Times Jumbo 1159

Author   helenoughamPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
I didn’t find this too tough, and I thought most of the actual answers were fairly well-known, but there was one word forming part of the wordplay in 1dn that was completely new to me.

As usual, * indicates an anagram.

Across
1 STYLISTICS – STY + LIST, + IS around Carroll
6 MERETRICIOUS – (Times Courier)*
14 OENOPHILE – one (reversed) in OP, + wHILE
15 PIPER – P in PIER
16 SHYSTER – hidden in iS HYSTERical. Shades of the Marx Brothers’ “Shyster, Flywheel and Shyster”!
17 SEE HOW THE LAND LIES – double indication – a LAND is one of the sixteen states of contemporary Germany
18 TIARA – I in TARA
19 REUNION – (in euro)* + southern
21 TREATY – TRY, around E + AT
22 CONGRESS – N + eGRESS, after CO
24 HOTHEAD – doh (reversed) around THEA (the tea genus of plants)
26 OPTIONAL – OP, + (to nail)*
27 MAGPIE – MA + GP + IE
30 PERMANENTLY – PERM, + ANENT (old term for “about”), + L + Y
32 SPENDTHRIFT – SPENT around D, + H + RIFT
33 SMORGASBORD – So More + GAS BOaRD. Apparently the word means ‘butter goose table’…
35 MALFUNCTION – MALe + FUNCTION
37 RATION – oRATION
38 BRASSICA – BRAS, + (CIA’s)*
39 ETCHING – fETCHING
42 OROGENIC – initial letters of ‘of reversals’, + (cine go) reversed. ‘Creating a range’ here indicates ‘creating mountains’
44 DORSET – (trod) reversed, around SE
46 LENIENT – I + BeethovEN, in LENT
48 HYENA – YEN in HAm
49 COUNTER-REVOLUTION – COUNTER (‘bar’) + REVOLUTION (’round’)
51 GRANITE – GRANTEd around I
52 TENON – TENdON
53 CASSANDRA – C + ASS + AND + RA
54 STRONG-MINDED – (do mend string)*
55 DEGENERATE – DE-RATE around GENE

Down
1 SPONSORSHIP – SPONSOn+ R + SHIP. A sponson is a buoyancy aid attached to the side of a vessel
2 YONNE – Y, + ONE around N. YONNE – a region of Burgundy in France
3 IMPROVISE – IMPROVE around IS
4 TRISTAN – (train)* around ST
5 CLEMENT – CEMENT around L. The definition is ‘kind’
7 EXPEDITIOUS – EDIT + I, in EXPO, + US
8 EARWIG – double definition
9 RESISTOR – IS in RESTORe
10 CRYPTOGRAPHIC – (poach rig)* after CRYPT
11 OUTRAGE – RAG after OUT, + E
12 SPREADSHEET – (three spades)*
13 APPARENTLY – APPLY around A RENT
20 UTTERMOST – UTTER, + last letters of ‘encomium to his host’
23 CAMELLIA – CAME, + (a ill) reversed
25 DRESSY – DR + mESSY
26 OUTDOORS – OUTDO + OR + S
28 PRIMITIVE – PR, + IMITatIVE
29 ADDUCE – SADDUCEe
31 AGGLOMERATION – (mortgage loan I)*
33 SARCOPHAGUS – (sugar soap h c)*
34 DISCONTINUE – DISCO, + (unit) reversed in NE
35 MAINSPRING – MA, + INSPiRING
36 NIGHTINGALE – NIGH + TIN + GALE
40 CONJUGATE – CON + JUG + AT + gamE
41 WITCH ELM – WE + L + M, around ITCH
43 OPEN-AIR – OP, + (E rain)*
45 TREACLE – TRuE A CLuE
46 LOOK-SEE – LOSE around OK, + E
47 MUTTON – (tum) reversed + (not) reversed
50 INDIA – IN, + (aid) reversed

6 comments on “Times Jumbo 1159”

  1. No problems with SPONSON, which I seem to remember coming up in reports about the salvage of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, but I had to guess at YONNE (YANCE, though a momble, also fitted the wordplay).
  2. Did not know SPONSON, but with SHIP and checkers it seemed pretty inevitable. Wasn’t sure about THEA; thought it might be an alternative spelling I didn’t know. Knew YONNE–although I didn’t know where in France it is–so that wasn’t a problem. But isn’t it against Times convention to use a lower case initial letter (burgundy here) when a capital is required? (As opposed to using a capital (‘Ruth’ for ‘pity’)?
  3. Found this one quite tough,got 1d from ‘support’ and checkers,never heard of sponson.Why ‘go in for’ at 8d?(ONG’ARA,NAIROBI,KENYA)
    1. If it were just ‘eavesdrop bug’, you’d have the double definition all right, but you wouldn’t have a clue: what’s an eavesdrop bug? The seemingly circumlocutory ‘go in for eavesdropping’ also defines EARWIG, while ‘eavesdripping’ satisfactorily (and misleadingly) enters into construction with ‘bug’: an eavesdropping bug is a bug used for eavesdropping.

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