Times Jumbo 1057

27:48 on the Club timer, which is on the quick side for me with a puzzle of this size. Not too much in the way of obscurities, and no really tricksy wordplay. What was notable were the really smooth surfaces; I know they aren’t essential, but it makes a crossword a much more pleasing experience all round when they conjure up an appealing or appropriate image.

With Jumbos, which attract a far smaller audience than daily puzzles, I generally confine myself to discussion of answers which I think are a) less straightforward for inexperienced or non-UK based solvers, or b) especially elegant / questionable. In other words, unless it’s an exceptionally interesting puzzle, the coverage is unlikely to be 100%; however, as always, if a particular clue is not discussed, please feel free to raise it in comments for explanation or discussion.

Across
1	PORK PIE – in Cockney rhyming slang, pork pie = lie.
5	CUIRASS =”QUEER ASS”.
9	BESIDES – BE(=”live”) + [IDE(a fish mostly seen in crosswords) inside S.S., i.e. on board a ship].
16	TRAPEZE – TRAP(=”gin”) + “Es”. The first of many terrific surfaces.
23	UPSETTER – PuShEd in UTTER.
27	SWEATER – i.e SW EATERY without the newquaY. Immediately one’s mind is drawn to Rick Stein and Padstow, perhaps, by the careful wording.
32	MADEIRA – MADE(=”produced”) + IRAQ or IRAN.
35	CRO-MAGNON – (RCONGOMAN)*. I didn’t actually know where this prehistoric anthropoid had been found, but given that it’s French, I now realise I may have been pronouncing it wrong all these years…
36	GEEZERS =”GEYSERS”, either the natural Icelandic hot-water spouts or the domestic boilers named after them.
38	SUB ROSA – BROS in (AUS)rev.
40	IMPROV – IMPROVE, i.e. improvised comedy.
41	SIGHTSEE =”SITES” + darjEEling. Another nice surface reading.
44	A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE – (REREADSCENEDRAMATIST,THE)*. One of the good things about the Jumbo is that setters get a chance to have fun with this sort of massive anagram.
50	COMBUST – CO.(=”business”) + (Book in MUST). I had trouble parsing this one, as it’s a definition of “must” which is quite low down the list, and which I’d forgotten, if I ever knew it; ODO has it as “the frenzied state of certain male animals, especially elephants or camels, that is associated with the rutting season”.
54	EXHORTATION – thaT in EX HORATIO N. Very nice spot by the setter to realise that HORATIO N. suggests a pairing with EMMA H.
55	GRASSHOPPER – SHOP in GRASPER and another great surface.
58	AGELESS – A GEL (as pronounced in the aristocratic manner), TESSA. Times crosswords rarely use clues which depend on a solution to another clue.
Down
1	PLUG-IN – PLUG(=”strongly recommend”), IN(=”popular”). A plug-in is a small added bit of software to be added to an existing programme, as anyone reading this in a browser which they’ve customised will already know.
2	REQUEST – RE(=”on”), QUeen, EST(“is” in French). Clearly it could have been any Francophone, but M. Dior made the surface work best.
3	PEA JACKET – [EAch JACK] in PET; appropriately, a garment actually worn by sailors.
5	CHINA TEA – CHIN(half of the old-fashioned toast “chin-chin”), ATE(=”consumed”, A.
6	INDRE – (FRIEND)*. Didn’t know it, but the wordplay seemed pretty clear. In fairness to me, and with all due respect to the place, I think it’s far from the most noteworthy department…
7	ATHLETE – (THE,L)* in ATE(=”worried”).
10	SWELL – unglamorouS WELLies; “swell” in the Burlington Bertie sense, and obviously one who wouldn’t be seen wearing anything unstylish.
11	DISADVANTAGEOUS – [SAD VAN in (AGUIDETO)*], Son. One of those where the parsing followed the answer, and revealed the rather informal “SAD”=unfashionable.
12	SURREAL – SURREY + A Lake.
19	OVERMEN – (REMOVE)* + installatioN. Foremen in a colliery, hence not a widespread occupation in modern Britain.
21	EMERSON – nested answer, [E.R. in MS.] in EON.
24	STAR OF BETHLEHEM – as usual, a plant I’ve never heard of, but very obvious from the wordplay.
26	STATEROOM – [(TAT) in MOORE’S]rev.
43	ADJUTANT – engageD in A JUT, ANT.
46	EXAMPLE – EXAM, PupiL, E. Last of the noteworthily good surfaces which I made a note of.
47	INGRES – (SINGER)*. The best anagrams are the ones which don’t immediately leap out as anagrams.
52	TESSA – (SET)rev. + Sex Appeal. Nice to see this clued without any reference to savings or upside-down assets for once.