Times Jumbo 1074

Author   helenoughamPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Another puzzle with several complex, clever clues.

As usual, * indicates an anagram.

Across
1 CORSICA – C + OR, + SIC (indicated by ‘so’), + Ago
5 EXCHANGE – sEX CHANGE
9 ARCTIC – TICk by ARC
13 PAYS LIP SERVICE TO – PAY-SLIP SERVICE (‘facility for producing salary info’), + TO (‘closed’)
14 SUBSEA – SUBS (‘reserves’), + alternate letters of ‘we had’
16 NAEVI – hidden in operatIVE ANgrily (reversed)
17 LAY INTO – (on Italy)*
18 OVERDRAWN – OVER (‘ancient history’) + DRAWN
19 BASILICAN – SILICA in BAN
21 ROMANOV – ROMA, + von (reversed)
22 PRISM – first letters of ‘moral support is required possibly’, reversed
23 LLANO – LO (‘watch’) around LANd. LLANO is a Spanish word for ‘plain’
25 INHALANTS – (has n Latin)*
27 AIRSICK – AIR (‘feeling’), + StICK (to ‘stomach’ can be to STICK something). A nice ‘&lit’ clue, i.e. one which is simultaneously the wordplay and the definition
29 SEPTENNIA – EP (extended player – type of record) + TENNIs, in SA (sex appeal; ‘it’). SEPTENNIA are periods of 7 years
31 BE AT A LOOSE END – LOO (toilet; ‘ladies maybe’) + SEEN, in AD, after BEAT
34 BRIGHTON BELLE – BRIG (Brigadier; ‘colonel’s superior’), + HE around TON + BELL
35 PETRUSHKA – (UK p star he)*
37 TIBETAN – TI (musical note) + BET (‘bank’, as in ‘to bank on’), + first letters of ‘accepted not’
39 MAKE A BOMB – MAKE + A + BOMB. The definition here is ‘Get ready in a big way’, i.e. make a lot of money, aka a BOMB
42 DUNCE – DANCE, with U replacing the second letter, A
43 NIZAM – in (‘home’), reversed, + ZAMbia
45 ARIPPLE – APPLE (indicated by ‘cooker’, i.e. a cooking apple) around R + I
47 TEDIOUSLY – (loud yet is)*
49 HINDRANCE – HIND, + RACE around oxeN
50 EXPRESS – triple definition, with ‘couch’ here indicating a way of putting something into words, i.e. EXPRESSing it
52 TV SET – VaSE, in TT (teetotal)
54 REIN IN – RE, + I in INN
55 PHOTO OPPORTUNITY – cryptic indication
56 EVEN SO – EVEN (quits), + SO (‘that is so’ = ‘that is the case’)
57 SWEETEST – TEST, after S + WEE
58 DIPTYCH – CH (central heating), after PT (physical training) in DIY. A DIPTYCH is a work of art or other object made up of two panels hinged together

‘

Down
1 CAP AND BELLS – CAP (‘beat’ in the sense of ‘do better than’) + AND + BELL’S
2 RHYME – ‘millionaire’ and ‘heir’ RHYME with ‘their’; RHYME sounds like ‘rime’
3 ILL WILL – I’LL sWILL
4 APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS – APPAL, + AS around (inhuman action)*
5 EVERY INCH – EVE, + RY (railway), + INCH (to move slowly, ‘edge’)
6 COVEN – COVE + N
7 ANCHORMAN – (charm on)* + A + N
8 GET DOWN – triple indication: GET (see, understand) + DOWN (feathers); GET DOWN = descend (alight); GET (turn) + BLUE (depressed, ‘down’)
10 ROUND UP – ROUND (‘volley’ in the sense of a round of gunfire) + UP
11 TOSCANINI – SCAN + IN, in TOIl
12 CHAIN-SMOKED – C (key of), + (head monks i)*
15 LEAVE A LOT TO BE DESIRED – LEAVE (‘will’, as in ‘will and testament’), + A + LOT + TO, + BEDE (‘old historian’), + SIRE + D
20 SHAR-PEI – i.e. (reversed), after SHARP
21 RELABEL – REEL round LAB (Labour party)
24 ONE-SHOT – ONE’S HOT
26 SWAMP – M in SWAP (5ac is EXCHANGE, = SWAP)
28 RESCUED – RES (plural of RE), + CUED
30 ALBUM – wordplay gives ALBUMen; ‘game adversaries’ indicates E and N (East and North in a game of bridge), and ‘where soldiers aren’t pushed’ indicates albumen, because if you’re pushing toast ‘soldiers’ into your boiled egg, you dip them into the yolk, not the white (albumen)
32 AVERAGE – VERA in AGE
33 ECHINUS – CHIN in (use)*
34 BATON CHARGE – BAT ON (‘fail to declare’ – yes, it’s the obligatory cricketing reference), + CHARGE
36 ABERYSTWYTH – my home town! (try was by the)*
38 BYZANTINE – A NT (New Testament – ‘series of books’), in BY + ZINE (informal term for ‘magazine’)
40 KIPPER TIE – TIE after KIPPER (someone who’s asleep)
41 ON THE SPOT – double definition
44 MARGINS – MAR GINS
46 ICE SHOW – ICES (kills or ‘tops’), + HOW. I’m not sure about ‘off’ in this clue – I think ‘on’ would have been better. Have I misunderstood?
48 OUTJUMP – OUT (‘flowering’) + JUMP (‘start’, as in ‘jump-start’)
51 PROLE – PR (proportional representation) + OLE
53 SPICY – PieS, reversed, + ICY

6 comments on “Times Jumbo 1074”

  1. Helen – re: ICE SHOW I saw “tops off” as ICES rather than just “tops”. Did you miss out PETRUSHKA at 35ac deliberately?

    I thought this was a very good puzzle with plenty of ingenious cluing and well-disguised definitions. I don’t time my Jumbos but this one must have taken at least an hour and a half. MARGINS was my LOI after NIZAM.

  2. Finally discovered my error: put in ‘basilicon’ without thinking. LOI was KIPPER TIE, which I’d never heard of. This was quite an enjoyable Jumbo, which they aren’t always.
  3. Yes, this was an excellent puzzle, quite hard. Many thanks to setter and blogger esp for explaining 27A where I got it right OK but did not see the wordplay (until now!). I also agree with Andy Borrows’ take on ICE SHOW though I’ll admit I did not understand it for quite a while before seeing it as he does.
  4. I suppose HOW stands for ‘the way’, but ‘off’ seems, well, a bit off to me.

    In 22a, how is a prism a solid?

    1. It’s a solid in the geometry sense, like a cube or a cylinder (at least, that’s what I assumed).

Comments are closed.