Times Jumbo 1007

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
35:30 on the club timer – on the whole a pleasant Jumbo, a steady solve without being a pushover (all things are relative, of course: I am blogging this one after solving today’s puzzle, which is a much tougher sort of beast altogether). I say “on the whole” because there was one clue which I can only conclude was inserted to win a bet…

With Jumbos I generally confine myself to discussion of answers which I think might be a) less straightforward for inexperienced or non-UK based solvers, or b) especially elegant / questionable. However, as always, if a particular clue is not discussed, please feel free to raise it in comments for explanation or discussion.

Across
1 GASTROPUB – (TOPGRUBAS)* &lit. Nice opening clue; portmanteau word used to describe the modern phenomenon of pubs which have tarted themselves up and started serving restaurant-quality food while aiming to retain the informal atmosphere of the lounge bar.
14 RECLINE – REC(reation ground) + LINE(=policy).
15 DECALOGUE =”DECK A LOG”, Greek word for the Ten Commandments.
16 DEMORALISED – DEMO(=march) + Left in RAISED.
18 PINEAL – PINE(=long) + A Length; found deep inside the brain.
19 NOVEMBER – NOVA + EMBER.
21 GOOGOL – 0 in (Nikolai) GOGOL; the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes; a very large number, not to be confused with Google.
28 AARON – A.A. + (NOR)rev.
33 ABERRATION – CABER RATION; a rare (for the Times) internally referential clue.
36 CABER – BEEN in CAR; the large pole which is tossed at the Highland Games.
38 DETECTIVE NOVEL – one of those “reverse anagram” type clues, i.e. “vet deceit” is a NOVEL way of spelling out DETECTIVE.
42 INTENT – if you were “in (a) tent” you’d be somewhere near the sort of guys which are ropes.
43 ROCK SALT – i.e ROCKS ALT, which you will find on the bottom row of your keyboard.
52 SATELLITE – AT ELL(old length of cloth, being 39 inches) in SITE.
54 ALDER – BALDER.
55 SPLURGE – L in SPURGE.
56 MUNCH – MUNICH; most famous for The Scream (all four of them).
 
Down
2 STURMINSTER NEWTON – UR-MINSTER(=original church) in STreet, NEW, (NOT)rev. Last one in, constructed from wordplay, having all the checkers, and then looking it up to check it existed. Pace Jimbo and anyone else who is a proud resident of Dorset, this is the first time I’ve ever heard the name of this apparently unremarkable town, and I’m wondering if it’s just me who thinks it’s demanding an excessive level of local knowledge to use it as a clue in a national newspaper? Population 3,105 according to wikipedia, possibly including one crossword setter?
3 REFORMATION – RE: INFORMATION. A royal “we”, not including any of us whose church is not the Anglican one formed in the split from Rome.
4 PURPLE – PLace in PURE.
5 BUCKSHOT – BUCKS, HOT.
6 CHILD BENEFIT – In the UK, this is the welfare payment given to all parents since 1946 as a recognition of the fact that having children costs money, and is on the whole a good thing for the country in the long term.
8 END UP – SEND UP. Another meaning of “guy” in this puzzle.
9 ARCHANGEL – feAR CHANGE, Lacking.
11 ROGUE – BROGUE.
12 TREATY – ThReE wAnT mY.
18 PROPAGANDA – PAGAN in [PROD Answer].
20 READ ONLY – ONLine in READY; somewhat clunky with “only” appearing in clue and solution.
22 OUT OUT BRIEF CANDLE – (REFUTATIONCOULDBE)*; I love a long anagram, and they are always a more practical proposition in the Jumbo.
24 PERFORATED – Following in PERORATED.
27 SABOTEUR – (BOATSURE)*; another nice &lit.
31 DONALD – DON (Bradman) A Length Delivery. Cricket reference #1.
32 QUEENS SPEECH – The Queen’s Speech is the government’s address to the state opening of Parliament (i.e. Westminster), delivered by the monarch of the day; given the length of her reign, the suggestion is that Victoria must have delivered plenty.
34 ROCKEFELLER – FELLED in ROCKER; a still-resonant name if you’re above a certain age.
36 CAR BOOT SALE – CARD + BOOTS + ALE. The more obscure meaning of “boot” here, meaning “to avail”; more commonly seen in the adjective “bootless”, I think. Mostly a British phenomenon, it seems.
39 INTESTINE – TEST (match) in [IN, IN] (batting twice) + England. Cricket reference #2.
48 BETEL=”BEETLE” .
51 TARRY – double def. a) “wait” b) “hot and sticky”, like tar.

One comment on “Times Jumbo 1007”

  1. In under the hour (58′), which is about the best I can hope for with Jumbos. Needless to say, I’d never heard of STURMINSTER NEWTON, and never will again, but the wordplay was, thank heavens, clear enough. (And thank heavens it’s too long for a Concise, where I’m always falling down on ‘Hampshire town’ sorts of clues.) I just looked, and noticed that my new i-Mac keyboard doesn’t have an ALT key; I wonder what it was for. At the last minute I remembered BOOT and changed my ‘car port sale’, which I didn’t like from the start. COD to 16ac, but also liked 22d (COD, anagram division), 3d, and42ac.

    Edited at 2012-12-02 07:06 am (UTC)

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