Jumbo 991 – A mid Olympic solve – remember them? back in the day…

As a change from the norm, I have typed this one up straight after doing it, so it should be perfectly fresh and relevant at the time of writing. This was a fairly gentle offering bar a few odd ones that I didnt know towards the end dragging it out towards 45 mins. A lot of these went in from definition and checkers, and the speed was helped by seeing the long anagrams at 11D and 20D straight away.

Across
1	EXTRAVAGANT – RAVAG(e) – most of ruin, inside EXTANT=surviving. With three Xs in my first three in, 1A, 1D, 5D, I thought we were on to something, but it was just coincidence!
7	DRESSED DOWN – double def, oft used chestnut
13	PRIVATE ENTERPRISE – PRIVATE=soldier, ENTER=put in, P=power, RISE=revolt, slightly cryptic definition.
14	FLEET – FLEE=run, T=short time, def is fast
15	TIGRIS – TIG(e)R = fierce creature, out east (no E). IS=lives, for the river.
16	EX GRATIA – (ie a tax)* outside GR=george rex=king
17	CANDOUR – “CAN DO” = willing and positive statement, UR=you are, said.
19	IMMIGRANT – I=one, MM=limited measure, I GRANT=permit.
21	JUNCTION – took far too long on this, even though the answer seemed obvious from checkers, didnt stick in until I got the word play because of the slightly obscure definition of “combination”. Word play is J=judge, CT=court in UNION=working group, although for ages I was looking at an anagram of J, COURT IN !
23	SNAP – cryptic def
25	TOSCA – first letters of Tragic Opera Singing Con Amore.
27	BOOING – BOING=what bouncer produces, around O=oval
28	DISTRAUGHT – D=daughter, IS TAUGHT=takes instruction, around one of the three Rs.
30	SEDATING – D=democrat in SEATING=settles,
31	GO TO THE COUNTRY – double def, if one leaves the capital, one probably heads into the country, and the second is calling an election.
34	BENEFACTRESSES – N=new in BEEF=complaint, ACTRESSES=entertainers.
35	DENOUNCE – DEN=lair, OUNCE is the “crossword” cat!
38	SWITCHED ON – (with second)*
40	ABLAZE – A B(oat) LAZE=take it easy
41	SWAMI – Crawl being one of the swimming strokes
43	NAIF – not sure I like this one, but it is reference to the fact that NAIF is masculine and NAIVE feminine, although does that translate into english as well?
44	FEARSOME – (sea for me)*
45	MONASTERY – ON=held up by, inside MASTERY=control.
48	SCARLET – this was one that held me up for a while, before punted it from definition alone. Did not know of the book “scarlet letter”, but still not sure where the “first” comes in.
49	KNOCKERS – double def
50	ULSTER – this went in from checkers, after all else around, since I did not know of the ULSTER COAT.
53	MAINE – sounds like MAIN=key and also MANE=locks
54	AFFIRMATIVE ACTION – (a fair motive in fact)*
55	NONSTANDARD – N=name, ON STANDARD=flag.
56	TAGLIATELLE – (a little gale)*

Down
1	EXPATRIATES – EXPATIATES around R=monarch
2	THING – THIN=short of substance, on G(overnment)
3	ABASING – IS, reversed, in A BANG=strike
4	AVER – A VER(b)
5	ANNEXATION – NEX(t) = almost succeeding, in A NATION=people.
6	THE TROJAN HORSE – type of computer virus and the historical siege ender.
7	DEPUTING – hidden in “siDE PUT IN Goal”
8	ELIZA – Z inside ELIA for Ms.Doolittle
9	SKETCH OUT – S=small, KETCH=vessel, OUT=in error
10	DEFEND – FED=passed the ball, reversed, then END=goal. Nice surface reading.
11	ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE – (O in golden age that I)*
12	NATUROPATHY – (aunt)* AT H=hospital inside ROPY=inferior
18	RABBINIC – RABBI(t)=short chat, NIC(e)=mostly pleasant.
20	MISIDENTIFICATION – (manifest in idiotic)*
22	THIGHS – hidden in “exuberanT HIGH Spirits”
24	FABULOUS – (of usual)* around B=book
26	ARTEFACT – A(lte)R T(h)E, FACT=reality.
29	POWER BREAKFAST – cryptic definition, with consumer=eater. Did not know this phrase, so it was a toss up between MONEY and POWER (I rejected HONEY early on!!)
32	CHEYENNE – apparently this sounds like SHY ANNE
33	ARMOUR – R=queen, in AMOUR=love affair
34	BUSINESSMEN – I NESS=point, inside BUSMEN
36	EMILY BRONTE – (liberty men)* outside O=nothing
37	EARMARKING – MARK=old currency in E=european, A=area, RING=cartel
39	EYESTRAIN – YES=indeed, (retinas)* outside. semi &lit, and one of those words that turns up far more in crosswords that it statistically should! Perhaps it offers a unique set of checkers.
42	HONOURED – hidden in “speecH ON OUR EDucation”
46	SOLICIT – SO=accordingly, LICIT=lawful
47	ALBERT – ALERT=warning about B=british
49	KAFKA – K=king, A=ace, repeatedly about F=female
51	TWILL – THE WILL=determination, without HE, for the fabric
52	SEMI – double def, home is one, and the whole rest of the clue is the other!

4 comments on “Jumbo 991 – A mid Olympic solve – remember them? back in the day…”

A steady solve this with no great difficulties except those you have mentioned.
I think the point about 48ac is that the Scarlet Letter is in fact an “A,” (ie also the first letter in American) – see the plot summary in the link. The plot of this book sounds unintentionally hilarious, to the modern reader, or at least, to me

Stopped timing myself after a half an hour, and continued desultorily. We’ve had CHEYENNE before, and it is, in fact, a perfect homophone for ‘shy Anne’. And I’ve seen NAIF used in English, no doubt by the sort of pedant one would rather not meet, but used nonetheless. Jerry, consider yourself lucky that the Puritans lost in your country; they won in mine.

JerryW says:

19 August 2012 at 3:49 PM

I’ve never thought of it that way, but I think you are right: an unlovely combination of violence and prurience. Present company excepted of course, and mind you England still has a puritan majority.

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