Jumbo New Year’s greetings to you all. I hope you enjoyed the festive period whether or not you spent it in festive fashion (I did and didn’t, respectively) and look forward to meeting the challenges of 2020. If I were one for making resolutions I might resolve to prepare these Jumbo blogs a little more in advance. But I’m not, because I’ve realised it’s all pointless. Er, yes, Happy New Year!
Some of the content here was on the edge of or outside my knowledge, but the wordplay enabled me to reach into the recesses of the seasonal leftovers of my brain and find the truffles amongst the wrapping. In the end there were a couple I didn’t manage unaided, but the whole exercise took me around an hour, which for me marks a Jumbo more soft-centred than nutty. I immensely enjoyed the experience, with a real variety of subject matter and clues which were a pleasure to solve. Many thanks to the setter for 40d!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, [deletions] in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.
| Across | |
| 1 | Not close to Italian? On the contrary (3,4,2) |
| FAR FROM IT — FAR FROM (not close to) + IT (Italian) | |
| 6 | Attack report revealing credit arrangement (6,7) |
| CHARGE ACCOUNT — CHARGE (attack) + ACCOUNT (report) | |
| 13 | Forward terms of reference (5) |
| REMIT — A double definition | |
| 14 | Lifting problem? (11) |
| KLEPTOMANIA — A cryptic definition, playing on two meanings of lifting | |
| 15 | Relish spring, reportedly (5) |
| SAUCE — A homophone (… reportedly) of SOURCE (spring) | |
| 16 | Revolutionary chess organisation all the players, men, backed after second of elections (5,6) |
| FIDEL CASTRO — FIDE (chess organisation, The Fédération Internationale des Échecs), then CAST (all the players) and the reversal of (… backed) OR (men, other ranks) after the second letter of eLections | |
| 17 | Retailer‘s son pulled apart guard (11) |
| STOREKEEPER — A charade of S (son), TORE (pulled apart), and KEEPER (guard) | |
| 18 | Left one’s home, dated (4,3) |
| GONE OUT — Two definitions | |
| 20 | One fills some of the time at work (7) |
| DENTIST — A cryptic definition: some of the dentist’s work is spent filling | |
| 21 | I caught it sitting next to poorly criminal (7) |
| ILLICIT — I (I) + C (caught) + IT (it) appended to (sitting next to) ILL (poorly) | |
| 23 | Film male and female in ditch coupling (3,6,10) |
| THE FRENCH CONNECTION — HE (male) and F (female) in TRENCH (ditch) followed by CONNECTION (coupling). One of very many classic films I haven’t seen, although I was a mere egg in 1971 | |
| 27 | Fabulous bird having origins in Russia or China (3) |
| ROC — The first letters of (origins in) Russia Or China | |
| 28 | Member of the clergy in park by rocky hill (6) |
| RECTOR — REC (park) by TOR (rocky hill) | |
| 29 | Performer appearing in Hobart is Tasmanian (6) |
| ARTIST — The performer is appearing in HobART IS Tasmanian | |
| 31 | Hit black bird of prey in hollow (9) |
| PUNCHBOWL — PUNCH (hit) + B (black) + OWL (bird of prey) | |
| 34 | Page writer inside saw in supplement (9) |
| APPENDAGE — P (page) and PEN (writer) inside ADAGE (saw) | |
| 35 | Better when Focke, perhaps, loses height (6) |
| ENRICH — [h]ENRICH (Focke, perhaps) loses H (height) | |
| 36 | Lucky charm found in the old lady’s bed (6) |
| MASCOT — MA’S (the old lady’s) + COT (bed) | |
| 39 | Rhubarb crumble (3) |
| ROT — A double definition | |
| 40 | Record statement made by Walter Mitty? (3,1,4,2,2,2,5) |
| ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM — The name of this record is something which Walter Mitty could have said | |
| 42 | Lock of hair stuck inside covering letter (7) |
| RINGLET — The required tress is placed in (stuck inside) coveRING LETter | |
| 43 | Caustic play on words fellow delivers (7) |
| PUNGENT — Combining PUN (play on words) and GENT (fellow) delivers our answer | |
| 45 | Boat clubs backed by authority (7) |
| CORACLE — C (clubs) followed by (backed by) ORACLE (authority) | |
| 47 | Gemstone is left in Bolivian city university, large one (5,6) |
| LAPIS LAZULI — IS (is) + L (left) in LA PAZ (Bolivian city) + U (university) + L (large) + I (one) | |
| 49 | Scottish group in Arizona react badly about me being imprisoned (5,6) |
| AZTEC CAMERA — AZ (Arizona) with an anagram of (… badly) REACT, CA (about), and ME (me) inside (being imprisoned). I didn’t know this group; having assembled it I could instantly hear Barry Cryer claiming its existence in I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue’s “Word For Word” round … | |
| 51 | Brigadoon girl heading off round island’s ancient region (5) |
| IONIA — [f]IONA (Brigadoon girl) without the first letter (heading off) around (round) I (island) | |
| 52 | Ordered cab to canals in Spanish region (5,6) |
| COSTA BLANCA — An anagram of (ordered) CAB TO CANALS | |
| 53 | Strangely frightening eastern chain with no borders (5) |
| EERIE — E (eastern) + [s]ERIE[s] (chain) without the letters at either end (with no borders) | |
| 54 | Courage needed with large waves: they cause grief (13) |
| HEARTBREAKERS — HEART (courage) with BREAKERS (large waves) | |
| 55 | Murderer that court set free (3-6) |
| CUT-THROAT — THAT COURT anagrammed (set free) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Emergency service worker using axe on military aircraft (11) |
| FIREFIGHTER — FIRE (axe, from a job) on FIGHTER (military aircraft) | |
| 2 | Mother entering stage school gets lead in Norma fast (7) |
| RAMADAN — MA (mother) inserted into (entering) RADA (stage school) + the first letter of (lead in) Norma | |
| 3 | Charge pounds for a badger-like creature (5) |
| RATEL — RATE (charge) + L (pounds) | |
| 4 | Batsmen hoping to do this adopt a determined attitude? (4,1,5) |
| MAKE A STAND — Batsmen might hope to MAKE A STAND, or cricketing partnership | |
| 5 | Attended to grooved surface round edges of tyre (7) |
| TREATED — TREAD (grooved surface) around the outer letters of (edges of) TyrE | |
| 6 | Wallpaper may have been put in one’s place (3,4,2,4) |
| CUT DOWN TO SIZE — Wallpaper might be CUT DOWN TO SIZE, size being the paste used for preparing the wallpaper or walls before papering, although being trimmed to fit would also work. I mentioned ISIHAC above, so here’s a letter from Mrs Trellis of North Wales: “Dear Mr Titchmarsh, never let them tell you that size isn’t important. My aunt told me that, but then all my new wallpaper fell off.” | |
| 7 | District Attorney up calling for confession (9) |
| ADMISSION — DA (District Attorney) reversed (up, in a down answer) + MISSION (calling) | |
| 8 | Naval vessel in attack, protecting peacekeepers? Bravo (7) |
| GUNBOAT — GO AT (attack) surrounding (protecting) UN (peacekeepers) and B (Bravo) | |
| 9 | Institute members came in as acid thrown (12) |
| ACADEMICIANS — CAME IN AS ACID made into an anagram (thrown) | |
| 10 | Governor‘s girl in prison (9) |
| CASTELLAN — STELLA (Stella) in CAN (prison). One of my fails: I guessed Sheila as the girl, to invent a new (non-)word. Oh dear! | |
| 11 | Supplant head of union by surprise? Not half! (5) |
| USURP — The first letter of (head of) Union by SURP[rise] with the second half omitted (not half) | |
| 12 | The staggering article about oxygen is speculative (11) |
| THEORETICAL — THE (from the clue) plus an anagram of (staggering) ARTICLE around (about) O (oxygen) | |
| 19 | Worn out, comic producing play (3,4) |
| OUR TOWN — WORN OUT anagrammed (comic). A play by Thornton Wilder | |
| 22 | Concern about rival in case (9) |
| CARTOUCHE — CARE (concern) around (about) TOUCH (rival, as a verb) | |
| 24 | Operetta: top it in style (2,7) |
| EL CAPITAN — CAP (top) and IT (it) in ÉLAN (style). An operetta by John Philip Sousa | |
| 25 | Rachel thrown under horse in North Wales town (7) |
| HARLECH — An anagram of (… thrown) RACHEL following (under, in a down answer) H (horse) | |
| 26 | Top Italian novelist died in coastal area of Massachusetts (4,3) |
| CAPE COD — A charade of CAP (top), ECO (Italian novelist Umberto), and D (died) | |
| 30 | Change what one plays in casino and get ahead after being behind? (4,3,6) |
| TURN THE TABLES — This could mean to change – TURN – what one plays in a casino – THE TABLES. In fact, it seems that this phrase originated from players at backgammon changing sides | |
| 32 | Not so easy housing old compulsive collector (7) |
| HOARDER — HARDER (not so easy) containing (housing) O (old) | |
| 33 | Allow daughter to interrupt acrobat, an artiste (6,6) |
| BALLET DANCER — LET (allow) and D (daughter) inserted into (to interrupt) BALANCER (acrobat) | |
| 34 | Goddess, British actress, in a work by Browning (6,5) |
| AURORA LEIGH — AURORA (goddess, the Roman goddess of dawn) plus LEIGH (British actress Vivien). The work is an epic novel/poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning | |
| 37 | Method of painting intended, we hear, to depict nature (11) |
| TEMPERAMENT — TEMPERA (method of painting) + MENT, which sounds like (… we hear) MEANT (intended) | |
| 38 | Magic circle originally taken in with guile (10) |
| WITCHCRAFT — The first letter of (… originally) Circle included in (taken in) WITH (from the clue) + CRAFT (guile) | |
| 40 | Impressive person, girl, appearing in double bill, then tango (1,5,3) |
| A CLASS ACT — LASS (girl) inside (appearing in) AC AC (double bill), then T (tango) | |
| 41 | Clear leader in variety show (9) |
| VINDICATE — The first letter of (leader in) Variety + INDICATE (show) | |
| 43 | Former German state – American in Paris confused (7) |
| PRUSSIA — US (American) in an anagram of (… confused) PARIS | |
| 44 | Huge film (7) |
| TITANIC — A double definition | |
| 46 | Salute maiden seduced by Zeus for so long (7) |
| CHEERIO — CHEER (salute) + IO (maiden seduced by Zeus in Greek mythology) | |
| 48 | Herbivore also kept by father (5) |
| PANDA — AND (also) inside (kept by) PA (father) | |
| 50 | A letter in Hebrew starts to amaze locals entering public house (5) |
| ALEPH — This is not just a letter in Hebrew, it’s A letter in Hebrew. It’s also the initial letters of (starts to) Amaze Locals Entering Public House | |
Really they should only allow well-known groups, and then only after they are dead (which this one is) 🙂
Nho el Capitan or Henrich but got them anyway
Edited at 2020-01-04 09:24 am (UTC)
All together now, ‘somewhere in my heart there is a star that shines for you…’