TIMES JUMBO 1216 – Times for The Times

I haven’t got much to say about this puzzle so let’s get straight on with it. I solved it in 4 bursts of about 10 minutes each.

First in was SORBET, last in ATHENIANS.

Across
5	DISGUST – D(etective) I(nspector)S + GUST with engendering as the link betwixt wordplay and definition
9	ARMATURE – A MATURE around R(esistance) for “the rotating coil or coils of a dynamo or electric motor”
13	ALL OVER BAR THE SHOUTING – A sort of identikit clue made by joining the elements together, in order, to create a phrase that may or may not be in use outside the UK
15	ABADDON – A BAD DON in the Old Testament a Hebrew name for a place of utter ruin, death, desolation, or destruction
16	NETTLE – NETT (clear) + L{an}E. Urticaceous “simply” means of, relating to, or belonging to the Urticaceae, a family of plants, having small flowers and, in many species, stinging hairs: includes the nettles and pellitory
17	AMANUENSIS – MAN in (anissue)* for “a literary or artistic assistant, in particular one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts”
20	OLD MAN’S BEARD – Common name for clematis vitalba (see also traveller’s joy) whose fruit has long silky appendages which look like and old man’s beard (if the only bearded old men you’ve seen are in book illustrations by drug users). I’ve never met George Bernard Shaw but I’ll take it as read that he had a beard when he was old
24	PROGRESS – PR OGRESS. Ho ho.
26	SEASONAL – A SON in SEA then (wil)L
29	SQUEAKY CLEAN – SQUEAKY + chees(E) in CLAN
30	IMPREGNATE – I’M + P(u)R(s)E + GNAT + E with fill as the def
32	BARLEYCORN – BAR + CO RN (Commanding Officer, Royal Navy) around LEY
34	MASTER-AT-ARMS – A TAR MS following MASTER for “a naval rating responsible for law enforcement, regulating duties, security and force protection”
36	HECATOMB – CATO IN HE MB with “disturbed by” as the slightly quirky insertion indicator. I only know this word from crosswords. It‘s “a great public sacrifice, originally of a hundred oxen”
38	OILCLOTH – O(verused) + IL (Italian for the) + CLOTH
39	CITY – {PAU}CITY. Pau is a city in south west France named after the famous teletubby
41	ARCHDEACONRY – (acdharryonce)*
43	WONDERMENT – DER + MEN in WONT (as in, as is my wont)
44	SCARED – SCARRED with one of the Rs removed. But which one?
46	HASSOCK – ASS in HOCK (to be in hock meaning to be in debt). A hassock is a cushion for kneeling on in church
48	AERIALLY – I in A E(uropean) RALLY
50	THE WRONG END OF THE STICK – when you’ve got this you’ve misunderstood…
51	MACKEREL – MAC + KEEL around R(iver)
52	TRELLIS – TELL around R(epublican) + IS(land). I’ve just received a letter from a Mrs Trellis of North Wales: Dear Yoko Ono, Is it true your name is Japanese for One Egg? PS: I swear by your soap powder
53	LATINO – L.A. T{hree} IN O

Down
6	SCARABS – AB (= Able Seaman = Jack Tar = Jack) in SCARS
7	ULTRA-MODERN – (duetnormal)* with R(omantics) thrown into the mix
8	TWEED – T for time plus “remove unwanted plants from” for weed
10	MOURN – MO + URN with “lament loss of” being the definition
11	THISTLEDOWN – T + (inthewolds)*
12	REGULAR – DD
18	MOONQUAKE – QUAKE(r) (friend briefly) under (supporting) MO (doctor) ON (investigating, I think, as in “on the case”)
19	SIROCCO – ROC in SIC + O. A little bit of misdirection with “round” equating to O rather than being a surroundicator but I can’t imagine anyone being fooled with the definition making the answer pretty obvious
21	DISMISSAL – I’S S in DISMAL
22	SPACE BAR – DD, one whimisical. Did anyone else think of Star Wars?
25	GREENHORN – GREEN + (Cape) HORN
27	AUTOMATON– A U(niversity) TOM + reversal of NOT A
28	OKEY-DOKE – (l)OOKE(d) surrounding KEY D(uke) with “very well” being the def
31	PRESTON – P(iano) + REST + ON for the urban settlement in Lancashire that gained city status in 2002
33	LEATHERNECK – E(nglish) in LATHER + NECK as in “he’s got some neck”. Leatherneck is a military slang term for a member of the United States Marine Corps, or of the British Royal Marines. It is generally believed to originate in the wearing of a leather “stock” or collar around the neck, which kept the posture erect
34	MOLLYCODDLE – COLE (Porter) around DD all after MOLLY
37	BACCHANAL – BANAL around A/C CH
40	REPRISAL – PRIS{on} in REAL
43	WAKEFUL – WAKE (as in the wash from a boat) + F(rilly) U(ndies) L(ovingly)
45	DURER – UR, the ancient city regularly visited by Times setters, inside DER, clued as “the German” for the zweite mal in diese gecrosswortpuzzielschaftung
47	SWEPT – S(on) + WEPT, daily as in cleaning woman (which reminds me, I must watch Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid again soon)
49	LIKEN – L(iberal) + (politician)N following IKE (Dwight D. Eisenhower, not Ike Ntinaturner)

3 comments on “TIMES JUMBO 1216”

kevingregg says:

27 July 2016 at 3:30 AM

I think GBS had a beard even when he wasn’t old. Luckily I knew that, because I sure as hell didn’t know either traveller’s joy or OLD MANS BEARD. DNK NECK=audacity. LOI 26ac. In the US, we say ‘all over but the shouting’, but I don’t expect there was much of a problem for non-UK solvers.
Anonymous says:

27 July 2016 at 12:06 PM

Tks for blog. No major hold-ups in this though in BARLEYCORN took me a little while to get from “naval commander” to CORN.
Anonymous says:

31 July 2016 at 4:40 PM

Initially wrote ‘the bar’ instead of ‘bar the’ which messed my grid as l fill in ink,the rest no problem(knew this from a clue in the Times2,fortunately)Ong’ara,Kenya.

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