Hello again. This Jumbo I thought was middle ranking in difficulty terms, nothing too obscure or difficult but not a gimme either. The only problem I had was deciding what to underline as the definition, in a few cases at least. What did you think?
Please, do feel free to ask questions or comment as required.
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 | Feel the loss of planet’s great beauty (4,5) |
| MISS WORLD – MISS (feel the loss of) + WORLD (planet) | |
| 6 | Diocese was perhaps making this condition? (3,3,7) |
| MAD COW DISEASE – *(DIOCESE WAS), if “mad,” = COW DISEASE.. | |
| 13 | Tin backed by engineers as a valuable natural substance (5) |
| NACRE – CAN (tin) reversed, + RE, your Royal Engineers. Originally I was thinking NITRE, which also neatly fits the wordplay but as it turned out, not the middle checking letter… | |
| 14 | Certificates nobody in the office has? (4,5) |
| SICK NOTES – A cryptic definition. Not necessarily correct of course, someone in the office may have a drawer full of old sick notes.. | |
| 15 | One formerly driven to organise crusade (4,3) |
| USED CAR – *(CRUSADE) | |
| 16 | For film, polite folk like to choose the lighter sort (9,6,7) |
| GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES – another CD. | |
| 18 | A woman holding other people briefly in her prayers? (8) |
| ROSEMARY – EM (other people briefly, as in “Up and at ’em”) in ROSARY (a string of beads used for counting prayers, but also the prayers themselves). | |
| 20 | Many happy returns for MP here? (4,4) |
| SAFE SEAT – Another CD. | |
| 21 | Mark maybe Bismarck’s watchword (5) |
| MOTTO – M(ark) + OTTO, as in Otto von Bismarck. | |
| 23 | From peak, leader drops right back, nowhere near podium finish (6) |
| EIGHTH – HEIGHT (peak), with the H dropping right back .. | |
| 24 | Put up with a south wind? Not that one (6) |
| BOREAS – BORE (put up with) + A S(outh). Boreas is the Greek god of the North wind.. think Aurora Borealis | |
| 25 | Confessed end of working week not always filled with love and calmness (9) |
| SANGFROID – SANG (confessed) + O (love) inside FRID(ay), the end of some folk’s working week less the AY, or always, especially if you are Scottish | |
| 28 | Obtain file with trickery: that should be reported (10) |
| NOTIFIABLE – *(OBTAIN FILE) | |
| 29 | Engine lacking constant temperature for haul (4) |
| LOOT – this took me a minute to see. It is LO(c)O (engine lacking constant, + T(emperature) | |
| 30 | Endlessly tough surgeon seizes top of scalpel for period of cutting (7) |
| HARVEST – HAR(d) (endlessly tough) + S(calpel) inside VET, a kind of surgeon | |
| 32 | On reflection silly lisp — I tick boxes like being drunk (7) |
| TIPSILY – hidden, reversed, in sillY LISP I Tick | |
| 34 | Rejecting sexually ambivalent old goat (4) |
| IBEX – BI, reversed, + EX (old). Ibex occur in the Alps and used to be in the Pyrenees too, until declared extinct in 2000. | |
| 35 | Just a two-course meal could be an unacceptable idea (3-7) |
| NON-STARTER – a DD, I think. Though my two course meal would more likely be non-dessert… | |
| 38 | Henry and Rose arranged to drive off for hearing: it may bring them luck (9) |
| HORSESHOE – *H(enry) + ROSE), + SHOE, sounds like shoo (drive off) | |
| 39 | Man fired by bureaucrat with good courage (6) |
| DARING – (man)DARIN, a bureaucrat, usu. a more senior civil servant, + G(ood) | |
| 40 | Hall a great success, but no place to get a drink (6) |
| ATRIUM – A TRIUM (ph). PH is for public house, eg on Ordnance Survey 1:50k maps | |
| 43 | Quietly swelling, becoming this? (5) |
| PLUMP – P (piano, ie quietly) + LUMP, a swelling | |
| 45 | So tennis involved strains (8) |
| TENSIONS – *(SO TENNIS). A quick cryptic escapee | |
| 47 | A teacher enters bank, but not for change (4-4) |
| READ-ONLY – A DON (a teacher, though I was never taught by one. Profs all the way, for me) | |
| 49 | There’s a drought; the teapot works, though, as the saying goes (2,5,5,3,2,5) |
| IT NEVER RAINS BUT IT POURS – IT NEVER RAINS (there’s a drought) + BUT IT POURS (the teapot works though). Definition a bit vague, I thought | |
| 52 | One against entering legal process of no account (7) |
| TRIVIAL – I V (one against,) in TRIAL | |
| 53 | Achieve reversal of revolutionary loss of rights (9) |
| ATTAINDER – ATTAIN (achieve) + RED (revolutionary) rev. Attainder in Tudor times was a major contributor to the monarchy’s present wealth | |
| 54 | Permission to stick head out (5) |
| LEAVE – a triple def., I think. You stick at cards if you leave them as they are, and don’t ask for more to be dealt.. on edit, see also Jackkt’s alternative parsing, below | |
| 55 | Girl who reacts with apathy, traffic cops appearing (7,6) |
| HIGHWAY PATROL – *(GIRL WHO + APATHY). A vanished breed, here in the UK | |
| 56 | Royal authentication left beside ocean? (5,4) |
| GREAT SEAL – GREAT SEA (ocean) + L(eft) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Minute horse enters frightening collection of animals (9) |
| MENAGERIE – NAG (horse), in M(inute) + EERIE, frightening | |
| 2 | Intuition not immediately arousing love? (6,5) |
| SECOND SIGHT – I imagine this might be a reference to “Love at first sight” | |
| 3 | Cry of excitement before learner makes turn (5) |
| WHEEL – WHEE! + L | |
| 4 | Mount and gallop even faster (8) |
| RUSHMORE – RUSH MORE, gallop faster, geddit? Mount Rushmore, is where those four 60ft presidential heads are sculpted | |
| 5 | Lower classes are not able to handle wine (6) |
| DECANT – DE (lower classes, in marketingspeak) + CAN’T, not able to. I seldom bother with decanting, these days | |
| 6 | Be irritated by bookworm, one of unusual sense (4-6) |
| MIND-READER – MIND (be irritated by) READER (bookworm) | |
| 7 | Airport outlet where staff have nothing to do? (4-4,4) |
| DUTY-FREE SHOP – if you are duty-free you have nothing to do .. | |
| 8 | Notice paper has run out (7) |
| OBSERVE – OBSERVE(r), a reference to the world’s oldest Sunday paper. | |
| 9 | How to make t-those old clothes (7,3,4) |
| DOUBLET AND HOSE – you make t-those with a double T and HOSE … bought from a hosier no doubt, which appeared just the other day | |
| 10 | Serious, regular gaps in tummy bone (7) |
| STERNUM – STERN (serious) + tUmMy | |
| 11 | Omen certain to disturb seat of empire (7,4) |
| ANCIENT ROME – *(OMEN CERTAIN) | |
| 12 | Man entitled ahead of time to stop short (4) |
| EARL – EARL(y) | |
| 17 | Very many thanks at end of tour for guide (8) |
| LOADSTAR – LOADS (very many) + TA (thanks) + (tou)R. I would spell it lodestar, and dislike this alternative spelling. But the OED says, under lode: “see load n., of which lode is merely a graphic variant, now appropriated to certain special senses” .. so, that told me. | |
| 19 | Government facility: a police station? (3,6) |
| MET OFFICE – a dd, the first being the government weather bureau, the second a reference to the illustrious Metropolitan Police, known as the Met. | |
| 22 | Shares fish, relaxing here after swim? (8) |
| POOLSIDE – POOLS (shares) + IDE, a freshwater fish most useful to setters. Also known as an orfe (though usually, not to setters 🙂 | |
| 25 | To establish part of argument may be an advantage in court (3,5) |
| SET POINT – SET (to establish) + POINT (part of argument) | |
| 26 | Put into shape, since tangled (9) |
| FORMATTED – FOR (since) + MATTED (tangled). as in, eg “He was always going to be tall, for/since both his parents were” | |
| 27 | Woman in work: one having conversation on-line? (4,10) |
| LADY CHATTERLEY – LADY CHATTER, one having conversation, + LEY, an imaginary pseudoscientific line | |
| 28 | This book isn’t one of the Ruritanian series? No chance! (3,1,4) |
| NOT A HOPE – Because the Prisoner of Zenda, and its sequel Rupert of Henzau, set in the fictional land of Ruritania, were written by Anthony Hope. They are fun books, though the take-off Royal Flash, by George MacDonald Fraser, is also worth a read. | |
| 31 | Detectives suppress vice among more corrupt band of heralds (4,8) |
| BEND SINISTER – I think this is SIN (vice) inside DIS (detectives), inside BENTER, which at a stretch could mean more corrupt. Thus: BEN(D(SIN)IS)TER. A bend sinister in heraldry is a diagonal line bottom left to top right of a coat of arms, signifying birth out of wedlock… | |
| 33 | In leaving the racetrack, rake creates spinning (11) |
| PIROUETTING – ROUE (rake), in PITTING, leaving the (motor) racetrack | |
| 36 | Do survey in pouring rain and gale? Tut! (11) |
| TRIANGULATE – *(RAIN + GALE + TUT). Is pouring really an anagram indicator? | |
| 37 | Brain cells struggling to identify plant (6,4) |
| CRANES BILL – *(BRAIN CELLS) .. a very neat clue, this one | |
| 41 | Why not take an extra month? (3,2,4) |
| MAY AS WELL – May as well as, say April.. geddit? | |
| 42 | Half encourage a creative spirit (8) |
| DEMIURGE – DEMI (half) + URGE (encourage). Demiurge is a term appropriated by religion | |
| 44 | Pressure to reconsider, getting a peek ahead (7) |
| PREVIEW – P(ressure) + REVIEW, to reconsider | |
| 46 | A misplaced lamb stew turns up: bliss! (7) |
| NIRVANA – NAVARIN, your lamb stew, reversed and with the A moved to the end. Or the beginning, depending how you look at it | |
| 48 | Twice gallon bottles ruin pointer (3,3) |
| GUN DOG – UNDO (ruin) inside two G(allons). A dbe (not that I mind), since other gun dogs exist.. | |
| 50 | Director wants one to go through storyline (5) |
| PILOT – I (one) in PLOT (storyline). | |
| 51 | A neighbour’s ID, about a half incomplete (4) |
| UTAH – Hidden, I think, in aboUT A Half. ID (Idaho) is indeed a neighbour, to the North. Cunning.. | |
DNF. I couldn’t get LOOT, and now I see why: never would have thought of LOCO for engine. DARING was my LOI; I was sure of the solution, but it took me forever to see how the clue worked. UTAH–which is to the south of Idaho–was a lovely hidden clue. I also liked DOUBLET AND HOSE and MAD COW DISEASE.
Corrected, thanks. I did know that, honest 🙂
Kevin, I named four favourite clues from this on Twitter a couple of days ago, and those last three you mentioned were in there. I thought Utah was particularly clever. (The other one I mentioned was READ-ONLY.)
Very good puzzle.
54ac. I had {c}LEAVE (stick), [head out]. SOED: cleave – stick fast, adhere, or cling to (lit. & fig.).
I’d agree the first and third of the definitions in the blog but I think the middle one is a bit iffy.
Yes, good point… I think both actually work, but yours feels a bit more likely.
But nothing wrong with leave = stick. For example, “We were left/stuck in a traffic jam for hours.”
I needed all but 8 minutes of the full two hours, but lots to like, including UTAH where I think I must have seen the hidden but never got the ID.
I too prefer LODE. Collins says loadstar is “a variant spelling” implying that the principal spelling is lodestar? The same for lodestone, where loadstone is “a variant spelling”