Times Jumbo 1209 – was published May 28

Although this puzzle appeared in the Times on May 28, the closing date was misprinted as Saturday 9 July (last weekend), so that’s when the solution was provided. Apologies for not posting this sooner.

I’ll also post a blog on Times Jumbo 1214 in the next few days.

Jumbo 1209 was at the tougher end of the Jumbo spectrum, I thought – or maybe I was just having a bad day…

As always, * indicates an anagram.

Across
1 BEDEWED – BEDE (‘old historian’) + WED
5 ANAGRAM – ‘The miner’ is an ANAGRAM of ‘their men’
9 STROBES – ROBES after ST
13 NAVEL-GAZING – NAVE, + LAZING around G
14 BAKER STREET – sounds like ‘baker’s treat’
15 AMAZEpavlovA + MAZE
16 FRANTIC – TI in FRANC
17 UPPER CASE – CASE (‘Odd fellow’) after UPPER
18 TACE IS LATIN FOR A CANDLE – (nationalist faced clear)*. I’d never come across this expression before, but apparently it’s a request for silence
23 HOSEPIPEcHOSE + PIPE
25 COMMIE – first letters of ‘Cross or medics may in emergency’
27 LATAKIA – I in AKA (also known as), after LATe
30 NERYS – hidden in ‘gutSY, RENowned’ (reversed)
32 UNHEARD – UN-HARD around E (referring to the saying ‘Children should be seen but not heard’)
33 MISQUOTED – IS QUOTED, after M
35 HOT-RODDER – H, + (odd retro)*
36 INCONNU – CON (‘to do’, in the sense of defraud) in INN, + U
37 DELFT – led, reversed, + FT (Financial Times; ‘daily’)
38 NO-HOPER – NO + HOP + ER
40 DRAINS – D + RAINS
41 ALFRESCO – (chance of laser)*
44 CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT – cryptic indication
48 PRESEASON – P + RE + SEA + SON
50 SUBACID – SUB + A CID
53 GAIUS – alternate (odd) letters of ‘Graz I curse’
54 CHRISTINGLE – (relics thing)*
55 GRAVEDIGGER – cryptic indication
56 DURANTE – DUE around RANT
57 TITMICE – TIM around T, + ICE. TITMICE – plural of titmouse (a bird)
58 BAGHDAD – HAD around D, after BAG (slang for an ‘interest’, as in ‘that’s his bag’)

Down
1 BANJAX – BAN, + JAX (sounds like ‘jacks’)
2 DEVIANT – DENT around VIA
3 WALKER CUP – cryptic indication
4 DWARF – hidden in ‘oF RAW Data’, reversed
5 AMICABLE – AM + I + CABLE
6 AUGHT – UGH, in ta (reversed)
7 RUBICON – RUB (‘Polish’) + ICON
8 MAKE UP ONE’S MIND – MAKE-UP (‘slap’) + ONE’S MIND
9 STRIP MALL – SMALL, around TRIP (‘jolly’)
10 ROTOR – ROT, + OR (other ranks; ‘men’)
11 BEER AND SKITTLES – (resisted blanket)*
12 SO THERE – SO (‘very’) + THERE
19 IMPOUND – I’M POUND (Ezra Pound, the poet)
20 THOMASINA – THO’ + MAS + I + NA
21 ASTOUND – (Dan’s out)*
22 CHIN-CHIN – cryptic indication – CHIN-CHIN is a somewhat outdated drinking salutation
24 STRETCHER-BEARER – double indication (‘one removing injured’; ‘person suffering rack’)
26 MEDICINAL – MEDICI, + LAN (reversed)
28 AUDITION – AUDIT, + IO (a moon of Jupiter), + N
29 A HARD DAY’S NIGHT – (Syria hadn’t had g)*
31 SCORPIO – (oi + pro + CS), reversed
34 SQUELCH – QUE + Lesson, in SCH
39 REINSPIRE – REIN + SPIRE
42 RACEGOING – ACE + GO, in RING
43 I DECLAREhIDE + CLARE
44 CAPE COD – CAP + ECO + laiD
45 INSPECT – (I + sent + PC)*
46 TWINGED – TWIN (‘partner’) + aGED
47 USER ID – USE + RID
49 ESSEN – alternate (even) letters of ‘ceases being’
51 BAGS I – (I’S GAB), reversed
52 DWEEB – last letters of ‘band’ and ‘now the glee club’

7 comments on “Times Jumbo 1209 – was published May 28”

  1. I hadn’t heard of 18ac either.. as a request for silence it seems unlikely to be effective outside a monastery or a meeting of the Latin Club
  2. Many thanks for the blog.
    I’d also never heard of 18 ac – pretty obscure, no?
    Re 47 d: – how does “good” = “use”?
    1. Both can mean “advantage”, as in “this isn’t any good to me”/”this isn’t any use to me”. At least that’s how I read it – anyone have other suggestions?

      Edited at 2016-07-17 05:04 pm (UTC)

  3. Tks for blog. No need for apologies as presumably you could not post before closing date and appearance of solution (in Saturday’s paper ie yesterday). Like you, I found this a very tough puzzle. Most enjoyable.

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