stick it) around H[ospital]. A shtick is a comedy theme based on the Yiddish word for “piece” |
| 44 | CRUDE OIL – two meanings, one whimsical (primitive picture….) and one slightly oblique (…that has boring producers) |
| 45 | ARROYO – (ROAR)* + YO (greeting). A Spanish word for an intermittently dry creek.With this and SEGUIDILLA at 24a I don’t think its enough these days to only know English. |
| 49 | HEN HARRIER – HEN (domesticated bird) + HARRIER (dog). The bottom left easy clue |
| 51 | SIMPLE MINDED – MINDED (taken care of) after SIMPLE (herbal remedy). Simple Linctus is a cough suppressant |
| 53 | RABBITS – two meanings |
| 54 | AERIALIST – sound like “area list” (local directory). It’s a trapeze artist or tight rope walker who are thus “highly-regarded” |
| 55 | TWILL – [Hamle]T + WILL (Shakespeare) |
| 56 | CUBBYHOLE – CHUBBY without H[usband] + “WHOLE” (in one, we hear) |
| 57 | CATEGORICALLY – I CALL (I need) in CATEGORY (class) |
| Down | |
| 1 | MOTOCROSS – MO (tick,as in just a mo/tick) TO CROSS (thwart) |
| 2 | URUGUAY – GURU rev (elevated teacher) then UneAsY (uneasy losing bearings) |
| 3 | TAKE THE AIR – TAKE [to] THE AIR (fly forgetting TO) |
| 4 | IN A WAY – what a contrived way to get IN. UNIT uncovered = [u] NI [t] and turned = IN |
| 5 | GO OUT ON A LIMB – two meanings, one slightly dodgy unless I’m missing something. “leave trunk behind”. The best I can manage is if you go out on a limb literally, ie you leave the house sat atop a branch of a tree you will be leaving the tree’s trunk behind. They don’t really do that sort of thing around these parts. |
| 6 | APPRAISE – Ooh look everybody! The Times has gone all iPod. APP (piece of software) + RAISE (increase) |
| 7 | STOP – very clever clue. “Bar deliveries to public houses”. Houses here tells us that STOP (bar) is housed within deliverieS TO Public |
| 8 | ROSE WINDOW – (WREN IS + WOOD)* |
| 9 | HERMAN – HERM ( one of the Channel Islands) + A(area) + londoN.Woody Herman was a famous jazz clarinetist |
| 10 | ARMISTICE DAY – MIST,ICE (weather conditions) in A RD then AY (yes) |
| 11 | SLIGO – S [hel] L the I GO |
| 12 | LONE STAR STATE – (LAST TO SNEER)* |
| 20 | IMPRISON – IMP (trouble maker) then NO SIR reversed (definitely not about) |
| 22 | SWEETCORN – SWORN (bound by vows) around E ETC (assorted drugs). I like the E etc very much |
| 23 | DISMALLY – SMALL (minor) in DIY (homework?) |
| 25 | GOLDCREST – another mighty fine clue. “A small bird or one hundred others”. Blink and you’ll miss it – Or is GOLD in heraldry (and in crosswords!) then C (100) + REST (others) |
| 27 | AGREEING – A GREETING that’s timeless (has no T) |
| 28 | HARDENED – H[olmes] with A then DEN in RED (study in scarlet) |
| 29 | STRATOSPHERIC – (ORCHESTRA PITS)* |
| 32 | SWEET CHARITY – SWEET (fool, say) then CHARY (cautious) around 1 T (one time) |
| 33 | BACKSLAPPING – BACKS (players) + LAPPING (like waves on the shore) |
| 37 | WHARFEDALE – W[els]H A[cto]R FED (given food) ALE (drink). One of the Yorkshire Dales and my personal favourite. |
| 38 | ALTRUISTIC – ALT (key, on a keyboard) then I in RUSTIC |
| 41 | SWORDPLAY – S (singular) then WORD PLAY (punning). A rather odd definition “Brand management?”, but a brand can be a cutting or thrusting weapon with a long blade |
| 42 | DOMINANT – (BADMINTON)* with the B |
| 46 | OLD BILL – I thought this was a rubbish clue when solving but it isn’t; I just hadn’t twigged what was going on. In a theatre the “bill” is the list of events and performers. So an old bill is “evidence of previous appearances in theatre” |
| 47 | FRESCO – FRES[h] then C (about) and O (old) |
| 48 | SECTOR – SEC (dry, of champagne) then TOR (hill) |
| 50 | NABOB – NA (flipping AN) then BOB. Bob is slang for a shilling, now equivalent to 5p, in the old days when verything was simple and we had four farthings in a penny, 12 pennies in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound. None of your new-fangled decimal stuff. |
| 52 | CROC – CROC[k] |
Norman Rockwell is very well-known in the US, although probably widely disparaged as kitschy. He was best-known for his covers for the Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. (Perhaps his appearance here is to provide solace for such as I who didn’t know Attwell in a previous jumbo.) And ‘arroyo’ is common parlance in the Western US, at least.
Are there any unlively Spanish dances? Yes – the saraband.
You must have missed Norman Rockwell’s America at the Dulwich Picture Gallery earlier this year. I’m slightly surprised you haven’t come across him before as I’d have thought he was quite popular over here – though maybe people recognise his pictures but not his name.
I don’t understand your comment on GO OUT ON A LIMB. (Where does a house come into the picture?) Surely the clue is simply about tree-climbing, and going out along a branch (or limb) away from the trunk. I used to love climbing trees when I was young, but I can’t remember when I last saw anyone doing it other than tree surgeons working with harnesses and other safety equipment.
Wharfedale – yes indeed. I used to live in Ben Rhydding, a couple of hundred yards from the Wharfe.