1ac was a write-in as I’d seen a similar clue very recently but then progress was slow and I was grinding to a halt as I decided to abandon the top of the grid and start again at the bottom. This often proves fruitful as the theory goes that setters are running out of steam by the time they get there so the clues are easier. Even more true with a Jumbo perhaps.
I note we have Across answers that fit together in the 7th and 17th rows.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, con tainment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I now use a tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | To the younger generation, lower capital has nothing for society (3-3) |
| MOO-COW – MO |
|
| 5 | Heads of light entertainment enthralled by past gag (7) |
| SILENCE – L{ight} + E{ntertainment} [heads] contained [enthralled] by SI~NCE (past) | |
| 9 | Nicked American alongside others framed by Communist (8) |
| ARRESTED – A (American), then REST (others) contained [framed] by R~ED (communist) | |
| 13 | Conservative duffed up one long-haired misfit (6,3,2,1,5,4) |
| SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE – SQUARE (conservative), anagram [duffed] of UP ONE LONG-HAIRED | |
| 14 | Eg Russell T Davies’s first barren broadcast (8) |
| BERTRAND – Anagram [broadcast] of T D{avies’s}[first] BARREN. For those who may not know, Russell T Davies is a screenwriter and TV producer heavily associated with DOCTOR WHO. | |
| 15 | Checking short month, current account’s squeaky clean (7) |
| ASEPTIC – SEPT (short month) + I (current) contained by [checking] A~C (account) | |
| 16 | For some, neat ending when in a stew? (6) |
| OXTAIL – OX (neat), TAIL (ending). I’m not sure what ‘for some’ is doing here but I’ve included it in the overall definition. | |
| 17 | Mock frail cat I repeatedly bothered (10) |
| ARTIFICIAL – Anagram [bothered] of FRAIL CAT + I + I (I repeatedly) | |
| 20 | Duke escapes poverty crushing utter dope (12) |
| INTELLIGENCE – IN{d}~IGENCE (poverty) [Duke escapes] containing [crushing] TELL (utter) | |
| 23 | Peak fitness upped jogging intensity primarily (4) |
| FUJI – F{itness} + U{pped} + J{ogging} + I{ntensity} [primarily] | |
| 24 | Pawn waving cleaver assassinated PM (8) |
| PERCEVAL – P (pawn), anagram [waving] of CLEAVER. Spencer Perceval was PM 1809-1812. |
|
| 26 | Historic hardship reduced great cricketer (8) |
| RICHARDS – Hidden in [reduced] {histo}RIC HARDS{hip}. My LOI as my knowledge of great cricketers is very limited. This one (now Sir Viv) is still alive aged 73. | |
| 29 | Peccadillo made Monsieur angry (12) |
| MISDEMEANOUR – Anagram [angry] of MADE MONSIEUR | |
| 30 | Start to realise how Jersey is not without purpose (10) |
| RUDDERLESS – R{ealise} [start to…], UDDERLESS (how Jersey is not). Jersey is a light brown cow that produces very creamy milk. | |
| 32 | Complaint by Dorothy’s companion eating mum’s fruit (4,6) |
| BEEF TOMATO – BEEF (complaint), TO~TO (Dorothy’s companion) containing [eating] MA (mum). A reference to The Wizard of Oz in which Toto is Dorothy’s dog. | |
| 34 | Second coach’s taking on island tours, those with a twist? (6,6) |
| MOBIUS STRIPS – MO (second), B~US’S (coach’s) containing [taking on] I (island), then TRIPS (tours). In mathematics, a one-sided continuous surface, formed by twisting a long narrow rectangular strip of material through 180° and joining the ends (Collins). | |
| 36 | Perhaps sample fried eggs every so often, almost 50 to go round (4,4) |
| FREE GIFT – F~IFT{y} (50) [almost] containing [to go round] {f}R{i}E{d} E{g}G{s} [every so often] | |
| 38 | Film star Leonard rejected large car stores (8) |
| MINNELLI – MIN~I (car) contains [stores] LEN (Leonard) reversed [rejected] + L (large). Dorothy’s daughter! | |
| 39 | With a little work from the east, expanded (4) |
| GREW – W (with) + ERG (a little work) reversed [from the east] | |
| 41 | Perverse unintroduced rate cuts occurring now (12) |
| CONTEMPORARY – {t}EMPO (rate) [unintroduced] is contained by [cuts] CONTRARY (perverse) | |
| 43 | US unit engaged in northern river works? (10) |
| LITERATURE – LITER (US unit), AT (engaged), URE (northern river – it’s in North Yorkshire) | |
| 44 | Rank of university within quantitative data (6) |
| STATUS – U (university) contained by [within] STAT~S (quantitative data) | |
| 46 | Dip picked up on cheek and mouth on TV? (3-4) |
| LIP-SYNC – LIP (cheek – insolence), then aural wordplay [picked up] SYNC / “sink” (dip) | |
| 48 | Brings back old academic, a dinosaur (8) |
| STEGODON – GETS (brings) reversed [back], O (old), DON (academic) | |
| 50 | Saw, from Hamlet, how to verify subtitles I translated (7,2,3,4,2,3) |
| BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT – Anagram [translated] of HOW TO VERIFY SUBTITLES I. ‘Saw’ as in a saying or proverb. | |
| 51 | Poor wife was sick (8) |
| WRETCHED – W (wife), RETCHED (was sick) | |
| 52 | Coastal country is beginning to improve fish nets (7) |
| TUNISIA – TUN~A (fish) contains [nets] IS + I{mprove} [beginning to…] | |
| 53 | Lackey in gang partly vandalising estate, say (6) |
| KEYING – Hidden in [partly] {lac}KEY IN G{ang}. Vandalizing a car by scraping its paint with a key. | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 2 | Antipodean case documents uncovered (5) |
| OSSIE – {d}OSSIE{r} (case documents) [uncovered]. Never seen this spelling before. | |
| 3 | Rural nobleman stunned with horror when pet absconds (11) |
| COUNTRIFIED – COUNT (nobleman), {pet}RIFIED (stunned with horror) [pet absconds] | |
| 4 | Maybe poison militant shortly (8) |
| WARFARIN – WARFARIN{g} (militant) [shortly] | |
| 5 | Agreeable power mentioned guards (5) |
| SAPID – SA~ID (mentioned) contains [guards] P (power) | |
| 6 | Marine sheet drags — trouble follows (7) |
| LUGSAIL – LUGS (drags), AIL (trouble) | |
| 7 | Sceptic “name” working to contradict stuck-up clergyman (11) |
| NONBELIEVER – N (name), ON (working), BELIE (contradict) then REV (clergyman) reversed [stuck-up] | |
| 8 | Bird smothered in upset detergent (5) |
| EGRET – Hidden [smothered] and reversed [upset] in {de}TERGE{nt} | |
| 9 | Kind of Bible ambiguous surrounding origin of universe releasing energy (9) |
| AVUNCULAR – AV (Bible – Authorised Version), UNC~L{e}AR (ambiguous) containing [surrounding] U{niverse} [origin of…] [releasing energy – e] | |
| 10 | Set right prior to brief farewell (5) |
| RADIO – R (right), ADIO{s} (farewell) [brief] | |
| 11 | Traditional newspaper promotion split either side of excessive hype, extremely boring to begin with (4,3,4) |
| SPOT THE BALL – SP~ALL (split) containing [either side of] OTT (excessive) + H{yp}E [extremely] + B{boring} [to begin with]. Spall – (of ore, rock, or stone) split or break off in fragments. | |
| 12 | Mournful English and Gaelic broadcast (7) |
| ELEGIAC – E (English), anagram [broadcast] of GAELIC | |
| 18 | Mechanical sort of grooving tool among electronic drills (9) |
| ROUTINEER – IN (among) + E (electronic) is contained by [drills] ROUTER (grooving tool). A routineer is someone who acts in a mechanical, robotic, or unvarying way. | |
| 19 | Flower arranging in general mostly trite (7) |
| IKEBANA – IKE (general – nickname of Eisenhower), BANA{l} (trite) [mostly] | |
| 21 | Fairly good Hispanic cheer ahead of Republican being welcomed by panel (9) |
| TOLERABLE – OLÉ (Hispanic cheer) + R (Republican) contained [being welcomed] by T~ABLE (panel) | |
| 22 | Soldiers protected by cover step up (8) |
| INCREASE – RE (soldiers) contained [protected] by INC~ASE (cover) | |
| 25 | Off and on, warm sirocco scattered plant (9) |
| CROCOSMIA – Anagram [scattered] of {w}A{r}M [off and on] + SIROCCO. NHO this. | |
| 27 | Fool breaking unopened zip interrupts pretty walk (9) |
| DISAPPEAR – SAP (fool) contained by [ breaking] {z}I~P [unopened], is all contained by [interrupts] D~EAR (pretty) | |
| 28 | Big shop boosted work inspired by fashion designer Jean and setter (8) |
| EMPORIUM – OP (work) contained [inspired] by MUIR (fashion designer Jean) ~ ME (setter) all reversed [boosted] | |
| 31 | Jacket that’s suggested by tourist on vacation? (7) |
| DOUBLET – T{ouris}T [on vacation] / DOUBLE T | |
| 33 | British journalism’s fast track? (5,6) |
| FLEET STREET – FLEET (fast), STREET (track). The name is still synonymous with British journalism but all the major newspapers moved away long ago. | |
| 34 | Yuppy periodically tense in 30 days addicted to surreal comic collection? (5,6) |
| MONTY PYTHON – Y{u}P{p}Y [periodically] + T (tense) contained by [in] MONT~H (30 days), ON (addicted to) | |
| 35 | Tory influence stifling Foreign Office over land-access permissions (6,2,3) |
| RIGHTS OF WAY – RIGHT (Tory) + S~WAY (influence) containing [stifling] FO (Foreign Office) reversed [over] | |
| 37 | Drunken online nuisance carefully looked at (9) |
| TROLLEYED – TROLL (online nuisance), EYED (carefully looked at) | |
| 40 | Environmentalist fine consuming dash of Cockburn’s Port (8) |
| GREENOCK – GREEN (environmentalist), O~K (fine) containing [consuming] C{ockburn’s} [dash of…]. For those who may not know Cockburn’s is one of the leading brands of port on sale in the UK. | |
| 42 | Missing out at first, shut down and restart company backing for one month (7) |
| OCTOBER – REBO{o}T (shut down and restart) [missing O{ut} at first] + CO all reversed [backing] | |
| 43 | They swarm a great deal, covering most of point (7) |
| LOCUSTS – LO~TS (a great deal) containing [covering] CUS{p} (point) [most of…] | |
| 45 | Cane sons, more or less full of whiskey (5) |
| SWISH – S (sons) ~ ISH (more or less) containing [full of] W (whiskey) | |
| 47 | Assume one will stop job (5) |
| POSIT – I (one) contained by [will stop] POS~T (job) | |
| 48 | Southern republic’s tanks supporting submarine manoeuvres? (5) |
| SCUBA – S (southern), CUBA (republic) | |
| 49 | Playwright somehow or other found inspiration in seconds (5) |
| ORTON – {s}O{mehow} + {o}R + {o}T{her} + {f}O{und} + {i}N{spiration} [seconds] | |
24ac typo: it’s percEval (there’s no I in the anagrist).
Thanks. Interesting that I’ve never noticed it’s spelt like that before, yet I read his Wiki page when preparing the blog.
DNF with knobs on
Lots of DNKs didn’t help matters: DNK WARFARIN was poisonous, just knew it as a blood-thinning drug; DNK TROLLEYED, designer Jean, KEYING, CROCOSMIA, SPOT THE BALL, STEGODON, GREENOCK, ROUTINEER, …
6d I may be wrong but a marine sheet would indicate a line not a sail so the definition is questionable.
On reflection you’re certainly right that it’s questionable. In the depths of Chambers and SOED ‘sheet’ is listed as a poetic equivalent of ‘sail’ so that’s a possible justification, but the clue is so specific with ‘marine sheet’ and ‘lugsail’ that I have my doubts.
I found this mostly quite straightforward but with a few stubborn hold-outs at the end. However I had LAGSAIL, which seemed to fit the wordplay fine.
I don’t see how INCREASE works. ‘Cover’ is CASE, there doesn’t seem to be anything to indicate IN. ‘Soldiers protected by cover’ gives CREASE. Or possibly REINCASE. What am I missing?
Sorry my blog wasn’t clear and I confused the matter by inserting a space (now removed), but INCASE (cover) is an alternative spelling of ‘encase’ as listed in Chambers and Collins.
Hmm. I guess if Collins says so we have to accept it!
I’ve never come across OSSIE in that spelling, and neither has Wikipedia nor the first tranche of results from Google.
It’s also in the OED, but the single citation is from 1918 so I suspect it’s passed out of use.
DNF. Hadn’t heard of warfarin as a poison, sapid, lugsail, routineer, ikebani, or Jean Muir. Main gripe is that some of the clues were onerous construction, deletion and reversal rather than fun word play, such as 9d and just look at the complexity involved in trying to explain 11d (oh yes, also hadn’t heard of spall).
Best clue: 33d for the play on words, and 29a raised a smile.
Worst clue: 2d. No one ever uses that spelling, but also not fond of something as vague as ‘plant’ as a definition (25d).
I’ve never come across OSSIE in that spelling, and neither has Wikipedia nor the first tranche of results from Google.
Thanks for the blog Jack.
The website says I finished with errors, even though all the squares are green! The only error I can see is that a STEGODON is a mammal, not a dinosaur (I presume it’s intended figuratively).
This was mentioned yesterday in Mick H’s weekly newsletter:
“Sorry, but I cannot resist nit-picking at items in your newspaper!” writes Ian Pearce, one of our most frequent correctors. “In last Saturday’s Jumbo Crossword No 1769 the clue for 48 across was ‘Brings back old academic, a dinosaur’. It looked as if the answer must be ‘stegodon’.
“Not being too familiar with dinosaurs, I looked up a complete list of dinosaurs on the Natural History Museum website but there was no stegodon included in the 37 dinosaurs beginning with ‘s’. The reason is that a stegodon is not a dinosaur. The stegodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean, a group of mammals that includes today’s elephants.”
Please Ian, no need to apologise — your challenge was a correct one, as my three-year old grandson could have told us. We subsequently amended the online clue to read: “Brings back old academic, one that could be seen as a fossil”.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing Jack.
A couple of duff clues here, especially didn’t like the archaic use of ‘neat’ to mean ox. But that didn’t stop us finishing ok.
Some really nice clues to compensate. Moo-cow tickled my funny bone, and I thought Orton was rather creative. Likewise Tourist on vacation.