Just a mad dash for the finish line this one – I did it in under 8 minutes but the mighty Magoo was close to 7. Which is maybe what you want for a Monday Bank Holiday Jumbo.
Thank you setter!
Definitions underlined in italics, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, {} deletions and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Deer of exceptional bulk originally in common crowd (7) |
| ROEBUCK – O{f} E{xceptional} B{ulk}, in RUCK | |
| 5 | Poet with high honour in extremely leafy part of Italy (8) |
| LOMBARDY – BARD with O.M. in L{eaf}Y | |
| 9 | Declare a clear favourite at Epsom, so to speak (6) |
| ASSERT – homophone of A CERT | |
| 13 | Old court officials nod, having way with smugglers (3,6,7) |
| BOW STREET RUNNERS – BOW [nod] + STREET [way] + RUNNERS [smugglers] | |
| 14 | Irish girl in India, accommodated by Danes, oddly (6) |
| SINEAD – I(ndia) “accommodated” by (DANES*) | |
| 16 | Desert son in big way? (5) |
| SINAI – S(on) IN A1 [410 mile London-Edinburgh stretch of UK road] | |
| 17 | Peacekeepers are able to reach New York? That’s weird (7) |
| UNCANNY – U(nited) N(ations) CAN + N(ew) Y(ork) | |
| 18 | Speech made in summer month by Russian river (9) |
| INAUGURAL – IN AUG(ust) by URAL | |
| 19 | Trendy people (not us) keeping Westminster at the heart of things (2,3,4) |
| IN THE SWIM – IN [trendy] + THEM [people not us] “keeping” SW1 [Westminster postcode] | |
| 21 | Acknowledge record bridge player holds a single time (7) |
| CONCEDE – C(ompact) D(isc) E(ast) “holds” ONCE | |
| 22 | Joint in the Spanish part of London (5) |
| ELBOW – EL [the Spanish] BOW [part of London] | |
| 23 | Greek character fencing in thick-skinned mammal (5) |
| RHINO – RHO “fencing” IN | |
| 25 | Unruly beast briefly backing universal fast (9) |
| TURBULENT – reversed BRUT{e} + U + LENT | |
| 27 | Yesterday’s man is not entirely penniless, do we hear? (3-4) |
| HAS-BEEN – homophone of HAS BEAN, though perhaps not two beans to rub together | |
| 29 | Basic lent meal abandoned after start of Easter (9) |
| ELEMENTAL – (LENT MEAL*) after E{aster} | |
| 31 | Not in school at first, dig new head’s candour (13) |
| OUTSPOKENNESS – OUT [not in] S{chool} + POKE [dig] + N(ew) + NESS [head] | |
| 34 | Expensive drink dipped into by extremely large horse (13) |
| STEEPLECHASER – STEEP CHASER “dipped into” by L{arg}E | |
| 35 | Poet and prophet, connected to broadband internally (9) |
| SONNETEER – SEER, with ON NET “internally” | |
| 37 | Huntsman’s cry identified by Yankee in lofty house (5-2) |
| TALLY-HO – Y(ankee) in TALL HO(use) | |
| 39 | Raise proteges away from the front (9) |
| REARWARDS – or REAR WARDS | |
| 42 | Consequences? Not after a lesson at school (5) |
| MATHS – {after}MATHS | |
| 43 | See off the composer of Perchance to Dream? That’s original (5) |
| NOVEL – (Ivor) NOVEL{lo} | |
| 45 | More vacuous politician caught in drug row (7) |
| EMPTIER – MP “caught” in E TIER | |
| 47 | Short-lived English friend crossing border with leading lady (9) |
| EPHEMERAL – E PAL “crossing” HEM with E.R. | |
| 49 | Betrayer tsar tries to reform (9) |
| TRAITRESS -(TSAR TRIES*) | |
| 50 | Petty action involving veil regularly (7) |
| TRIVIAL – TRIAL “involving” V{e}I{l} | |
| 52 | Twilled fabric used in coarser gear (5) |
| SERGE – hidden in {coar}SER GE{ar} | |
| 54 | Greeting welcomed by French film director in Pacific island (6) |
| TAHITI – HI “welcomed” by (Jacques) TATI | |
| 55 | L, M or S on garment? You’ve got it right! (5,3,4,2,2) |
| THATS THE SIZE OF IT – idiomatic phrase double-deffed with a literal reading | |
| 56 | Trustworthy entertainer touring Tyneside (6) |
| HONEST – HOST “touring” the N(orth) E(ast) | |
| 57 | Simple-minded, not like our solvers! (8) |
| CLUELESS – the Times provides its solvers with many clues | |
| 58 | Where to see paintings? Go to Paris in good year (7) |
| GALLERY – ALLER [go, in French], in G(ood) Y(ear) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | French revolutionary formally dresses fellow countryman? (11) |
| ROBESPIERRE – ROBES PIERRE [presumably a Frenchman] | |
| 2 | Onset of ear-splitting noise overwhelming western man (5) |
| EDWIN – E{ar-splitting} DIN “overwhelming” W(estern) | |
| 3 | In East London, search port, perhaps, and unwind (7) |
| UNTWINE – or ‘UNT WINE | |
| 4 | Strive to compete socially with Inigo’s family? (4,2,4,3,7) |
| KEEP UP WITH THE JONESES – cryptic def, Inigo being a famous Jones | |
| 5 | One arrives behind time, fixing metal core (9) |
| LATECOMER – (METAL CORE*) | |
| 6 | Keen army medic on vessel (5) |
| MOURN – M(edical) O(fficer) on URN | |
| 7 | Pain a canny one could become (9) |
| ANNOYANCE – (A CANNY ONE*) | |
| 8 | Little creatures with sleeping-place, one by church (7) |
| DORMICE – DORM + I by C.E. | |
| 10 | Run round hot gravelly substance on beach? (7) |
| SHINGLE – SINGLE [run, in cricket] “round” H(ot) | |
| 11 | Hateful big gun meeting half-hearted mob (9) |
| EXECRABLE – EXEC meeting RAB{b}LE | |
| 12 | Slightly drunk, signals conspiratorially: it’s just a game (11) |
| TIDDLYWINKS – TIDDLY + WINKS | |
| 15 | As army recruits would do once, getting royally rewarded? (4,3,5,8) |
| TAKE THE KINGS SHILLING – cryptic def; rewarded by a literal royal rather than rewarded in a big way | |
| 20 | Audible attempt by military engineers to identify ancient warship (7) |
| TRIREME – homophone of TRY by R(oyal) E(lectrical and) M(echanical) E(ngineers) | |
| 21 | Company in the lead on introduction of such vouchers (7) |
| COUPONS – CO(mpany) UP [in the lead] ON S{uch} | |
| 24 | Excessively reward retired minister surrounded by work always (7) |
| OVERPAY – reversed REV. “surrounded” by OP AY | |
| 26 | One involved in argument over carpeting (5) |
| TAPIS – I “involved” in reversed SPAT | |
| 28 | Ray’s article going into busmen’s ill-treatment (7) |
| SUNBEAM – A “going into” (BUSMEN*) | |
| 30 | He composed some memorable harmonies (5) |
| LEHAR – hidden in {memorab}LE HAR{monies}; Franz of “Merry Widow” fame | |
| 32 | Person who casts historical romances primarily in castle (7) |
| THROWER – H{istorical} R{omances} in TOWER | |
| 33 | One who chooses to be English reader (7) |
| ELECTOR – E(nglish) LECTOR | |
| 34 | Embroidery feature second little chap demonstrated first (5,6) |
| SATIN STITCH – S(econd) TITCH after SAT-IN | |
| 36 | Soldiers quietly crossing island with flexibility (11) |
| RESILIENTLY – R(oyal) E(ngineers) SILENTLY “crossing” I(sland) | |
| 38 | A monster, Jacob’s son, and close by, mostly (9) |
| LEVIATHAN – LEVI [son of JACOB] + AT HAN{d} | |
| 40 | Noble title? It’s escaped an old philosopher (9) |
| ARISTOTLE – ARISTO + T{it}LE | |
| 41 | Being prepared to bring in extra energy for a shrill quality (9) |
| REEDINESS – RE{a->E}DINESS | |
| 44 | It’s no small matter, say, translating TS Eliot (7) |
| LITOTES – (TS ELIOT*). “No small matter”, meaning a big matter, is an example of litotes in action | |
| 46 | French physicist captures hearts, relating to religious feast (7) |
| PASCHAL – (Blaise) PASCAL “captures” H(earts) | |
| 48 | Reportedly Kentish beauty queen’s blunder at table (7) |
| MISDEAL – homophone of MISS DEAL; blunder at a bridge table | |
| 51 | Man possibly securing top of tough fibre (5) |
| ISTLE – ISLE [Man, possibly] “securing” T{ough} | |
| 53 | Firearm common around Lima (5) |
| RIFLE – RIFE “around” L(ima) | |
I did this in 13:22. I don’t keep a record of my times for Jumbi but I don’t think I’ve done one much more quickly than that.
Vrooooom – me too
77 minutes, not quite a PB. I liked (after)MATHS and MISS DEAL
Pretty quick here too. Like keriothe above I never time Jumbo puzzles but I know I did this in one session, which is rare in itself, and I have absolutely no comments or workings-out in the margins of my hard copy.