Times Cryptic Jumbo 1506 – two jumps in a week

Posted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
This was, IMHO, a Jumbo of average difficulty, with a smattering of tricky bits to keep us on our toes. I was done and dusted in about 45 minutes.  In writing up the blog I noticed that there were quite a few clues of the type that I mark as DDCDH, a Double Definition / Cryptic Definition hybrid, where a stright definition is combined with another that might be called whimsical.  You’ll see what I mean when we get to them.

First in was HIGH AND DRY and last was CINCTURES

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 ED[itor]


Across

1

Abandoned like person in tree escaping flood? (4,3,3)

HIGH AND DRY – DDCDH, with the first definition being the straight one…

6

Trade modest? This could make you stop (7,5)

TRAFFIC LIGHT – DDCDH …and this time the second

14

Lords call, forgetting it matters (9)

VISCOUNTS – VISit, COUNTS

15

One hurrying about to get vehicle reversing (5)

RACER – RE, CAR reversed

16

Tot tucked into Eastern meat dish having no yen for fruit (7)

SATSUMA – SUM in SATAy.  I guess the most common satay is chicken, but I dare say there are non-meat alternatives.

17

Missing letters (8,9)

ABSENTEE LANDLORDS – CD

18

Problems bringing horse aboard ship (5)

SNAGS – NAG in SS (S[crew] S[teamer] or S[team]S[hip] according to taste.

19

Diplomacy is restricting Conservative plans (7)

TACTICS – TACT, IS around C[onservative].  Little mint anyone?

21

Daughter in the role of the female who is in a hurry? (6)

DASHER – D[aughter], AS, HER

22

Foreign girl working in a store (8)

SENORITA – (in a store)*

24

Record kept by good Parisian coming to a city in Italy (7)

BOLOGNA – LOG in BON, A

26

Offer applause, then mouth “rubbish!” (8)

CLAPTRAP – CLAP, TRAP

27

Get angry about very loud activity at card table? (6)

RIFFLE – RILE (get as in make) around FF (music).  One of those shuffles where alternate cards fall together at the corners… that only other people can do perfectly.

30

What insistent disputant wants? Amen! (3,4,4)

THE LAST WORD – DDCDH …second def is straight…

32

Crucially influential period in America’s capital in the Depression (11)

DETERMINANT – TERM IN A{merica} in DENT

33

The French girl, kind-hearted, providing money (5,6)

LEGAL TENDER – LE, GAL, TENDER

35

Professional in finance, fellow with silver, invested in what looks like a winner (4,7)

BANK MANAGER – MAN, AG (chemical symbol)

37

Game needing energy — boy doesn’t give up (4,2)

GOES ON – GO, E[nergy], SON

38

People looking to buy something? Time for hard plugs maybe (8)

STOPPERS – SHOPPERS with T[ime] replacing H[ard]

39

Brief month left — try to make a protest maybe? (7)

DECLAIM – DEC[ember], L[eft], AIM

42

One unpleasant woman backing revolution, not saying much (8)

TACITURN – I CAT reversed

44

Feature of progressive female seen as fearsome (6)

OGRESS – hidden

46

Blessing I found in Oxford RAF location (7)

BENISON – I in BENSON, an RAF base in Oxfordshire.  Who knew?

48

Pike ultimately bound to get away (5)

ELOPE – {pik}E, LOPE

49

Exploiting something, being top earner? Nothing suitable (6,3,4,2,2)

MAKING THE MOST OF IT – MAKING THE MOST, O, FIT

51

Indian sage, one with new order (7)

GOANESE – (sage one)*

52

Saw maiden forming an attachment with German guy? (5)

MOTTO – M[aiden], OTTO

53

First person among new leaders is a female (9)

ESMERELDA – ME in (leadersis)*

54

Heaven as specified aim of the proverbial chicken? (3,5,4)

THE OTHER SIDE – DDCDH …first def is straight…

55

Look at oneself, seeing bad points, etc, with anger finally admitted (10)

INTROSPECT – (points etc)* around {ange}R


Down

1

Try approach with murderous intent? (4,1,4,2)

HAVE A STAB AT – DDCDH …first def is straight…

2

Sudden winds coming in August sometimes (5)

GUSTS – hidden

3

A background support is coming (9)

AMOUNTING – A MOUNTING

4

Fellows accommodating indispensable animals (7)

DONKEYS – DONS around KEY

5

What old shoes may be — disposed of in charity shop, we hear? (7)

RESOLED – sounds like RE-SOLD

7

Called to mind being embarrassed about evensong’s opening prayer (11)

RECOLLECTED – RED around E{vensong} COLLECT

8

Coat with valuable material is craze (6)

FURORE – FUR, ORE

9

At home, female family member is one who won’t give way (8)

INSISTER – IN, SISTER

10

I sit up on stool — alternative configuration for meditation? (5,8)

LOTUS POSITION – (i sit up on stool)*

11

Fish and fleshy fruit French friend’s obtained for start of dinner (7)

GOURAMI – GOURD with AMI replacing D{inner}

12

One leaving school unwanted books, easy to read? (11)

TRANSPARENT – TRAiN, SPARE, N[ew] T[estament]

13

Wonderful batting partnership — view it from here? (10)

GRANDSTAND – GRAND, STAND (cricket, last wicket stand etc.)

20

Fellow army officer getting about three miles further south (9)

COLLEAGUE – COL[onel], LEAGUE (exactly how far it is depends on whether you’re a sailor, an ancient Roman, French, Spanish or a poet).

23

Warren maybe in seaside location (8)

HASTINGS – DD.  Warren Hastings was a former Governor-General of India

25

Something “flowery” in which wild animal conceals head (6)

ANTHERpANTHER

26

Certain animals in endless routine task — information held in computer? (8)

CHORDATA – CHORe, DATA.  I looked this up but having no knowledge of phylums, protochordates and notochords I still don’t know what they are.

28

RAF signal confusingly given in a mixture of languages (9)

FRANGLAIS – (RAF signal)*.  Good old Miles Kington.  “The trouble with French is that there are far too few English words in it”.

29

Proper journalist should get put in the picture (6)

PRIMED – PRIM, ED[itor]

31

Everyone supporting old Greek city lost ultimately, bringing the most desirable outcome (3,3,3,4)

ALL FOR THE BEST – ALL, FOR, THEBES, {los}T

33

Land and stop to be heard, becoming frivolous (11)

LIGHTWEIGHT – LIGHT, homophone of WAIT

34

Agent opposing a former gang member being given new ID in book? (11)

REPAGINATED – REP, AGIN, A, TED[dy boy]

35

Extra reading for one filling empty seat? (2-8)

BY-ELECTION – BYE (extra in cricket), LECTION

36

One admonishes soldiers on battle site having rushed into middle of battle (11)

REMONSTRANT – R[oyal] E[ngineers], MONS, RAN in {ba}TT{le}

40

Bands with recent music horrible — forget ’em! (9)

CINCTURES – (recent music)* without EM.  Knowing that the French call a seat-belt a CEINTURE instead of the more logical le seat-belt was more of a hindrance that a help, TBH.  My Chambers app says it’s a girdle or belt.

41

Significant performance, very good, that’s included rapid sort of movement before (8)

PREMIERE – PI[ous] around R[apid] E[ye] M[ovement], ERE

43

Test said to lie within revolutionary piece of church music (7)

CHORALE – ORAL in CHE (Guevara)

45

Ambassador and bishop getting observed outside drinking establishment (7)

SHEBEEN – H[is /er] E[xcellency], B[ishop], with SEEN outside.

46

Possibly Amelia‘s mistake (7)

BLOOMER – DD

47

Is sparing politician to visit runners (6)

SKIMPS – M[ember of] P[arliament] in SKIS

50

Phoney female heading a London school (5)

FALSE – F[emale], A L[ondon] S[chool of] E[conomics]

8 comments on “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1506 – two jumps in a week”

  1. Very enjoyable and I completed it all apart from the unknown CINCTURES for which I resorted to aids. I was unable to parse PREMIERE, so thanks for that.
  2. Yes agree, this seemed a middle-ranking steady solve and none the worse for that. I always appreciate the extra time setters (and bloggers!) put in when it comes to jumbos.
    Like you I looked up chordata in Wikipedia and ended up none the wiser. Any phylum that includes all of humans, siberian tigers, aardvarks, birds and sea squirts is impossibly broad.
    1. Most humans. I could name a few prominent politicians who fall outside the category.
  3. It took me a couple of minutes to break down CINCTURES, but otherwise I had no real problems and saw it off in 31 enjoyable minutes.
  4. I found this on the easier side, done in 25m or so. I didn’t know CINCTURES or GOURAMI. BENISON reminded me somehow of Hamlet – ‘nymph, in thy benisons’ – which is a sort of Shakespearean malapropism.
    If the French did say le seat-belt the Académie Française would invent an alternative for no-one to use. I discovered a new one of these recently: le rançongiciel, ransomware. I say ‘no-one’ but Le Monde does use these words, and last year I encountered for the first time someone who actually uses the word courriel (email).
  5. The one that worried me was 53 ESMERELDA, where I’ve been pinked before. The Disney/Hugo one has an A before the L, and you are made to look like a twit if you don’t take notice. Here it’s unchecked, so although the wordplay is clear, I still submitted with trepidation.
    The rest caused no major problems over 47.12.
  6. Yes I was one of those twits with a pink square in my ESMERALDA. It never occurred to me that her name might be spelt differently, so didn’t check the anagrist. Woe is me! Otherwise a gentle giant of a crossword, completed in about an average time and greatly enjoyed.

    Edited at 2021-07-17 06:44 pm (UTC)

  7. Couldn’t fathom the wordplay for BENISON, and never really tried, but glad to know the explanation. Never heard of GOURAMI, and that must have been my LOI.

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