Times Jumbo 1010 (8 Dec 2012)

Solving time: About 1 hour 40 minutes.

On the whole a pleasant solve. I was held up by never having heard of either of the two long ones at 4 & 15. I loved the ‘four out of five’ device at 10d so I’ll give that my COD.

cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this

Across
1 SHELL + attrACtion
5 SO + Contestant + RATES
9 SH(AD)OW
13 CYRILLIC ALPHABET = (ICY BIRTHPLACE ALL)*
14 SIGNET = “CYGNET”
16 EXTRA – dd
17 ICEBERG – dd
18 TRIME(Sandberg)TER
19 AYLESBURY = (BAY SURELY)*
21 FAST + NET – Fastnet & Lundy are adjacent shipping areas just south of the Irish Sea
22 SOLDIer – An old Roman coin. Redcoats is term associated with soldiers of the British Empire.
23 IOWAN = IrON (press rejecting king) about WA
25 jOB + SERVANT
27 RED + COAT – A Redcoat is a member of the frontline staff at Butlins Holiday Camps
29 THE PEOPLE – dd – A UK Sunday newspaper
31 MULTINATIONAL = (ANNUAL LIMIT TO)*
34 JURa + IS + PRUDENCE
35 FREE-LIVER – dd
37 CORONER = CROONER with first R moved
39 PISTACHIO = (AS I CHOP IT)*
42 DELTA – dd – The first letter of Daedalus, when written in the Greek alphabet (Δαίδαλος if you’re interested)
43 RIFLE – dd – the lock, stock and barrel being the three distinct parts of a rifle
45 AI(RHEA)D
47 ROAD + TRAIN – ‘Antipodean lorry with trailers’ is the rather lengthy definition
49 STAND + DOWN – although I can’t find a way of justifying ‘feeling’ = STAND
50 EASTING = (AGENT IS)*
52 S + CRAM
54 EMI(Guests)R + E
55 HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE – dd – A reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher
56 LINGERie
57 GReEN + ACHE
58 STAINES = “STAINS”
Down
1 SECRET + lARIAT
2 EGRET – rev hidden
3 L(ALL)ANS – A Scots dialect – A LAN is a computing acronym for a Local Area Network
4 CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON = (UP IF ACTOR REQUIRES ONE)* – written by Immanuel Kant
5 SNAKE + EYE + S – ‘two in game’ is the definition, as this is a colloquial term for a double 1 thrown on two dice.
6 COPS + chasE
7 ANALGESIA = S instead of R in AN + ALGERIA
8 EVERTON = NOT rev after EVER
10 HEI(FivE)RS – I rather liked the ‘four out of five’ device to indicate the removal of IV (four) from FIVE.
11 DONATELLO = verDi + OTELLO about AN rev – A Renaissance sculptor who was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in his spare time.
12 WATER PISTOL = (WAS IT PETROL)* – a brilliantly misleading definition
15 VICTOR + I + A + DE + LOS ANGELES – I’ve never heard of her, and having read her Wikipedia entry, I’m entirely unsurprised by this. She seems a little obscure for inclusion in a Times crossword.
20 LOW + GEAR
21 FOR + AMEN – Not a word I knew, but once I had the F & R, the rest was obvious
24 NIELSEN = (LINESmEN)* – Carl Nielsen was probably Denmark’s greatest composer.
26 This House In Epping Forest
28 DRILLED – dd
30 EnniskilleN + DUP – The DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) is one of the main political parties in Northern Ireland.
32 LEE(WAR)Ds
33 NOVEmber + L/L + Author – NOVE is half of November, which would be 15 days
34 JACK RUSSELL = ELL (measure) after JACK/RUSS (two men)
36 REAL NUMBERS = (BARREN MULES)* – I didn’t recognise the name of Georg Cantor so this one took me a while.
38 RE(F)LATION – Not a word I’ve come across before, but a logical extension of inflation and deflation.
40 STEVENSON = ShorT + EVENSONg
41 HERBI(CID)E
44 END + hORSE
46 RANCOUR = “RANKER”
48 TESSERA = ARES (Greek God of War and resident of Olympus, hence Olympian) + SET all rev
51 S(TO)IC means a philosopher in its original sense. The adjective came later. I’m not sure about TO for ‘closed’ though. I would argue that if a door is to, then it is ajar, and hence NOT closed. But maybe there’s another meaning which I’m overlooking.
53 ROUE + Norman

3 comments on “Times Jumbo 1010 (8 Dec 2012)”

  1. I quite liked this crossword, it had some excellent surface readings and some very neat clues, such as 10dn and also 53dn. Thanks setter (and blogger).
    Re 51dn, the ODO says: adv: so as to be closed or nearly closed: “he pulled the door to behind him.” It is a tricky idiom, as in fact is “ajar.” I would say ajar meant open but the ODO says “slightly open.” Chambers says “partly open” …

  2. 55a: Just for posterity, it’s Allan, not Allen. Yes, I have been proofreading a lot lately, why do you ask?

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