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Hello again. This Jumbo I thought was significantly harder than average, with some difficult and tricksy clues. I got there, but it was a bit of a struggle. What did you think? Another thing I struggled with, was formatting this blog. Something very peculiar has happened to the html from around or about 20dn, and I am dashed if I can see exactly what. So, sorry about that, humble apologies, but at least it is all readable, I hope… I use the standard TfTT conventions like underlining the definition, CD for cryptic definition, DD for a double one, *(anargam) and so forth. Nho = “not heard of” and in case of need the Glossary is always handy |
Across
| 1 | Doddery ex-judge with SUV, one safe to take a chance at the wheel! (6,3,4) |
| FAITES VOS JEUX – and here we go, straight in at the deep end with my first nho. Place your bets, yes … faites vos jeux, no. It is an anagram of *(EX J(udge) +SUV 1 SAFE TO). Both the anagrist and the answer are quite tricky. The “don’t clue foreign obscurities with an anagram” brigade will be up in arms and I can’t honestly say I would blame them. I expect setters spend more time in upmarket foreign casinos than the average solver does | |
| 8 | Yankee in game show to disregard the score? (4,2,3) |
| PLAY BY EAR – I am not sure about this. Perhaps it is Y (yankee) in PLAY (game) + Bear (show). Not my favourite. | |
| 13 | Clients American and Irish mostly (5) |
| USERS – US + ERS(e). I suppose some clients will be users, and vice versa | |
| 14 | After adjusting VAT, I agree to diversify (9) |
| VARIEGATE – *(VAT I AGREE). Another nho in this precise meaning, but it is not a huge leap from varied. And I knew that some leaves are variegated. | |
| 15 | What gets viewers streaming talk on race? (7) |
| TEARGAS – TEAR (race) + GAS (talk) | |
| 16 | Agitator close to corrupt and profitable St Petersburg concern? (12) |
| TROUBLEMAKER – (corrup)T + ROUBLE MAKER, your profitable Russian biz. | |
| 17 | Alaskan native, one captured by camera naked, we understand (6,4) |
| KODIAK BEAR – I in KODAK (camera) + BEAR, sounds like bare (naked) | |
| 18 | Don’t have your fare home? (3,3) |
| EAT OUT – a CD, fare meaning food in this context | |
| 19 | A short journey by about six with a pilot (8) |
| AVIATRIX – VI + A (six with a) inside A + TRI(p) +X (by) | |
| 21 | All closed following digging? (2,4) |
| IN TOTO – INTO (digging, ie liking) + TO, closed as in a door pushed to. | |
| 24 | Fielder is behind boundary (6,4) |
| SECOND SLIP – SECONDS (is behind) + LIP (boundary) | |
| 26 | One taking on fancy goods? (7,5) |
| IMPULSE BUYER – another CD, fancy meaning whim in this context. Not certain this clue quite works but you get the drift.. | |
| 29 | White pawn (4) |
| HOCK – DD, rather clever. | |
| 30 | Fancy swimmer’s former, cracking girlfriend, rather! (8) |
| GOLDFISH – OLD (former) in GF-ISH. I tend to think of goldfish as sad little things, acquired at a funfair in a little plastic bag and with a future lifespan measured in days rather than weeks. No doubt things are different nowadays. | |
| 31 | Suggestion from local United goal offside, initially (8) |
| INNUENDO – an Ikea clue: INN (local) + U(nited) + END (goal) + O(ffside) | |
| 34 | In vain, go off to find John in Rome? (8) |
| GIOVANNI – *(IN VAIN GO). Giovanni being the Italian equivalent of John. | |
| 35 | Readily supplied with pet by FBI agent (5-3) |
| SPOON-FED – SPOON (pet, what you do in the back row at the cinema) + FED, an FBI agent | |
| 36 | Reptiles biting tail off crow (4) |
| BOAS – BOAS(t) (crow). One of a number of species of non-venomous snakes | |
| 39 | Bloomer: one by boy per year is disturbing (5-7) |
| LADYS-SLIPPER – A subfamily of rather attractive orchid species, but I can’t seem to parse it. I see the boy and the year… and a hint of an anagram…. no, I suppose a LAD’s SLIP is a bloomer + PER, with Y(ear) poked in. Also not my favourite .. | |
| 40 | Career criminal enters without being spotted (10) |
| FLAWLESSLY – LAWLESS (criminal) in FLY (career). Another tricky definition, not spotted = spotless = flawless | |
| 43 | Reminders, such as demand for payment, returned by Society (6) |
| NUDGES – EG (such as) + DUN (demand for payment) both rev., + S(ociety) | |
| 44 | Expected more care for one stretched on couch? (8) |
| LIKELIER – LIKE (care for) + LIER, the recumbent couch person | |
| 45 | Maximum to be got from cashpoint — large amount, ultimately (2,4) |
| AT MOST – ATM (cashpoint) + OS (outsize, ie large) + (amoun)T | |
| 49 | Index reference in German on Italian writer (10) |
| FOREFINGER – FO (Dario Fo, Italian playwright and Nobel laureate) + REF IN GER(man). I would say that a forefinger was an index finger, not just an index. | |
| 51 | One calling round as hotel bar runs check on reservation (5,7) |
| CRASH BARRIER – AS + H + BAR + R(uns), in CRIER (one calling). Another sneaky definition. | |
| 53 | Constituent, one left to enter popular objection (7) |
| INBUILT – I + L(eft) in IN (popular) BUT (objection) | |
| 54 | Ruined are our wet waterproofs, etc (9) |
| OUTERWEAR – *(ARE OUR WET) | |
| 55 | On reflection, claim amusement displays taste (5) |
| UMAMI – hidden, reversed, in claIM AMUsement | |
| 56 | Bird with old bit of gold and blueish plumage, brown at the ends (6,3) |
| GUINEA HEN – GUINEA, an old bit of gold, no longer needed unless you are buying a racehorse, and HEN, the final letters of blueish plumage and brown. | |
| 57 | When feverish at home, you briefly prepare tonic (1,4,2,3,3) |
| A SHOT IN THE ARM – AS (when) HOT (feverish) IN (at home) THE(e) (you, briefly) ARM (prepare) |
| Down | |
| 1 | Vain female of no fixed abode, reportedly (9) |
| FRUITLESS – F(emale) + sounding like “rootless” | |
| 2 | Vessel’s chief engineer stole aboard it (7) |
| ICEBOAT – CE (chief engineer) + BOA, a stole not a snake this time, in IT. | |
| 3 | To be sure, an unusual resort! (10) |
| EASTBOURNE – *(TO BE SURE AN). | |
| 4 | Tested by speaking through journalist, maintaining volume (6) |
| VIVAED – V(olume) in VIA ED (through journalist) | |
| 5 | Girl about to drain a stream to find plant root (12) |
| SARSAPARILLA – SAP A RILL (drain a stream) in SARA, a girl. This took a while to find because of my total inability to spell the word right. Where did that extra A spring from? | |
| 6 | Out of The Times, text (English) gets its interpretation (8) |
| EXEGESIS – .TEXT E(nglish) GETS ITS, with all of the T(imes)s removed. The third not my favourite .. also, clueing one of those quite familiar words that I don’t actually know the meaning of, not that I am blaming the setter for that .. | |
| 7 | Picture accompanied by an echo in Cineplex? (4) |
| XRAY – hmm, easy to solve but a pig to parse. I assume the def. is “picture,” loose though it seems, and the rest is a reference to NATOspeak, X – xray is next to E – echo in the word cineplEX. The dictionary does have X-ray, as a type of picture. But only in NATO does it lose its hyphen. | |
| 8 | Occupier not normally dealt with so blooming early! (10) |
| PRECOCIOUS – *(OCCUPIER + SO) | |
| 9 | Clip with article on Irish town (6) |
| ANTRIM – TRIP, ie clip, on AN, an article. Antrim is a town as well as a county. Never been there, is it nice? | |
| 10 | Pair of shades a boxer gets after fight? (5-3-4) |
| BLACK-AND-BLUE – a CD I think. | |
| 11 | Coup on course, finally, since junta taking full charge (5) |
| EAGLE – the final letters of sincE juntA takinG fulL chargE. Two under par for the hole. | |
| 12 | Picture of mine follows (9,4) |
| RESERVOIR DOGS – RESERVOIR, a mine in a certain sense I guess, a mine/reservoir of information for example. Not very convincing. And DOGS = follows. Not seen the film. Mr Tarantino not my sort. | |
| 20 | Period assigned by group (4,4) |
| TIME SLOT – TIMES (by, as in six by five) + LOT (group) | |
| 22 | What experts know about“unknowns” — answer: they’re negative! (9) |
| OXYANIONS – XY (unknowns) + A(nswer), in ONIONS, what experts know. A comprehensive NHO for me, and having read the Wiki article I am none the wiser. The definition is accurate so far as it goes, but it doesn’t go very far. | |
| 23 Imaginary line bats also go in(8) | |
| ISOGONAL – *(ALSO GO IN) |
25
| Cheated-on duke seen in mostly foolish light (9) |
| CUCKOLDED – D(uke) in CUCKO(o) (mostly foolish) + LED (light) |
27
| Give time to son to finish drink (4,4) |
| SEND DOWN – S(on) + END (finish) + DOWN (drink) |
28
| Love to meet with tart in uniform (2,1,5) |
| OF A PIECE – PIE (tart) inside O (love) + FACE (to meet). Is a pie a tart? They both use pastry, I suppose |
29
| Find oneself shy following school dance (8,5) |
HIGHLAND FLING – HIGH (school, as in Ryedale High, where John Travolta went) + LAND (find) + FLING (shy). Do we need the “oneself?”
32 Serializes broadcast about football managers without interference (7-5)
LAISSEZ-FAIRE – FA (football managers, in theory at least) inside *(SERIALIZES)
33 Bursting with energy, following fine learning guide (12)
EFFLORESCENT – E(nergy) + F(ollowing) + F(ine) + LORE (learning) + SCENT, a guide, if you happen to be a bloodhound
37 Cheerful party assessed finally to have flipped (6,4)
UPSIDE DOWN – UP (cheerful) + SIDE (party) + (assesse)D + OWN (to have)
38 Revealing bishop’s responsibility at an end (3-7)
SEE-THROUGH – SEE (bishop’s responsibility, aka a diocese) + THROUGH (at an end)
41Metal club Yorkshireman holds back symbolically (9)
YTTERBIUM – well the symbol for ytterbium is Yb, which cluB York… holds back. The otherwise uninteresting Swedish village of Ytterby has a lot to answer for, having given birth as it were to no less than eight chemical elements..
42 Welcome not often seen for rising church priest (8)
HIERARCH – HI (welcome) + RARE, rev., + CH(urch)
46 Island abroad where Scot’s entire family at home? (7)
OKINAWA – The Scot referred to is saying “0 KIN AWA,” so all at home … permission to cringe, granted
47 Grass verges on Severn are dying (6)
SNITCH – S(ever)N (verges on severn) + ITCH (are dying)
48 Fairy’s loose garment moving right down leg (6)
OBERON – ROBE (loose garment), with the R moved to the end, + ON (leg, in cricketese)
50 Go on before the end to become a minister (5)
RABBI – RABBI(t)
52 Walk that’s covered three fifths of Spain? (4)
STOA – S to A, which is indeed three fifths of “SPAIN”. A stoa is a covered walk or colonnade; in ancient Greece, their main drawback seems to have been the trip hazard caused by all the philosophers gathered there
Towards the end I was making liberal use of aids as I just wanted the thing out of the way.
Edited at 2022-04-16 05:14 am (UTC)
Edited at 2022-04-16 10:52 am (UTC)
Thanks very much! I understand CRASH BARRIER as a “check” but don’t understand the role of “reservation”. Also “serializes” needs a “z” in explanation.
Good spot re the Z, will correct it..