No complaints from me about this excellent Jumbo, all of its clues being marvellously put together and quite funny to boot. Good job to the setter.
My favourite things this week were: the “quartet each getting a hand” at 39ac, “quickly seeking mates” at 38dn, the overall surface and artsy answerline of 28dn, and (COD drumroll) the definition at 4dn. Not that as a crossword blogger I ought to be politically partisan, but you do wonder about that lot sometimes, especially in the recent news cycle…
Definitions underlined in italics, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, {} deletions and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Shot capturing old John looking white on top (10) |
| SNOWCAPPED – SNAPPED [shot] capturing O(ld) W.C. | |
| 6 | Making awfully decent 500, cracking cricketer and I celebrate (12) |
| BOWDLERISING – D [Roman 500] cracking BOWLER + I SING | |
| 14 | What could season finally do, ass being sent westward (7) |
| OREGANO – {d}O + reversed ONAGER [ass] | |
| 15 | Worst thing family of British statesmen said (3,4) |
| THE PITS – homophone of THE PITTS | |
| 16 | Attractive female’s left an impression (7) |
| ETCHING – {f}ETCHING | |
| 17 | Donkey jacket of gentleman containing double zip (4) |
| GOON – G{entlema}N containing 0 0 | |
| 18 | Inch between both sides in books (6) |
| LEDGER – EDGE [inch, as in sidle] between L(eft) + R(ight) | |
| 20 | Report of US capital’s rapid transport once (8) |
| CONCORDE – homophone of CONCORD [capital of New Hampshire] | |
| 24 | Pat, say, hastens shakily to a chemist with case of nightmarish nerves (11,2,3,7) |
| BUTTERFLIES IN THE STOMACH – BUTTER [pat, say] + FLIES [hastily] + (TO A CHEMIST + N{ightmaris}H*) | |
| 25 | Mostly explosive area in island state (7) |
| GRENADA – GRENAD{e} + A(rea) | |
| 26 | See sheltering flower in wind (8) |
| EASTERLY – ELY sheltering ASTER | |
| 27 | Explicit communication about man of the church (6) |
| SEXTON – SEXT [explicit text] + ON [about] | |
| 29 | Assembly place for one crossing Channel maybe surfing (10,4) |
| PRODUCTION LINE – PRO [for] + I [one] crossing DUCT [channel] + ONLINE [maybe surfing] | |
| 31 | Where Americans shop, if not around island (8) |
| MALLORCA – MALL [where Americans shop] + OR [if not] + C(irc)A [around] | |
| 34 | Squad gathering soldiers for inconspicuous entry (4,4) |
| SIDE DOOR – SIDE [squad] + DO [gathering] + O(ther) R(anks) | |
| 36 | Pass met with costlier blundering is something for the keeper? (10,4) |
| COLLECTORS ITEM – COL [pass] + (MET + COSTLIER*) | |
| 39 | Gifts suffice, wrapped by quartet each getting a hand (6) |
| ENDOWS – DO [suffice], wrapped by E, N, W, S [the four players at bridge] | |
| 41 | Seedy food found in grape arbour? (5-3) |
| SPLIT-PEA – reverse cryptic; in {gra}PE A{rbour} is “PE A”, i.e. a split PEA | |
| 43 | Canaries and sick crow in hospital (7) |
| NORWICH – (CROW IN*) + H(ospital). Soccer team nickname | |
| 46 | Game finished with odd word utterable in song (6,4,8,5) |
| BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER – BRIDGE [game] + OVER [finished] + (WORD UTTERABLE*) | |
| 47 | Organised a repeatedly decent, demure event (3,5) |
| TEA DANCE – (A + A + DECENT*) | |
| 48 | TV consumption cut by ambassador given steer (3,3) |
| THE BOX – T.B. [consumption] cut by H(is) E(xcellency), given OX | |
| 49 | Audibly check piece of stone by the way (4) |
| KERB – homophone of CURB | |
| 53 | What makes unsightly emblem is hideous borders (7) |
| BLEMISH – hidden in {em}BLEM IS H{ideous} | |
| 54 | Hemlock periodically secretes a fizzy white fluid (7) |
| ELASTIC – {h}E{m}L{o}C{k} “secretes” [as in hides away] ASTI [a fizzy white wine] | |
| 56 | Specialist in furniture stores to disallow oriental art (7) |
| IKEBANA – IKEA [specialist in furniture] “stores” BAN [to disallow]. Japanese flower arranging | |
| 57 | Strongly opposed to acting, as in plays (12) |
| ANTAGONISTIC – (TO ACTING AS IN*) | |
| 58 | Deploy cast with Lear performed (4-6) |
| ROLE-PLAYED – (DEPLOY + LEAR*) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Scrounge black and silver traveller’s pouch (6,3) |
| SPONGE BAG – SPONGE [scrounge] + B(lack) + Ag | |
| 2 | American novel about drug, favouring more alcohol (3,3,3,4) |
| ONE FOR THE ROAD – ON THE ROAD about E [drug] + FOR [favouritng] | |
| 3 | Modelling material German artist picked up (4) |
| CLAY – homophone of Paul KLEE, a famously Swiss but also not un-German artist | |
| 4 | It must be less than one moral Republican in party (6,8) |
| PROPER FRACTION – PROPER [moral] + R in FACTION | |
| 5 | Amphibian in web version of newspaper? (3) |
| EFT – the E-F(inancial)T(imes) | |
| 7 | Late notice, perhaps, over quantity of information (4) |
| OBIT – O(ver) + BIT. Death notice, i.e. notification they have become late | |
| 8 | Record-keeper in nightspot with drug in abundance (10) |
| DISCOPHILE – DISCO with H(eroin) in PILE | |
| 9 | Work out problem (8) |
| EXERCISE – double def | |
| 10 | Elected officer’s clothing style ultimately immaterial (11) |
| INCORPOREAL – IN [elected] + CORPORAL clothing {styl}E | |
| 11 | One can mouth off about eastern nomad (9) |
| ITINERANT – I [one] + TIN [can] + RANT [mouth off], about E(astern) | |
| 12 | Enthusiastic silence by front of auditorium (4) |
| GAGA – GAG [silence] by A{uditorium} | |
| 13 | Complex crime on the rise to steal money (8) |
| NEUROSIS -reversed SIN “stealing” EUROS | |
| 19 | Scotsman’s good editor raised game, one trained to lead (5,3) |
| GUIDE DOG – GUID [Scotsman’s good] + ED + reversed GO [game] | |
| 21 | Shivering, Jude admits a very uncanny feeling (4,2) |
| DEJA VU – (JUDE*) admits A V(ery) | |
| 22 | Conclude computer network’s flipping awful (8) |
| INFERNAL – INFER + reversed L(ocal) A(rea) N(etwork) | |
| 23 | Leader around English county bottling a spirit (8) |
| PHANTASM – P.M. around (HANTS bottling A) | |
| 28 | Boy in year in Rome lifted phone, ringing European number from Italy (2,5,1,6) |
| LA DONNA E MOBILE – LAD [boy] + reversed ANNO [in year, in Latin] + MOBILE [phone], “ringing” E(uropean). Aria from Verdi’s Rigoletto | |
| 29 | Wages securing southern European one present by chance (8) |
| PASSERBY – PAY securing S(outhern) SERB. Arguably actually (6-2), but who’s counting | |
| 30 | Investigate swag bags family now uncovered (4,4) |
| LOOK INTO – LOOT “bags” KIN, + {n}O{w} | |
| 32 | Splurging foolishly hit payer later (6,7) |
| RETAIL THERAPY – (HIT PAYER LATER*) | |
| 33 | Mob following extremely specific game with words (8) |
| SCRABBLE – RABBLE following S{pecifi}C | |
| 35 | Demoting ex-student admitted to Cambridge college (11) |
| DOWNGRADING – GRAD [ex-student] admitted to DOWNING | |
| 37 | Calculating width in tiny amount (6) |
| SHREWD – W(idth) in SHRED | |
| 38 | Talks about daughter and son quickly seeking mates? (5,5) |
| SPEED CHESS – SPEECHES about D(aughter), + S(on) | |
| 40 | Most refined duke at houses wearing neckwear (9) |
| DAINTIEST – D(uke) AT “houses” IN TIES | |
| 42 | Trouble with this may give a man the urge to go anti-private sector? (8) |
| PROSTATE – if you are anti-the private sector you are presumably PRO-STATE. “Go” as in “pee”, of course | |
| 44 | Nearly spoil fancy bra with odd, cheap material (9) |
| HARDBOARD – HAR{m} + (BRA + ODD*) | |
| 45 | Hebrew prophet drinking tea loudly with an apple (8) |
| JONATHAN – JONAH “drinking” T + AN | |
| 50 | Originally attacking Bonaparte, British army group associated with Waterloo (4) |
| ABBA – A{ttacking} B{onaparte} B{ritish} A{rmy} | |
| 51 | Old lady and man serving Christmas visitors (4) |
| MAGI – MA [old lady] + G.I. [American serving in the army] | |
| 52 | List man’s going to read out (4) |
| HEEL – homophone of HE’LL | |
| 55 | Bill’s partner not quite hip (3) |
| COO – COO{l} | |
DNF
Never got NORWICH, and never would have, I now see. I biffed BRIDGE OVER ETC from the initial B, and LA DONNA from the E. I raised my eyebrow some over ‘steal’ as an inclusion indicator.
I see Chambers gives a definition of steal as “smuggle”, or “put surreptitiously”, which feels like it works on the surface of it.
I envy you your feelings.
No queries, but would mention as somebody with almost no interest in and little knowledge of the world of football I had always thought that the principal colour of the Norwich kit and therefore nickname Canaries were in some way associated with the local mustard industry. Apparently this is incorrect although the club’s page on Wiki reports: An aerial photograph from August 1935 shows three sides of open terracing and a covered stand, with a Colman’s Mustard advertisement painted on its roof, visible only from the air.