Times Jumbo 1100 (12 Jul 2014)

Posted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Solving time: 1:43:07

Nothing too taxing in this one. Quite a pleasant stroll through. Nothing much to say about it.

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

1 JACK(AS)S
5 SYCAMORE = (SO + RE) about (Yangtze + CAM)
9 KNOCKS = “Knox” – Ronald Knox was an English priest who translated the St Jerome Latin Vulgate Bible into English.
13 GRANDFATHER CLOCK – cd – overweight woman being GRAND FAT HER
14 P + OUNCE
16 LE + M(ON)ADE
17 KEEN – dd
18 EARTH + LING
20 PITFALLS = FALL (autumn abroad) in (PIT + faceS)
21 ENCHANTMENT – dd
24 RANDOMISE = AND (with) + OM (high honour) all in RISE (advance)
25 OPEN-EYED = PEN (writer) + EntrY all in OED
26 ETNA = ANTE rev
29 SCHOOLHOUSE = (yoU + CHOOSE HOLS)* – semi-&lit
31 S(TORY + T)ELLER – ‘pork pies’ being CRS for lies
33 COPPERPLATE = COPPER (busy, as in policeman) + schoolgirL in PATE
36 WHEELBARROW = W + ROW (bank) after HEEL BAR (cobbler’s place)
38 TIDY – dd
39 DRY + CL(E)AN
41 REGRETFUL = (GULl + FERRET)*
44 STICK (flak) + IN SECT
45 I’M PROP + ER
48 PIGGY BANK – cd – Tamworth being a breed of pig – anyone remember the Tamworth Two?
49 IAGO = Inspector + GO about A – the antagonist in Othello.
50 INTERIOR = IN (not out) + (RIOTER)*
52 LOLL + OP
53 COME TO A STICKY END – cd
54 RUBBER – dd
55 NEOLITHS = (THIS ONE)* about L
56 ELDER + LaudablY
Down
1 JUGGLE = JUG + EG rev about L
2 CLAMMY – dd
3 ANDANTINO = A + N + DAN + TIN + Operate – I wasn’t sure about Dan = Tribe, but Wikipedia has an entry for the Gio or Dan people of North Africa. I also thought andantino as a musical direction was a little faster then leisurely.
4 STAND OF FISH
5 S(O)HOw
6 CORNERSTONE = CORNER (hole, as in predicament) + (ON SET)*
7 MALINGERERS = (ERRING MALES)*
8 RECHERCHE = RE (soldiers) + R in CHE/CHE – A word that translates from the french as ‘sought after’, as in the title of Proust’s classic, although it also means elegant and refined, which is where ‘choice’ comes in, I suppose.
10 NEOPHYTE = (ONE)* + “FIGHT”
11 CONTINENTAL + DRIFT
12 SLEIGHT = “SLIGHT”
15 CREAMERY = (MY CAREER)*
19 ALLELUIA = U in ALL ELIA – Elia being the pseudonym of essayist Charles Lamb
22 CROSS + CUT
23 IN THE PUDDING CLUB – dd – ‘Expecting’ is the straight def, the rest is more cryptic
27 AARDWOLF = AA (drivers) + FLOW rev about RD – I remember trying to read an encyclopedia when I was quite young. I didn’t get very far, but the aardwolf has always stuck in my head ever since.
28 MEGA – hidden
30 ODER = “ODOUR” – a slightly archaic usage of the word odour, I would have said, but a perfectly legitimate one
32 OVERRIPE – dd
34 PA + RENTAL
35 ELECTRIC EEL – cd – the answer was fairly obvious, although I wouldn’t have known it was native to South America.
36 WINNING + POST
37 LEGIONNAIRE = LEGION + Navigate + AIRE (Irish river)
40 CHEEKBONE = CHEEK + ONE about B (key)
42 EWE-NECKED = “YOU” + NECKED
43 OKEY-DOKE = O + K + E all about (KEY + DO)
44 SUPPLiER
46 L(IN)EAR
47 FR(ID)AY
51 ISIS – hidden – The River Thames at Oxford

5 comments on “Times Jumbo 1100 (12 Jul 2014)”

  1. Re 3D, I had DAN as one of the tribes of Israel – no better an answer than the African tribe but perhaps better known.
  2. 29 mins. I’m with mohn2 as far as the “Dan” of 3dn is concerned. I remember this being a very straightforward solve with SYCAMORE my LOI after CORNERSTONE.
  3. 41:46 but the best I could come up with for 42dn was EYE-PECKED. The convention that the setter is ‘I’ and the solver ‘you’ is pretty fixed but I had convinced myself that the petting was a peck on the cheek and EWE-PECKED looked sufficiently wrong that I ignored it. I won’t do that again.
  4. A number of DNK: ‘swing the lead’ (7d), ‘prop’ (45ac), LOLLOP, 53ac.And of course 42d. I had ‘eye-necked’–I assumed ‘X-necked’ would be some characteristic of a horse–but I simply read the clue wrong and was thinking of setter not solver, until I finally actually looked at the clue. Unsurprisingly, that was my LOI. I see no ‘COD’s scribbled in the margins, so I guess my assessment of the puzzle was pretty much like Dave’s.
  5. DNK it,but obvious from wordplay.A rather tame puzzle but enjoyable.
    C.ONG’ARA,
    Nairobi.

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