Hello again. This Jumbo I thought was a little harder than average. It has some neat clues, no serious queries, and some shockingly bad surface readings. Look at 55 and 56ac for example.
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 | Unusually brilliant choice, wouldn’t you agree? (11) |
| SUPERBRIGHT – SUPERB, RIGHT? = choice, some would say. | |
| 7 | African wastes time and Serb jitters (5,6) |
| NAMIB DESERT – *(TIME AND SERB). “Jitters” as an anagrind? Hmm.. | |
| 13 | Outside frost, inside safe (9) |
| PERIMETER – RIME (frost) in PETER, a safe. Not entirely sure why it is, but it is. I like “peterman,” a safecracker. | |
| 14 | Cross if mushroom sandwiches no good (7) |
| MONGREL – NG (no good) in MOREL, a rather delicious mushroom | |
| 15 | Detective consumed about miserable work Mary’s in (5) |
| PIETA – PI (private investigator) + ATE (consumed) rev. A work of religious art, ’nuff said. | |
| 16 | Misbehave with job you have to travel for (6) |
| ERRAND – ERR (misbehave) + AND, with. | |
| 17 | Having lost social standing last month, girl back in disgrace (8) |
| DECLASSE – DEC(ember) + LASS (girl) + (disgrac)E | |
| 18 | Complicated system where J seats are switched round with K (7) |
| NETWORK – ROW TEN rev., + K. J being the tenth letter of the alphabet. I don’t normally see networks as complicated, they can be I suppose but hardly a defining feature. | |
| 20 | Delivery of sauce in fog and frost, bad decision (11,2,7) |
| MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE – CARRIAGE OF JUS (delivery of sauce) in MIST + ICE | |
| 23 | Eg Victoria train that’s fast making ten miles (7) |
| EMPRESS – EXPRESS, with the X made into M(iles) | |
| 24 | Ship originally named after young female lion (7) |
| GALLEON – GAL (young female) + LEO the lion + N(amed) | |
| 26 | Useful information mostly wasted, good to see (7) |
| DATABLE – DATA (information, that may/may not be useful) + BLE(w), wasted, mostly. | |
| 28 | Flag one gets up shortly (4) |
| IRIS – I RIS(e). It is a mark of an experienced solver, when “flag” automatically makes you think of irises. | |
| 29 | Still having had no success pinching diamonds (8) |
| WINDLESS – D(iamonds) in WINLESS | |
| 32 | Record what we have first in each debate (9) |
| DISCOURSE – DISC (record) + OURS (what we have) + E(ach). Does discourse = debate? | |
| 35 | Bad condition of train set upset son (9) |
| RATTINESS – *(TRAIN SET) + S | |
| 36 | Apply force, breaking church’s buzzer in the vicarage? (8) |
| HOUSEFLY – USE F (apply force) in HOLY, a church’s. | |
| 37 | Left much room at the top? (4) |
| LOFT – L(eft) + OFT, much. As in oft-repeated, perhaps | |
| 39 | Model soldier left unfinished (7) |
| PARAGON – PARA (soldier) + GON(e), left | |
| 41 | Work of art, bun and book in lucky dip (4,3) |
| BRAN TUB – *(ART + BUN + B(ook)). I remember those! You fish around, and pull out something mildly disappointing. | |
| 44 | Skin treatment works like 6d? (7) |
| TANNERY – After a minute or two staring blankly at 6dn I twigged .. it means, like a sixpence. A clever clue this, even the definition needs a word more than you might think. Shame about the surface reading. | |
| 45 | Film … hence those bleats misplaced? (3,7,2,3,5) |
| THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS – *(FILM HENCE THOSE BLEATS). | |
| 49 | Agent taken by tenant back to house stuffed full (7) |
| REPLETE – REP(resentative), an agent, + LET (tenant) + (hous)E. | |
| 50 | “Airline reeked” snarled tour guide (8) |
| BAEDEKER – BA (airline) + *(REEKED). Never used one myself, but a friend of mine runs a website solely devoted to them. More of a rough guide sort, myself | |
| 51 | Live cheaply putting millions into shares (6) |
| SCRIMP – M in SCRIP, shares. | |
| 53 | Cry in silence? Not an option (5) |
| SHOUT – SH! (be) quiet, + OUT, not an option. | |
| 54 | Inferior gold ring quickly pinches (2,1,4) |
| OF A SORT – OR (gold) in O FAST (ring, quickly). | |
| 55 | Ball died, dropped by rackets player up the line (9) |
| INSWINGER – (d)INS (rackets) + WINGER, a football player, m’lud, that is somewhere near the front line. As for the inswinger, one of those has just done for Harry Brook even as I write | |
| 56 | Model T maybe getting Tesla service inside test centre? (3,8) |
| OLD TRAFFORD – T (tesla, the SI unit of magnetic flux density) + RAF, a service, in OLD FORD, a model T perhaps. | |
| 57 | Little sister on potty lets rip a bowel movement (11) |
| PERISTALSIS – *(LETS RIP A) + SIS. A word I sort of knew, even if I couldn’t define it. It means involuntary internal muscular movements, eg that keep things moving along the bowels. I like potty as an anagrind. I like the whole clue in fact. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Exhaust an army engineer (6) |
| SAPPER – SAP (exhaust) + PER, which probably can be made to mean AN, though nothing comes immediately to mind. Usually it would be A as in “a head/per head,” but that doesn’t work in this clue. | |
| 2 | Doorman full of characteristic anguish faces renderer (8,7) |
| PORTRAIT PAINTER – TRAIT (characteristic) + PAIN (anguish) in PORTER, a doorman sometimes, perhaps. In a 16ac hotel maybe. | |
| 3 | Novel handcuff inverted for jails (5,1,4) |
| ROMAN A CLEF – MANACLE (handcuff) in FOR, reversed. A neat clue, if only the surface actually meant anything. | |
| 4 | Assess fifth man involved with Burgess, Maclean, etc.? (4) |
| RATE – RAT E, if spy = rat. | |
| 5 | Dinner cooked in silence, tending to pots etc (9) |
| GARDENING – *(DINNER) in GAG, to silence. I think pots in the clue means potatoes, could mean flowerpots I suppose. | |
| 6 | Wait, Spooner’s identifying graffito in green (4,3) |
| TIME LAG – LIME TAG, according to the Rev. Spooner. I actually like Spoonerisms, but I somehow can’t repress a shudder whenever I come across one. | |
| 7 | Add points after German’s cry of disbelief heard — 180! (9) |
| NINESCORE – “Nein” sounds like NINE, and SCORE can be points. And 9 x 20 = 180. Another surface reading that stretches belief somewhat. And for me it would be (4,5). | |
| 8 | Ersatz feature of Weimar Germany (5) |
| MARGE – hidden, as above. Erzatz is a harsh word for (eg) Benecol, that costs more than butter .. | |
| 9 | Rubbish smelled round at the end (4-5) |
| BULL-NOSED – BULL (rubbish) + NOSED (smelled). Every day one noses the fine wine that accompanies one’s lunch, before drinking it. | |
| 10 | Exile restored art in atonement (12) |
| EXPATRIATION – *(ART) in EXPIATION, atonement. Quite a lot of us have been an expat, at one time or another. | |
| 11 | European agreed product of mine’s a blight (7) |
| EYESORE – E(uropean) + YES (agreed) + ORE, often a product of a mine. | |
| 12 | Temperature strains rails (6) |
| TRACKS – T + RACKS, to strain, often from one barrel to another to remove sediment. | |
| 19 | Pure E dropped by minister at home (8) |
| PRISTINE – PRIEST IN, minister at home, where the E has gone walkies. | |
| 21 | American coffee cups and English crackers for DA’s party? (4,3) |
| JANE DOE – *(AND E) in JOE, which Americans apparently call their coffee. Is that what Hendrix was on about?! Jane and John Doe are typical Americans, for legal purposes, as the man on the Clapham omnibus is, or used to be, a typical Englishman. He would be in an Uber now, of course.. | |
| 22 | Very little money in bank of late (8) |
| RECENTLY – A CENT, very little money in some countries, in RELY, or bank. | |
| 23 | Quotation I didn’t understand that includes meat charge (8) |
| EPIGRAPH – PIG (meat) + RAP, a charge, in EH, a 16ac version of “I beg your pardon?” A pig is meat I suppose. | |
| 25 | Fish rising check worm in the water (5) |
| LEECH – EEL rev., + CH(eck). Is a leech a worm? Apparently so. Collins: “any annelid worm of the class Hirudinea“ | |
| 27 | Poet holds aces, cards to go all in (4,4,7) |
| BURN ONES BRIDGES – ONES (aces) + BRIDGE (cards) in BURNS, a poet. | |
| 30 | Make useless treatment for baldies (7) |
| DISABLE – *(BALDIES) | |
| 31 | Time for training group’s last weight-lifting exercise (5) |
| SQUAT – SQUAD, with the D changed to T(ime). | |
| 33 | Every so often sup ale and express spit (8) |
| SPLUTTER – S(u)P (a)L(e) + UTTER, to express. | |
| 34 | Southern Spain’s English diner fitting one in on trip (6-6) |
| SINGLE-SEATER – S + INGLES, Spanish for English, + EATER, a diner. | |
| 38 | Cold bottom familiar to penguins? (10) |
| ANTARCTICA – A CD. I sort of see where this clue is coming from, Antarctica is “at the bottom” in the same sense that it is all downhill if you are coming from Scotland. And it is definitely cold there. | |
| 40 | Name of French department on holiday sounds theatrical (6,3) |
| NOISES OFF – N(ame) + OISE’S (of French department) + OFF on holiday. Oise, where Beauvais is. And Parc Asterix. | |
| 42 | Playing cards once part of degree (9) |
| ARCSECOND – *(CARDS ONCE). 1/3600 of a degree. | |
| 43 | Cook’s richer, although dog wants a run (9) |
| BUTTERIER – BUT TER(r)IER. Not a word that Collins, or indeed the OED recognises. Nor me. | |
| 45 | Fever one had after hospital admitted to mistake (7) |
| TYPHOID – H(ospital) in TYPO, a mistake, + I’D, one had. | |
| 46 | Better not a secret operation (7) |
| OVERTOP – an OVERT OP is not a secret… | |
| 47 | Very quickly come to a halt again when cycling? (6) |
| PRESTO – RESTOP, to halt again, with the P “cycled“ | |
| 48 | Electrician informally employed in M&S (6) |
| SPARKS – a term for an electrician, also found in good old Marks & Sparks. | |
| 50 | Rotation of globe stopped by Virginia, a remarkable feat! (5) |
| BRAVO – V(irgini)A in ORB, a globe, all reversed. | |
| 52 | Letters covered by stamps — is postage going up? (4) |
| PSIS – another hidden, as above. | |
Nice puzzle, not too hard.
I’m not entirely convinced by a church’s = HOLY at 36ac.
DNK INSWINGER but it seemed plausible as sports jargon as indicated by the surface of the clue.
I’m bad on French departments but took OISE on trust in NOISES OFF.
I didn’t understand all the wordplay in SINGLE-SEATER as I was left with INGLES unaccounted for and was unable to think past fireplaces.
Thanks Jerry. I found this much harder than average and it took me a few sessions to finish it off. Even then I had 2 errors, breather for Baedeker and outstep for overtop.
I did enjoy it though, especially the reversed row ten and the misdirection of like 6d.
1d. £20 per entry ticket = £20 an entry ticket
We were abroad so did this on the iPad, which brings an extra challenge.
Loved “Tannery”. Reminds me of the Uxbridge Dictionary, eg. Army, a bit like an arm.
Super anagram for Silence of the Lambs.
Never heard of an Arcsecond before, but got it from the anagram.
Thank you Jerry for providing these explanations. It really is appreciated.
Yes I thought this was hard-ish. My summary comment suggested that while there was some good stuff, it was marred by “overwrought, try-hard bs”! 😏
I abandoned this and now I’ve seen the explanations I’m relieved I didn’t waste more time on it?
I never know what the level is expected to be
Harder than a quickie but not as tough as the main?? I usually complete them but not as reliably as I do the quickies.
I don’t think it is meant to be any easier (or harder) than the daily cryptic.
My general advice is to spend (say) 30mins on it and then put it to one side, until another few minutes becomes available. If it takes me four or five sessions over a week to solve it I don’t care… just better value 🙂
I agree with Jerry’s comment. Taken as a whole the Jumbo is no harder or easier than the weekday 15×15 but it may incorporate clues that cover the weekly range – some easy, but others as hard as one might get on a beastly Friday. My best advice would be not to expect the level to be consistent throughout, and if you get really stuck, forget what you’ve already done and start again in a different section of the grid, preferably a blank area if there is one available.
Couldn’t get on this setter’s wavelength and like gcook52 I’m glad I gave up when I did.
Worst clue of the ones I got: 28a (flag = iris, yawn), though 38d is pretty dreadful.
Worst clue of the ones I didn’t get: 21d or 23d.
No favourite.
I just got round to this. I actually found it reasonably straightforward, but still managed to bugger it up. I put PORT in at 37ac thinking to myself ‘other than the definition I don’t understand this, better come back to it’, which of course I then forgot to do. Enjoyable puzzle though.
PSIS I think this may have been a reverse hidden