I solved this over three sessions so I’ve no idea what my time would have been, but I felt it was towards the tougher nd of the Times Jumbo spectrum, and there’s one clue (to 49ac) that I still haven’t properly understood.
As usual, * indicates an anagram.
Across | |
1 | JUMBLE SALE – JUMBLES ALE |
6 | BOOBY-TRAPPED – P (quietly) in (baby torpedo)* |
14 | FORESAW – FORE (opposite of stern, in the nautical sense) + SAW |
15 |
DROUGHT – DOUGHT |
16 | INGESTS – sounds like ‘in jest’s’ |
17 | ACHE – AC (alternating current) + HE (He is the abbreviation for helium) |
18 | BOO-BOO – BOO (to indicate disapproval), twice |
20 |
GOLGOTHA – G, + (logo)*, + THA |
24 | A HAIR OF THE DOG THAT BIT HIM – cryptic indication |
25 | EPITAPH – cryptic definition |
26 | ALL SOULS – ALSO around L, + L in US |
27 | ADJOIN – O (old) + IN, after ADJ (HADJ as it might be pronounced in the East End of London) |
29 | BLOW HOT AND COLD – BLOW, + HOT AND COLD (indicated by ‘a couple of taps’) |
31 | HAUNCHES – HUNCHES around A |
34 |
CADUCEUS – DUCE (name used for Mussolini) in CAUS |
36 | CARRIAGE RETURN – CARRIAGE + RETURN |
39 | DISMAY – DIS (detecive inspectors) MAY, i.e. they ‘have a warrant to’ |
41 | BERGAMOT – (got amber)* |
43 | RETREAD – RE + T + READ |
46 | WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION – (alone right to hold Nazi war)* |
47 | NOSEBAND – sounds like ‘noes banned’ |
48 | IMPALA – I + MP (‘person who’s run successfully’ for Parliament) + A LA |
49 | STOA – I’m somewhat baffled by this. The definition is ‘Series of columns covered’ (or, possibly, just ‘Series of columns’), but I can’t really see how the rest of the clue works as the wordplay. The letters of STOA are concealed, jumbled, in ‘last of’. Alternatively, if you remove the last letter of ‘special’ you get ‘specia’, which could just indicate S TO A – but either way, I can’t fully work it out. Any thoughts? |
53 | HAMMIER – double definition. I originally thought this was going to be MEATIER, which I reckon would have fitted the clue even better |
54 | VILLAGE – hidden in ‘recalled regal living’, reversed |
56 | MAN-WEEK – MEEK, around AN + W |
57 | HUNGER STRIKE – HUNGER + S + TRIKE |
58 | WAIT AND SEE – (idea wasn’t)*, around E |
Down | |
1 | JAFFA CAKE – JAKE, around (a caff), reversed |
2 | MARSH MARIGOLD – MARS + (ham)* + RIG + OLD |
3 | LIST – hidden in (abasement, silently), reversed |
4 | SAWN-OFF SHOTGUN – (gown has stuff on)* |
5 | LED – sounds like lead (heavy metal) |
7 | ORGY – GORY, with first letter displaced downwards |
8 | BUTTONHOLE – double definition |
9 | TAILGATE – ‘so-called scandal’ indicates GATE, as in Watergate, plebgate etc.; ‘knife-wielding wife in nursery’ refers to the farmer’s wife in the nursery rhyme ‘Three Blind Mice’ |
10 |
ANGST-RIDDEN – |
11 | PISTACHIO – (is apt)* + CH + IO (satellite of Jupiter) |
12 | DOSH – DO SH (i.e. do keep quiet!) |
13 | TOROIDAL – (in a lot or)*. I’m not sure why the setter chose to use the US contraction ‘donut’ rather than the usual English ‘doughnut’ in the definition – there’s nothing otherwise American about the clue |
19 | BAHRAINI – BAH + RAIN + I |
21 | ARMAGH – sounds (just possibly) like ‘our ma’ |
22 |
IGNOBLER – (girl on b |
23 | AMUNDSEN – UND (German for ‘and’) + S, in AMEN |
28 |
CAREER DIPLOMAT – CAREER + T |
29 | BACK DOWN – BACK (defence position in various sports) + DOWN (to drink something) |
30 | CHANGSHA – HANGS in CHA. This showed up my ignorance of Chinese geography! |
32 |
HOUSEMISTRESS – HOU |
33 | LAST-GASP – double definition |
35 |
CLANDESTINE – CLAN + DESTINE |
37 | EXTRAS – yes, it’s the inevitable cricketing clue again. A bye in cricket can also be known as an EXTRA. R in (Texas)* |
38 | WELL I NEVER – WELL (indicated by ‘my’ in the sense of an exclamation), + IN + EVER |
40 | STRONGMAN – NG, in ST + ROMAN |
42 | MARZIPAN – ram (reversed), + ZIP (nothing, ‘not a sausage’) + A + N |
44 | DON’T ASK ME – a student could request ‘Don, task me!’ |
45 | CERBERUS – sounds like Serb, + sure (reversed) |
50 | UH-OH – right-most letters of ‘you wish to quash’ |
51 |
FLAK – FAK |
52 | IN ON – INN around O (i.e. containing nothing, therefore empty) |
55 | EVA – if turned upside-down, this would give Ave (as in Ave Maria) |
I can however proffer regarding STOA, that it is all but the last of “special” ie SPECIA which is a series from S TO A
There’s a little error in 22d above. The extreme characters should be taken from BRONTE and not IGNOBLER, which is, of course, the solution.
Edited at 2014-01-16 04:20 pm (UTC)