Times Cryptic Jumbo 1446 – kicking against the what?

Author   PenfoldPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
This was mostly fairly gentle I thought, with the odd funny word to keep us on our toes, and only took about 35 minutes.  First in was MOIST and last was DIGESTERS.  Can you remember how you found it?.  It struck me there were a few examples of gratuitous words knocking about like “being required” and “to appear in”.

If any of my explanations don’t make sense then feel free to ask for further elucidation.

Clues are in blue with the definition undelined.  Anagram indicators are in bold italics.

Notation:

DD: Double definition

CD: Cryptic definition

DDCDH: DD/CD hybrid where a straight definition is combined with a cryptic hint.

&Lit:  “all in one” where the entire clue is both definition and wordplay.

(fodder)* denotes an anagram of the letters in the brackets.

Rounded brackets are also used to add further clarity

Squiggly brackets {} indicate parts of a word not used

Deletions are struck out

Square brackets [] expand an abbreviation or shortening like N[orth]


Across

1
Huge Parisian friends entertaining street criminals with partners? (9)

BIGAMISTS – BIG, AMIS around ST[reet]

6
Courtesy of French firm finishing with drink (7)

DECORUM – DE (of (in) French), CO[mpany], RUM

10
Dresses as backward-looking father, retro style (5)

SARIS – As reversed, SIR reversed.  A quick scan didn’t turn up any dictionary support for sir = father, and there’s no indication to drop the E of sire, but I guess in Victorian / Edwardian times a boy might address his father as “sir”.  Any other suggestions?

13
Bird in the morning by heather then wanted, not half, to cross silver lake (8,5)

AMERICAN EAGLE – A.M., ERICA, NEEded around AG & L. Phew.  Probably best to just biff this one, eh?

14
Idiot, one enthralling African politicians, producing sort of vocal repetition (9)

ASSONANCE – ASS, ONE around A[frican] N[ational] C[ongress]

15
One good old-style rocker around Belfast etc. getting lit up (7)

IGNITED – I, G[ood], N[orthern] I[reland], TED.  Hoorah, Jimbo’s campaign to stop the Times calling TEDs delinquents has finally paid off.  He’ll probably go out and smash up a phone box to celebrate.

16
Daughter is meeting short beast returning — trouble! (7)

DISTURB – D[aughter], IS, reversal of BRUT{e}

17
A very old city engages chum as unpaid volunteer? (7)

AMATEUR – A, UR around MATE.  I missed the email telling us that UR had been upgraded from old city to very old city.  Such exciting news.

18
Difficult to put up with lane in which vehicles may be stopped (4,8)

HARD SHOULDER – HARD, SHOULDER.

20
Bored officer, one with expression of dismay when boss comes round (10)

STULTIFIED – L[ieutenan]T, I, FIE all in STUD

23
Store with sign of approval for the most part (5)

CACHE – CACHE{t}

24
Naughty sister, I have to be kicking against the pricks (9)

RESISTIVE – (sister)*, I’VE.  I’d never heard the expression (I’m not 100% I’ve encountered the word for it either) but managed to put 2 & 2 together and make 4. Is this familiar to anyone else?

25
Former queen getting on and turning crazy (7)

QUONDAM – One of the puzzle’s funny words that I had to piece together from wordplay.

26
Hurry around and sound cheerful maybe in one type of institution (7,4)

NURSING HOME – RUN reversed, SING, HOME (in)

28
Writer with another novel about foremost of detectives, a multifaceted figure (11)

PENTAHEDRON – PEN, (another)* around D{etectives}

30
Provoked and greatly worried by social worker (11)

ANTAGONISED – AGONISED next to ANT

32
Stirring words provided by former husband starting speech — about time! (11)

EXHORTATION -EX, H{usband}, ORATION around T[ime]

34
Twelve daughters, indeed, following hardly anybody? (7)

NOONDAY – D[aughters], AY, after NO ON{e}

36
Music-maker having short drink given word of approval in newspaper (9)

FLAGEOLET -LAGE{r}, OLE in F[inancial] T[imes]

38
Like Rex when forming dire pop group? (5)

INDIE – To make diRe you put R{ex} IN DIE.  I don’t see how INDIE = pop group.  Pop genre, record label, yes.  I see INDIE as an adjective rather than a noun.  What am I missing?

39
Record being played, something sure to upset (10)

DISCONCERT – DISC, ON, CERT

41
A fine handout arranged for spring (12)

FOUNTAINHEAD – (a fine handout)*

45
Funny drawing box containing extra egg? (7)

CARTOON – CARTON with an extra O oviposited.

46
Little sleep and some food — what babies need? (7)

NAPPIES – NAP, PIES

47
Attempt to capture India with diary that consists of three books (7)

TRILOGY – TRY around I[ndia] & LOG

49
Edit a clue somehow, and explain (9)

ELUCIDATE – (editaclue)*

50
Troubled inner-city geek shows work capacity in motion (7,6)

KINETIC ENERGY – (inner-city geek)*

52
Monsieur? The Parisian stalking a bird (5)

TITLE – LE after TIT

53
A Cockney idol, bringer of brightness in the mist (7)

AEROSOL – A, {h}ERO, SOL

54
Correspondent in prison, day before death (3-6)

PEN-FRIEND – PEN[itentiary], FRI[day], END

Down

1
Clumsy mistake has listener interrupting (7)

BEARISH – BISH interrupted by EAR

2
Trader in public space coarser in speech (11)

GREENGROCER – GREEN + homophone of GROSSER

3
Damp cat can get upset — is to be kept inside (5)

MOIST – TOM reversed around IS

4
Obnoxious person penning article, thus one held in contempt? (2-3-2)

SO-AND-SO – SOD around AN, SO

5
Woman certainly not right to take legal action (3)

SUE – SUrE and two defs for the price of one.

6
Like organic compounds in vessels for extraction (9)

DIGESTERS – DIG, ESTERS.  Gizmos used to make extracts of veg etc.

7
What sounds like European method of payment (6)

CHEQUE – sounds like CZECH

8
Mostly prepared in place where there may be no soldiers to understand hidden message (4,7,3,5)

READ BETWEEN THE LINES – READ{y}, BETWEEN THE LINES

9
Host going round is meeting everyone, giving address inappropriately? (7)

MISCALL – MC around IS, ALL

10
Religious army overcoming terrible iron man in country (3,6)

SAN MARINO – S[alvation] A[rmy] on top of (iron man)*.

11
Discoverer of mountains gets instrument to assess distance (11)

RANGEFINDER – DDCDH

12
Guide is wise person covering start of tour (5)

STEER – SEER around T{our}

16
Psychological problem damaging us: no-one disregardful (9,2,8)

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR – (us no-one disregardful)*

19
Trying to find location of bishop and monarch (7)

SEEKING – SEE (as in diocese), KING

21
Old male favoured in social event to be in control (9)

DOMINANCE – O[ld] M[ale] IN in DANCE.  I underlined just control as that would provide an appropriate nounal definition but that makes “to be in” padding.  For “to be in control” to be the definition then the answer would have to be DOMINATE.

22
Drink very quietly, wearing a hat (6)

TIPPLE – PP in TILE

23
Detain criminal, prisoner at the outset to be restricted (9)

CONTAINED – (detain)* after CON[vict]

24
English in pressing situation without leader — the answer? (7)

REGENCY – E[nglish] in uRGENCY.  Bordering on a semi &Lit.

25
Yard above desert in area of environmental significance (7)

QUADRAT – QUAD on RAT.  It’s a small marked-off area of ground involved in ecological study.

27
Make beloved stop with attentiveness being required (6)

ENDEAR – END, EAR

29
Telling a story, not beginning to give sense of joy (7)

ELATION – rELATION

31
Silly tourist sure to appear in two-piece outfit (7,4)

TROUSER SUIT – (tourist sure)*

33
Provide series of lectures at the appropriate time (2,3,6)

IN DUE COURSE – INDUE, COURSE

35
Remove smell from house finally through swinging side door (9)

DEODORISE – {hous}E in (side door)*

37
Each lover originally receiving proposal may be this (9)

EMOTIONAL – EA[ch] L{over} around MOTION

40
Rubbish in wedding venue presented as “musical item” (7)

CANTATA – TAT in CANA (where the water / wine thingy happened)

42
Unknown investigator probing teetotal movement with any number of old people (7)

AZTECAN – Z, TEC in A[lcoholics] A[nonymous] + N

43
Unemotional and boring, I had to be listened to (3-4)

DRY-EYED -DRY + homophone of I’D

44
Laces in sports shoes (6)

SPIKES – DD

45
Talk around start of exam and get someone else’s answers? (5)

CHEAT – CHAT around E{xam}

48
Intimate transgressor losing head (5)

INNER – sINNER

51
What waiter would like, giving hint (3)

TIP – DD.  This won’t make any sense at all to our lovely US solvers (to whom happy 4th of July!).  For them, it should say “What waiter expects regardless of the quality of service provided and if it is so much as a cent under 18% you’d better have a darned good reason for coming up short, giving hint”.

10 comments on “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1446 – kicking against the what?”

  1. INDIE was my LOI, and I put it in without knowing how it worked, or indeed if. But no eyebrow raised as to the definition; probably I was too tired. I’ve known ‘kick against the Trumps’ for ages, probably first coming across it in Trollope somewhere. The figure comes from horses, I believe; what one might do if you were overusing your spurs. ON EDIT: Not a horse, an ox. The source is Acts, Paul on the road to Damascus:
    And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

    I have never, on the other hand, come across RESISTIVE, and I never will. ‘Father’ used to be a non-U form of address; Mrs General corrects Amy Dorrit, advising that ‘Papa’ is the proper form (and recommending ‘prunes’ and ‘prism’ as well).

    Edited at 2020-07-04 01:03 pm (UTC)

  2. Not too hard, as already stated. I am just happy to have it come up as all correct, for once in a while
  3. A nice puzzle, not too demanding. I liked the unusual construction at 5dn with wordplay in the middle and a definition at either end. I don’t recall seeing that before.
  4. Rather gentle, this one – unlike today’s. Probably my quickest Jumbo ever, taking just over 22 minutes. I had similar misgivings about 10A and 21D and never heard of the phrase at 24A, but I never spotted the problem with INDIE. NHO 25D, but got from wordplay. I liked REGENCY and ELUCIDATE.
  5. 14:03. That may be a PB, but I spoiled it with a typo that gave me GREENGROCEN and NUNSING HOME. Grr.
    No I’ve never heard the expression ‘kick against the pricks’ and I agree on pop group = INDIE. INDIE band, surely. And I can’t help on ‘sir’.
    1. Looking at my posting, I realize that I left out the relevant part, viz. that back then children–at least of a certain age (and class)–would address their pa as ‘Sir’; what Penfold said, in short.
      1. I don’t think that makes them synonyms. Soldiers refer to their superiors as ‘sir’ but that doesn’t make it a synonym for ‘general’.
        1. Right, nor was I suggesting that they were synonyms, at least as referring nouns. I meant that, as Penfold was suggesting, they’re equivalent as vocatives; or were. (And soldiers don’t refer to officers as ‘Sir’, they address them as such.)
          1. The fact that the words might be used in the same context doesn’t, in my view, make them equivalent. I call my son both ‘son’ and ‘Charlie’.
  6. This was one of the easiest jumbos I can remember. Today’s, on the other hand…

    I’m surprised that everyone doesn’t know “kick against the pricks” since it is a famous quote from a famous scene in the Bible.

Comments are closed.