Times Jumbo 1107 (Bank Holiday)

A solving time of 27 minutes backs up my feeling at the time that this was a pretty straightforward offering by Jumbo standards, but perfectly enjoyable holiday fare. Several nice definitions stood out, along with a poet who I suspect will have been “solved from wordplay only” for most of us.

As the blog for puzzle 1106 hasn’t been published yet, I am (I hope) setting this blog to publish on Sunday, by which time I will be on one of several trains which are taking me on holiday, in the expectation it will slot into the correct position in the timeline. This may also mean I’m not able to reply to comments immediately, though I will do eventually if required. Whatever happens, life will go on, I expect.

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	STATINS – STAT(figure) IN Study. As I pass through middle-age, this is a word I keep hearing more and more.
5	CREVASSE – (SCARVES)*,E; first well-disguised definition of the day.
9	STAGED – T (the 6th or 7th letter of Magritte) in (DEGAS)rev. Beautifully constructed; for a while I was keen for there to be such a word as STILAD.
13	CONVENIENCE STORE – i.e CONVENIENCE’S TORE.
14	VALLUM – V, ALL, United Marks. Integral part of any schoolboy diagram of a Roman fort, usually with a fossa nearby.
18	LEAVENING – LEAVE NINE with the key of E changed to G.
19	AKHMATOVA – A King, H.M., AT OVA(eggs). Despite having read quite widely, and even studied a little Russian, I’m pretty certain I’ve never come across this writer, which is obviously my fault, not hers. For those who share my ignorance, the construction is pretty clear, though.
25	SOTTO VOCE – O(round) C(hundred) in (VOTESTO)*.
27	NORWICH – “currently wealthy”=NOW RICH, with a couple of the middle letters slightly jumbled to give the city.
29	COCHINEAL – CHINE(ridge crest) in COAL(black). The colouring is red and made from crushed beetles, originally at least.
34	WITCHETTY GRUB – WITCH(charming female), ETTY(the painter William), GRUB(rummage). Possibly not top of most people’s shopping list, but a well-known source of food in the Australian outback; I immediately thought of the Crocodile Dundee quote “Sure, you can live on it…but it tastes like ****.”.
37	TOWPATH – cryptic def. playing on the different meanings of bank and pound; here the side of a watercourse, and the watercourse itself (the length of canal between each lock is a “pound”).
39	RECTITUDE – [EC(postcode of the City of London), TIT] in RUDE.
42	SHIVA – SH!(quiet) + IVAn the Terrible Tsar.
45	REBIRTH – reverse hidden in jewisH TRIBE Rebelled.
47	ANNAPOLIS – (ISONAPLAN)*; the capital of Maryland.
49	PLAINSONG – (PianoISALONGNew)*.
50	RESPITE – ESP in RITE.
54	ICICLE – first letters of Indian Cuisine Involve Cooking Little Except, and another splendid definition in “solidified dripping”.
55	FIDDLER ON THE ROOF – well-known musical and a playful way of expressing the title.
57	ASBESTOS – BEST in A S.O.S.
Down
2	ANNUL – ANNUAL(book) minus A.
3	INERTIA – central letters of fINEr aRt bIAs.
4	SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT – SWING(succeed in getting), LOW(small), SWEET(sugary), CHA(tea), RIOT(wild revelry) gives the traditional song, appropriately on the day the English rugby season starts again.
6	EVENT – EVEN Temperature; heat as in, say, the preliminary races of the Olympic 100 metres.
7	ALTISSIMO – (I MISS)rev. in ALTO.
8	SURPLUS – SURe, PLUSh, both consistently endless.
10	TEA LEAF – being Cockney rhyming slang, and something which would literally go in hot water.
11	GALLIPOLI – GALL, 1 Power, (OIL)*.
20	HAIRCUT – Heat, AIR(dry in the atmosphere), CUT(reduced) gives the required sort of crop.
21	TROUPER =”TROOPER”, one being a soldier, the other a long-serving entertainer, whether impressionist or other variety act. It is incumbent on a setter to make sure there’s no doubt about which of the homophones is required, especially when the only difference is an unchecked letter, and this seems fine.
24	KRISHNA – (HISARKNoah)*; a partner for SHIVA, and another excellent surface.
26	ETHOS – hidden in secrET HOStage.
30	LAYER – SLAYER.
34	WATCH SPRING – WATCH(observe) SPRING(well).
36	TRANSFER FEE – cryptic def., again timed perfectly to coincide with the recently closed FIFA transfer window.
38	WITH A WILL – double meaning; as the old saying goes, where there’s a will, there are relatives.
40	CARTRIDGE – Caught, PARTRIDGE. I spent some time thinking of the wrong ammo, and trying to construct a word like PE(RU)LLETS
41	UNANIMOUS – University, and your Finnish grandmother is a (SUOMI NAN)rev.
44	HANDLER – CHANDLER, the creator of Philip Marlowe.
46	BAGGINS – BAGGING, Small. Bilbo and Frodo; even if anyone hasn’t read the books or seen the films, I suspect they will have heard at least this hobbit surname.