Times Cryptic Jumbo 1482 – 6th February

Author   JohninterredPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic

A rather middle-of-the-road Jumbo, I thought; many of the clues clues wouldn’t be out of place in a Quick Cryptic, I suspect. But, as usual, there are still a couple of unknowns to expose my general ignorance and some entertaining clues, such as 29A, 34A and 54A… and more, albeit with a couple of MERs too. Good fun. Thank-you setter! How did you all get on?

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and [] other indicators.

Across
1 Dancing legend in bank that was for well-to-do people (6,7)
MIDDLE ENGLAND – (legend)* [dancing] [in] MIDLAND (bank that was; now part of HSBC). The famous dancing bank manager. Now there’s a thought.
8 Asian to show fear endlessly outside a burial chamber (9)
PAKISTANI – PANIc (fear) [endlessly] [outside] A KIST (burial chamber). not sure I knew KIST = burial chamber, but it rang a bell somehow.
13 Two-wheeler parked in Clifton Gardens (5)
TONGA – hidden [parked in] ClifTON GArdens. I got this from the wordplay and looked it up to find what it is… “A tonga or tanga is a light carriage or curricle drawn by one horse (compare ekka) used for transportation in the Indian subcontinent. They have a canopy over the carriage with a single pair of large wheels. The passengers reach the seats from the rear while the driver sits in front of the carriage“. As for Clifton Gardens… no I can’t afford to live there. Can you?
14 When reversing around headland, move steadily, arriving at anchorage (5,4)
SCAPA FLOW – AS (when) [reversing] -> SA [around] CAP (headland), FLOW (move steadily). A body of water in the Orkneys that is one of the great natural harbours and anchorages of the world.
15 Nick sees parrot initially quiet in cage (3,4)
COP SHOP – Parrot [initially] SH (quiet) [in] COOP (cage).
16 Erica, keeping well, finally to rearrange spa (6,6)
HEALTH RESORT – HEATH (Erica; aka heather) [keeping] welL [finally] RESORT (rearrange). A bit of an odd surface.
17 Note refusal to talk about current ability to recover (10)
RESILIENCE – RE (note; second of the sol-fa scale), SILENCE (refusal to talk) [about] I (symbol for electric current). Have England the resilience to do better in the 3rd Test in India?
18 Hunter to be storing silver in box for return (6)
EAGLET – AG (chemical symbol for Silver) [in] TELE (box) reversed [for return] -> ELET. I had a momentary panic coming to blog this when I had forgotten how it worked and worried I’d got it wrong.
19 Lug instrument and books round room (8)
OTOSCOPE – Ha, ha – nice definition. OT (old testament; books) O (round letter) SCOPE (room).
21 Small arachnids in the country (6)
STICKS – S (small) TICKS (arachnids).
24 Sailor man brawling with bruiser (10)
SUBMARINER – (man bruiser)* [brawling].
26 Gated community in California? (3,9)
SAN FRANCISCO – Cryptic definition, refering to the Golden Gate bridge. [Update: Thanks, Kevin]. The Golden Gate Bridge is so named because it spans the Golden Gate, making SF a gated community.
29 East onto A40 for one taking wheel (4)
AXLE – E (East) after [onto] A XL (40). Clever.
30 Partner previously generous succeeded in cases (8)
EXAMPLES – EX (partner previously) AMPLE (generous) S (succeeded).
31 Old singers and actors abandon one (8)
CASTRATI – CAST (actors) RAT (abandon) I (one). Read all about them here.
34 See it in Country Life (8)
VITALITY – V (videlicet; see), IT [in] ITALY (country). Neat surface with reference to the magazine and the need to lift and separate the definition.
35 Check when boarding earlier vessel (8)
SCHOONER – CH (check) inside [when boarding] SOONER (earlier). “A schooner is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of 2 or more masts and, in the case of a 2 masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schooner also has a square topsail on the foremast, to which may be added a topgallant“.
36 First man, first male to forsake brothel-keeper (4)
ADAM – mADAM (brothel-keeper) losing the first M (male). And the first palindrome might have been when he introduced himself to Eve (If he spoke English)… “Madam I’m Adam”.
39 State London borough has empty properties to rent (3,9)
NEW HAMPSHIRE – NEWHAM (London borough), PropertieS [empty] HIRE (rent). Another neat surface. What is it with this state? We have had two further references to it in other crosswords since this one.
40 Chemist needing a drug — he runs out of stock (10)
APOTHECARY – A POT (drug) HE CARrY (stock) without 1 of the Rs [runs out]. Bit of a MER here at “runs out” removing only one of the Rs, but it’s needed to make the surface work, I suppose.
43 Rebellion when peacekeepers take break? (6)
UNREST – UN (United Nations; peacekeepers) REST (break). Another nice surface.
44 Firms paid in charge for appearances only (8)
COSMETIC – COS (Companies; firms) MET (paid) IC (in charge).
45 Meat for each basket holding food (6)
HAMPER – HAM (meat) PER (for each).
49 Spinning line, TV sage is one preaching (10)
EVANGELIST – [spinning] (line TV sage)*.
51 Plymouth has a busted temperature controller (12)
HYPOTHALAMUS – (Plymouth has a)* [busted]. The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain which controls a number of things including temperature.
53 Midshipman, after discarding two hearts, holds the king (7)
OLDSTER – Without two ‘h’s [discarding two hearts] hOLDS ThE R (Rex; King). I didn’t know it’s secondary meaning… “a person who has been a midshipman for four years.” Did you?
54 Range shown by decidedly English singer (9)
FIELDFARE – The singer here being a bird. FIELD (range) FAR (decidedly) E (English). A sort of large collourful thrush. Read about them here.
55 Sweetheart in wood one obtaining tree resin (5)
ELEMI – Sneaky! You have to split the first word. swEet [heart] [in] ELM (wood), I (one).
56 Practical once confined to breathe one’s last inside (9)
EXPEDIENT – EX– (once) PENT (confined) with DIE (to breathe one’s last) [inside]. A rare clunky surface.
57 Set gathered together for an evening meal? (6,7)
DINNER SERVICE – Cryptic definition, referring to the set of matching plates etc.
Down
1 Beyond compare in Lima, introduced to dull game (9)
MATCHLESS – L (Lima in the NATO phonetic alphabet) in [introduced to] MAT (dull) CHESS (game).
2 Half-hidden area witch guards in city for locals (3,4)
DEN HAAG – [half] hidDEN, HAG (witch) with A (area) inside [guards]. The locals’ (i.e. Dutch) name for The Hague.
3 Dishevelled lady we hate to precede (4,3,3)
LEAD THE WAY – (lady we hate)* [dishevelled].
4 Guarantee rebuke when scratching head (6)
ENSURE – cENSURE (rebuke) without its first letter [scratching head].
5 Willing to talk over carrying weight in hand luggage (9,3)
GLADSTONE BAG – GLAD (willing), GAB (talk) [over] -> BAG, outside [carrying] STONE (weight). “The Gladstone Bag was originally designed by J. G. Beard at his leather shop in the City of Westminster. Beard was an avid admirer of four-time Prime Minister William Gladstone, so much so that he named this famous hinged bag after him.“
6 Work to support corruption in Africa deserved arrest (1,4,3)
A FAIR COP – OP (opus; work) underneath [supporting] [corruption in] (Africa)*.
7 Valley at last supplied with beer (4)
DALE – Last letter of supplieD [at last] ALE (beer).
8 What’s ultimately convoluted in government publicity? Patter has it? (6-4)
POWDER-PUFF – Last letter of [ultimately] convoluteD [in] POWER (government), PUFF (publicity). A bit of a quirky definition.
9 Start to work, breaking habit of finishing early (4,2)
KICK IN – KICKINg (breaking habit) without the last letter [finishing early].
10 Devious pundit that is taking in guy — one in fashionable set (12)
SOPHISTICATE – SOPHIST (pundit) I.E. (that is), [taking in] CAT (guy).
11 Starters of aubergine served with chicken pasty (5)
ASHEN – [starters of] Aubergine Served, HEN (chicken). Doesn’t sound very tasty to me.
12 Art school illusion is magical at first (13)
IMPRESSIONISM – IMPRESSION (illusion) IS Magical [at first].
20 Greek ferryman outside gym finds young female companion (8)
CHAPERON – CHARON (greek ferryman across the River Styx) [outside] P.E. (gym).
22 Charlie, fool with artillery, one anticipating disaster (9)
CASSANDRA – C (Charlie) ASS (fool) AND (with) R.A. (Royal Artillery; artillery). The prophetic Trojan priestess.
23 Team with pace to avoid tackles (8)
SIDESTEP – SIDE (team) STEP (pace). I’m looking forward to the Calcutta Cup winners winning again.
25 One shouting loudly when taking in Turin’s original campanile (4-5)
BELL-TOWER – BELLOWER (one shouting loudly) [taking in] Turin’s first letter [original].
27 Expedition to the French metropolis must cross river (8)
ALACRITY – A LA (to the, in French) CITY (metropolis) outside [must cross] R (river).
28 Mushrooms springing up with cap incomplete in colourful range (8)
SPECTRUM – CEPS (mushrooms] reversed [springing up] -> SPEC, TRUMp (cap) [incomplete].
29 Arrival with banker — certain people taking risks (13)
ADVENTURESOME – ADVENT (arrival) URE (the river in Yorkshire; banker) SOME (certain people)
32 Perceptive about poet quoted on the radio (5-7)
CLEAR-SIGHTED – C (circa; about) LEAR (Edward Lear the poet, famous for his nonsense verses), SIGHTED, sounds like [on the radio] CITED (quoted).
33 Bug quietly installed, make speech for examiners (12)
INSPECTORATE – INSECT (bug) outside P (quietly) [installed] ORATE (make speech).
37 Who at first becomes unsettled loses plot (6,1,3)
THROWS A FIT – (who at first)* [becomes unsettled].
38 Leave track having broken rule that’s applied to bikes (10)
DERAILLEUR – DERAIL (leave track), [broken] (rule)*. Hmm. The definition is a bit of stretch, I think.
41 Hosiery designed when king’s visiting county (9)
YORKSHIRE – (Hosiery)* [designed] including [when … visiting] K (King). Is Yorkshire renowned for it’s socks or stockings, I wonder?
42 The old duke in disgrace remained at home (6,2)
STAYED IN – YE (the, old) D (Duke) [in] STAIN (disgrace). Oh no! I transcribed this wrongly from my paper copy as STAYED ON. Another avoidable pink square. Grr.
46 Pipe assembly round mass blocks, one in ancient city (7)
POMPEII – (pipe)* [assembly] with O (round letter) M (mass) inside [blocks], I (one).
47 Sci-fi author having a bit of fun in church (6)
CLARKE – LARK (bit of fun) [in] C.E. (Church of England). Arthur C Clarke is most famous for the iconic “2001, A Space Odyssey”. And hello to my sister Kirsty who’s married surname is Clarke
48 Motor turns (6)
WHEELS – Double definition, conforming to Rotter’s Law. Time I got a new motor, perhaps? My current one is 10 years old next month.
50 Tot to sound reasonable (3,2)
ADD UP – Another double definition.
52 Crook from north found in sack (4)
BEND – N (north) [found in] BED (sack).

11 comments on “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1482 – 6th February”

  1. I had the same vague feeling as John about KIST. TONGA I knew (I think) from “Passage to India”, where two British ladies take Aziz’s. ELEMI was annoying; it’s a NYT chestnut on the one hand, but it took me forever to parse on the other. LOI OLDSTER; no idea about the midshipman bit, and it took me even more forever to figure out the wordplay. The Golden Gate Bridge is so named because it spans the Golden Gate, making SF a gated community.
  2. ….so I am also grateful for Kevin’s parsing. NHO HYPOTHALAMUS, but otherwise I didn’t have many problems, and finished in a little over 40 minutes. My speeds on the Jumbo are badly affected by my phone. When solving online, it takes progressively longer to enter the answers, sometimes as long as 6 seconds for a single character !
  3. Serious DNF, but I think I probably threw my hand in too early. But much better on today’s Jumbo (1484), completed at about 30 cph (Clues per hour)
  4. I have only ever heard a FIELDFARE go Chack, Chack, Chack. Not really a singer? Everything else was as johninterred says.
  5. Thanks for the blog.

    41d doesn’t work, as it’s an R short. I thought maybe I’d missed something but apparently not.

    Edited at 2021-02-21 07:43 pm (UTC)

    1. I just looked at my copy and see that I hadn’t checked off the clue as solved. I even have the letters of ‘Hosiery’ crossed off and KR written above, and I still blithely entered YORKSHIRE! Maybe the setter inadvertently had ‘king’ doing double duty.
      1. I’m as bad as the setter and editor – I didn’t notice either! Thank-you mrchumley for pointing it out.
        1. Thanks. I guess as Kevin says the setter had two things in mind – king could be K or R, but not both at the same time!
          1. Ignore the punctuation and we have “kings” – plural
            A stretch but, like I suspect many others, I wouldn’t have noticed if MrC hadn’t pointed it out
            1. Nice try at vindicating the setter, but KR for king’s ignoring the apostrophe is too much of a stretch for me. I think it is just a mistake.

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