Times Jumbo 1187

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Solving time of 21:57, and I generally don’t get much quicker than that, so very much to one end of the difficulty scale; it was also very concise, and more than a little cheeky in tone, if not quite in ST territory.

Anyway, I’m late posting this, so I will just get on with it and keep my comments equally pithy unless there is something especially noteworthy to say.

Across
1 TAP-DANCER – cryptic def.
6 BALDRIC – BALD RIC[E].
10 ELDER – double def.
13 PINK ELEPHANTS – PINK=blushing, ELEPHANTS never forget; old-fashioned phrase for not seeing straight when you’ve had a few.
14 AGINCOURT – i.e. A GIN COURT.
15 NAIADES – I[sland] in (ANDSEA)*.
16 PROVERB – P.R., OVER B[ritish].
17 PRESLEY – SLE[w] in PREY. Uh huh huh.
18 MENAGE A TROIS – (IRANGATESOME)*.
20 STIRRUP CUP – STIR, R.U., P.C., UP.
23 CALVE – L[iberal] like a troglodyte i.e. in a CAVE. As in the sense in which icebergs are calved from glaciers.
24 RAIN GAUGE – Spoonerised GAIN RAGE; as for the device, some love ’em, some hate ’em, I doubt this one will change anyone’s mind either way…
25 HARBOUR – (BRA)rev. in HOUR.
26 BANANA SPLIT – BANANAS, L(=50) in PIT.
28 BANGLADESHI – AD in BANGLES(as in a charm bracelet), HI!
30 IMPERSONATE – (PRAISEMENOT)*; for the definition, think of the 1970s impressionists’ TV series “Who Do You Do?”.
32 EXHAUSTIBLE – S[pace] in (HALIBUT)*, all in the River EXE.
34 LEONINE – LEO (star sign), NINE (square of three). Not all Popes, obviously, just the ones called Leo.
36 CEREBELLA – franCE REBEL LAnguished.
38 FILET – FIL[M], E.T.
39 TOILET ROLL – (ELIOT)rev., TROLL.
41 GIANT KILLERS – (ARISKTELLING)*. David in the Bible, Jack in the fairy tale.
45 SIERRAS – I ERR in the S.A.S.
46 REPRESS – RE: PRESS.
47 CHEAPEN – HEAP in CEN[T].
49 FLAGEOLET – double def., the flute and the bean.
50 CLOCK WATCHING – LOCK, W[ith] inside CATCHING.
52 AVERT – AVE (Maria) foR priesT.
53 ABRIDGE – A BRIDGE.
54 POSTNATAL – POST and AL[L] contain N[orth] A T[ime].
 
Down
1 TOPNYM – T[ail] O[f] PONY M[ale].
2 PENSION PLAN – PENS(=secures), then P (a little money) in (LOANSIN)*.
3 AHEAD – A HEAD.
4 CHELSEA – CHE (Guevara, the “red”), [al]L, SEA. Think that makes Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea this year so far.
5 RAH – rev hidden in lotHARio.
6 BINGO WING – BIN, [elbo]W in GOING. Not entirely pleasant – but undeniably colourfully expressed – modern phrase, usually plural, to describe what happens when one loses the tautness on ones upper arms.
7 LESSEN =”LESSON”.
8 READ BETWEEN THE LINES – (THERENEWDEALITSBEEN)*.
9 CHIPPER – double def.
10 EXCHEQUER – EX “CHECKER”, as it sounds.
11 DOUBLE CROSS – DOUBLE(=replica), CROSS(=bridge).
12 RATTY – double def.
16 PARTICLE ACCELERATOR – ARTICLE in (PLACEREACTOR)*.
19 GLEANER – [shoppin]G, LEANER.
21 PERTINENT – PERT IN E.N.T.
22 BUMBLE – double def. Mr Bumble is the beadle in Oliver Twist.
23 CABRIOLET – (RELICBOAT)*.
24 RISSOLE – [wrappe]R IS SOLE. Hmmm, I am always reluctant to say something in a Times puzzle is just plain wrong, so let’s examine the evidence. Yes, if you look hard enough online, you can find definitions which include reference to pastry, but I’ve never thought pastry forms part of a rissole: surely that’s a samosa or a spring roll or a pasty? Anyway, OED, Collins and Chambers all concur in saying that a rissole is meat of some sort, which is then coated in breadcrumbs before being fried; no mention of pastry. And as my final witness, I call the sainted Delia, who definitely has no pastry in her rissole (and there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write). I await other views.
25 HELLUVA – HE, LUV in L[ouisian]A.
27 THEORY – TORY around He.
29 DUTIFUL – D[ogs] U[sually] T[rained] I[n] F[act] U[sing] L[ong].
31 PROLIFERATE – PRO, LIFER, ATE.
33 BULLET POINT – L[itre] in (UPINBOTTLE)*.
35 IN EARNEST – i.e. I NEAR NEST.
37 BRIDE TO BE – RID in BET, O.B.E.
40 ROSELLA – ROSE, (ALL)rev. Never heard of it, but not hard to work out.
42 KICK ASS – KICK(=thrill), ASS(=donkey); there’ll be spluttering in Tunbridge Wells.
43 SENEGAL – G[reece]E in LANES, all rev.
44 SPACED – [passenger]S PACED.
45 SOFIA – 1 in SOFA. Though the sofa I’m currently sitting on isn’t terribly comfortable, as it happens. Just saying.
48 EX-CON – cryptic def.
51 KOP =”COP”.

3 comments on “Times Jumbo 1187”

  1. Like you Tim I had never heard of a rissole that used pastry.. and all the usual sources mention breadcrumbs, and none pastry.
    So I was intrigued to see that the Wikipedia article’s first sentence is: “A rissole, initially created in France, (from Latin russeolus, meaning reddish, via French in which “rissoler” means “to [make] redden”) is a small croquette, enclosed in pastry or rolled in breadcrumbs…”
    It turns out to be a nationality thing. Apparently in some countries, like Portugal, or Poland, you can’t move for pastry rissoles. What’s with the red bit, I have no idea.
    I think the London Times should stick to breadcrumbs in future 🙂
  2. Rissoles were definitely part of my childhood meals and definitely didn’t feature any sort of pastry. They were a way of using up the Sunday joint in an economical and tasty fashion.

    The crossword took me the same time as you to solve even allowing for doubting that the solution to 24d could be rissole with pastry involved.

  3. Completed this with no error, as for rissole, no comment as these are food l see in crosswordland, here, we eat ‘African’ food. (Ong’ara, Nairobi )

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