Hello again. I found this Jumbo on the easier side, a steady top-to-bottom solve. No frightened horses .. What did you think?
I am short of time this week so for some clues, the explanations may be a trifle terse.. Please, do feel free to ask questions or comment as required.
I use the standard 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 | She’d forget I perhaps could be prescient (11) |
FORESIGHTED – *(she’d forget I) | |
7 | Cover for spy leading to arrest for government? (6) |
SYSTEM – S(p)Y + STEM. Governments are systematic, and not chaotic, as I have always thought? | |
10 | What leg, wing, arm and member progressively reveal? (4) |
LIMB – A CD and &lit, it seems, though I am not accustomed to thinking of a member as a limb.. from L(eg) + (w)I(ng) + (ar)M + (mem)B(er). An inventive idea I don’t remember seeing before. | |
14 | Subject being needing to wash (7) |
ENSLAVE – ENS (Collins: “being or existence in the most general abstract sense”) + LAVE (wash.) | |
15 | Jar where Romanian dance follows current measure (7) |
AMPHORA – AMP + HORA, that well-known Romanian circle dance. Nho by me, but it didn’t really matter. | |
16 | One putting up with English clergyman (7) |
ERECTOR – E(nglish) + RECTOR | |
17 | Why do deletion possibly unlikely to change? (4-2-3-4) |
DYED-IN-THE-WOOL – *(WHY DO DELETION) | |
18 | Church service see backed is known to very few? (3,6) |
TOP SECRET – TERCE + SPOT, reversed. TERCE is one of those monastic services like nones and compline. | |
19 | What chopper needs right over to run? (5) |
ROTOR – R + O + TO R. Chopper meaning helicopter, of course | |
21 | Concerned with plant around river that’s unruly (10) |
REFRACTORY – RE + R(iver) in FACTORY. | |
23 | Stereo milkman regularly used in vehicle (6) |
TROIKA – sTeReO mIlKmAn. A troika is not itself a vehicle, though. It is an arrangement of three horses abreast, which may pull various vehicles such as a sledge. | |
25 | Doctor in a university left social worker able to walk (8) |
AMBULANT – MB (doctor) in A + U + L + ANT, a sociable worker. | |
26 | Putting out woven marine drag-nets (14) |
DISARRANGEMENT – *(MARINE DRAG NETS) | |
29 | Support in Calais, say, returning for crown (7) |
TREETOP – TEE in PORT, both rev. | |
30 | Gin and tonic and old fashioned going by another name (9) |
INCOGNITO – (GIN + TONIC + O) | |
31 | Going over accumulated knowledge about new recruit (5) |
ENROL – N IN LORE, all rev. | |
32 | Correct me over the last point (5) |
EMEND – ME rev., + END | |
34 | Never returning? Small cod’s back again (2-7) |
RE-ENDORSE – NE’ER rev., + DORSE, a young salmon, who knew? Not me, but again it didn’t matter. | |
37 | We finally deserve backing about river boat for rowers (7) |
TRIREME – w(E) + R(iver) in MERIT, all rev. There was a surprisingly wide range of polyremes. Most will have heard of a quinquireme, at least. | |
39 | Russian soldier perhaps, then a sailor, initially made second officer (8,2,4) |
SERGEANT AT ARMS – SERGE, presumably a Russian christian name, and not French as I always thought, ANT, a soldier ant perhaps, + A TAR + M(ade) + S(econd) | |
41 | Row during opening curtain (8) |
PORTIERE – TIER in PORE, an opening of sorts. My third nho, it is a curtain hung in a doorway. | |
43 | Arduous journey for US school: record-breaking energy! (6) |
SCHLEP – SCH, + E in LP | |
44 | Steal key unit for part of frame? (10) |
COLLARBONE – COLLAR (steal) + B + ONE | |
45 | Ruminant of Eastern country area (5) |
ELAND – E + LAND. | |
48 | Conservative academic, not professional priest (9) |
CONFESSOR – CON + (pro)FESSOR | |
49 | Operatic style turning out cliché-ridden (13) |
STEREOTYPICAL – *(OPERATIC STYLE). A fine clue, this. | |
51 | Quarry operative is born survivor (7) |
BLASTER – B + LASTER. Reminded me of Blaster Bates .. I tried to find a youtube video of him, he could be quite funny. But I couldn’t find one that was suitable viewing, and I’m not sure his humour has stayed the course. | |
52 | Herald quietly broadcast decree (7) |
PRECEDE – P + *(DECREE) | |
53 | Bribe involving Royal Navy inquiry’s beginning to be urgent (7) |
BURNING – RN + I(nquiry) in BUNG, a bribe. | |
54 | Textile worker needing water remover, one right away (4) |
DYER – D(r)YER | |
55 | Superficially another garishly lame style with diamonds (6) |
ARGYLE – A(nothe)R G(arishl)Y L(am)E. Another inventive clue. I had a couple of Argyle sweaters, once upon a time. | |
56 | Minister to reportedly put in negligible aid for drivers? (11) |
STREETLIGHT – TREET (sounds like treat, to minister to) in SLIGHT, negligible. A DBE I think, since a street light aids everyone, not just drivers. Hence the ? |
Down | |
1 | Condition needs raising with older cricketer (7) |
FIELDER – IF + ELDER | |
2 | Regarding show, book for clubs with good standing (11) |
RESPECTABLE – RE SPECTACLE, with B(ook) replacing the second C | |
3 | India stomachs rising Hindu mystic (5) |
SWAMI – I + MAWS, rev. | |
4 | Are not after large piano over small piano? That’s relative (5-11) |
GREAT-GRANDPARENT – GREAT (large) GRAND (piano) + P + AREN’T. I wrote the first bit in and left the rest until I could see if it was grandfather or grandmother.. except it was neither. Or both, I suppose | |
5 | Exchange following enemy missile heading skywards (5-3) |
TRADE-OFF – F(ollowing) + FOE + DART, all reversed | |
6 | Alcoholic declines in a coma, unfortunately (11) |
DIPSOMANIAC – DIPS + *(IN A COMA) | |
7 | Lower barge onto loch (5) |
SCOWL – SCOW + L(och) | |
8 | Not able to focus snapping eastern catbird? (14) |
SCATTERBRAINED – *(EASTERN CATBIRD) | |
9 | Discharge in river miles above port (6) |
EXEMPT – EXE + M(iles) + PT. PT is an abbreviation for lots of things, not just port but point, pint etc .. | |
11 | Bury fifty-one close in space between rows? (11) |
INTERLINEAR – INTER + LI + NEAR | |
12 | Cap, black one milliner runs up —not hard (7) |
BIRETTA – B + I, + (h)ATTER + R rev. What cardinals wear. | |
13 | Go through red — not the last vehicle (8) |
REHEARSE – RE(d) + HEARSE. Not the first vehicle that comes to mind! More the last, I suppose.. | |
20 | Reported queen delighted (7) |
RELATED – R + ELATED | |
22 | Beginning on guitar, want to play this? (5) |
TWANG – *(G(uitar) + WANT) | |
24 | I note sporty car contains turbo, oddly undeniable (16) |
INCONTROVERTIBLE – Ha, I wrote this in quite quickly, now I have to parse it.. let’s see: I + N, + CONVERTIBLE, containing T(u)R(b)O. | |
25 | One looking for parts of a key and lock (7) |
ACTRESS – A + C (key of) + TRESS, a lock of hair | |
27 | Solvent is blue, not black, in colour (7) |
TOLUENE – (b)LUE in TONE, a colour. I knew of Toluene of course, from TNT (tri nitro toluene) but didn’t really think of it as a solvent. It is though, and is a component of nail polish, paint thinners, as an octane booster in petrol, and etc. | |
28 | Projected artistic movement? (14) |
CINEMATOGRAPHY – a CD I think | |
31 | Letter pi found in pestle, not p? (7) |
EPISTLE – PI in (p)ESTLE. The wordplay could not be more precise or straightforward! | |
33 | Lug article with new Hertfordshire town pottery (11) |
EARTHENWARE – EAR (lughole) + THE (article) + N(ew) + WARE, a modest and unassuming Hertfordshire town. | |
35 | What makes speech slow and drag with length (5) |
DRAWL – DRAW (drag) + L | |
36 | Mutant sorrel seems unstoppable (11) |
REMORSELESS – *(SORREL SEEMS) | |
38 | What hook fastener is intended to be striking (3-8) |
EYE-CATCHING – as in “Hook and eye” fasteners. Notably used to fasten bras, as I found to my cost, in younger days .. | |
40 | The Spanish race with horse not quite in the top ten (8) |
ELEVENTH – EL + EVENT + H(orse) | |
42 | Refrain from introducing European predecessor (8) |
FOREBEAR – E in FORBEAR | |
43 | So sheep parasite bites billions? One might improve here (7) |
SICKBED – SIC (so) + B in KED, a sheep fly. Wikipedia will tell you all about keds, if you have a reasonably strong stomach … I like the optimistic definition. | |
46 | What may come by Turkish transport (7) |
DELIGHT – As in Turkish Delight, of course | |
47 | Money-lender certainly found in city once (6) |
USURER – SURE, in UR. Where would setters be without UR? A very ancient Sumerian city, the remains of which still survive, near the Euphrates in Southern Iraq. | |
49 | Situation grasped in report (5) |
SCENE – Sounds like “Seen,” grasped. | |
50 | Fairy left in danger (5) |
PERIL – PERI (fairy) + L. |
A number of DNKs, as usual: DORSE, PORTIERE, BUNG. DNK that the HORA was Romanian; I assumed that it was Jewish, as it’s done, ineptly, at bar mitzvah receptions and such. LOI 52ac of all things; I took ‘broadcast’ to indicate a homophone, and wasted bags of time before twigging.
ODE sv ‘troika’ 1 a Russian vehicle pulled by a team of three horses abreast:
-a team of three horses for a troika
Completed in one session but I struggled so much in the top half that I nearly put the puzzle aside before embarking on the rest of it. Mercifully the lower half seemed much easier and the clues started to fall rapidly so I continued. A sting in the tail came with FOREBEAR as my LOI which for some reason took forever to come to mind.
FOREBEAR was my POI.
An enjoyable substantial crossword that took me just over the allotted 2 hours, but with a fully-deserved pink square for DIED-IN-THE-WOOL.
LOI ENSLAVE which was hard in its own right but which I couldn’t get until I had corrected one of the crossers. I had put in SMUTI instead of SWAMI (using the more simple TUMS for “stomachs” instead of MAWS). I am sure I briefly asked myself if a SMUTI really is a Hindu mystic but then moved swiftly on. At least we have, here at home, attached to the back of our front door, a device that I know is called a portiere rod, from which mrs k hangs a curtain; this was close enough to give me 41ac.
I think my only problem with forbear/forebear was that it made me think of the irritating forgo/forego. At 22dn TWANG, I took “to play” as the anagrind, leaving just “this” as the definition? At 8dn I did not like “snapping” as an anagrind. DNK the Romanian dance or the small cod, but they didn’t delay me much. I liked ARGYLE and INCOGNITO.
My thanks to setter and blogger
You reminded me, what is it with certain words? After TWANG appeared here it turned up again only 9 days later in both 15×15 and the QC!
I am certain that the software they use prefers certain words to others; and that this is compounded by reusing the same or similar grids.
My impression is that this is a relatively recent problem, if problem it is (it’s quite helpful, sometimes!). But for most of my solving life it has been hard to check such things – no TfTT, no google. Also I am doing more crosswords now I’m retired.
I’m not sure you can blame the software. A discussion on a recent TfTT blog (sorry I can’t remember which) led to an intervention from the Crossword Editor, Richard Rogan, saying that, for Times crosswords at least, compilers don’t let the software generate their grid-fill. In my own (limited) experience I use the software to suggest words that fit checkers I have in place (and warn me when entering a word that nothing will fit with). I then choose words that I think I can clue readily. Maybe it’s just the compilers choosing the same word that fits their checkers because they can see possibilities.
I did read what RR said but I don’t know what else the explanation might be… open to suggestions. Whatever it is, the regular duplication of words, in recent years, is real.
That seems like a reasonable explanation John. Some words must jump out as being full of cryptic possibilities more than others.
I found this on the gentle side, particularly the Down clues where all but 4 went in on the first pass, taking just over 30 minutes in all. I liked the wordplay for LIMB, the gin & tonic and old fashioned at 30A and ELEVENTH. I narrowly avoided a foolish DIED IN THE WOOL when entering the answers from my paper copy online and checking them. DNK the Romanian dance or PORTIERE. I too remember Blaster Bates. A schoolmate of mine was a great fan and shared tapes of Blaster Bates’ performances. Thanks Jerry and setter.
Well this was suitable chewy and kept me amused all afternoon, which was just as well, as I was lying on the beach for the first time this year, and I don’t sit still very well.
Most clues seemed fair but I did check a few unknowns after writing them in. DNK or rather did not remember TROIKA, PORTIERE, BIRETTA, TOLUENE. The long anagrams weren’t always friendly and took some playing around with. But it was the NE corner that finally drove me to distraction and in the end I looked up the last two.
I DNK the church service TERCE nor did I know PT as an abbreviation of port. So I couldn’t decide where to put the M in EXEMPT and didn’t think of that type of discharge. So those crossing clues eluded me. However all good instruction and a few new nuggets of GK to store away.
COD CINEMATOGRAPHY for the natty definition, which foxed me for some time before the satisfying PDM
Thanks setter and Jerry
Well this was suitable chewy and kept me amused all afternoon, which was just as well, as I was lying on the beach for the first time this year, and I don’t sit still very well.
Most clues seemed fair but I did check a few unknowns after writing them in. DNK or rather did not remember TROIKA, PORTIERE, BIRETTA, TOLUENE. The long anagrams weren’t always friendly and took some playing around with. But it was the NE corner that finally drove me to distraction and in the end I looked up the last two.
I DNK the church service TERCE nor did I know PT as an abbreviation of port. So I couldn’t decide where to put the M in EXEMPT and didn’t think of that type of discharge. So those crossing clues eluded me. However all good instruction and a few new nuggets of GK to store away.
COD CINEMATOGRAPHY for the natty definition, which foxed me for some time before the satisfying PDM
Thanks Jerry