Times Jumbo 1269

Author   helenoughamPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Maybe not the easiest ever Times Jumbo, and I’d definitely never come across 40ac before!

As always, * indicates an anagram.

Across
1 FIRST-DAY COVER – FIRST DAY, + COVER
8 PLAY A PART – PLAY + APART
13 OBOLI – OB, + (I LO) reversed
14 PURPLE PROSE – LE + PR, in PURPOSE
15 AISLE – sounds like “I’ll”
16 CHAIRLADY – C + HAIRY around LAD
17 AXED – wAXED; “with a Brazilian” indicates “waxed” in the (female) personal grooming sense
18 TINSELLY – SELL (to “hawk”) in TINY
20 NO-SIDE – (ed is on), reversed
21 NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS – cryptic indication
24 LUMPINESS – LUMP + INES’S
26 DIVORCE – ORC in DIVE. The definition is ‘part’
27 TAMPA – TAMe + PA (per annum; ‘a year’)
29 DESSERTSPOON – (no + op + stressed), reversed
31 HOBBYHORSE – cryptic indication. I’m not sure about this one, as I wouldn’t class a HOBBYHORSE as a ‘rocker’/ rocking-horse – what do others think?
33 UNSEASONAL – (sun alas one)*
35 PRESENTIMENT – PRESENT + I, + MENT (sounds like ‘meant’)
38 LYDIA – LIAr around YD
39 AIRSHIP – AIRS + HIP
40 BRELOQUES – (b or sequel). Pretty sure I’ve never come across this word before, though the singular is in Chambers, OED and probably other dictionaries too
42 CONSOLATION PRIZE – cryptic indication
44 SENSEI – SENSE + Institute
47 INVERTED – (it never)* before December
49 KEPI – hidden in snaKEPIt
50 REISSUING – RE, + IS SUING
52 NARCO – ran, reversed, + CO
53 MUDSLINGERS – MUD + Sadly + LINGERS
54 ERATO – alternate (even) letters of ‘retroaction’
55 DUNGANNON – DUNG, + ANON around N
56 RALLYING POINT – RALLYING, + POT around IN

Down
1 FOOD CANAL – (of coal and)*
2 ROO BARS – OB in ROARS
3 THIN RED LINE – THe + IN + RED + LINE
4 APPEAL – sounds like ‘a peel’
5 CARRYCOTS – (actors cry)*
6 VILLAGE IDIOT – (do I’ll give it a)*
7 REPRESSIVE – REV, around PRESS + I, + E
8 PROW – ROW after P
9 A BEE IN ONE’S BONNET – if ONE’S BONNET lacked a bee (i.e. the letter B) it would be ONE SONNET
10 ADAMS – A DAMSel
11 ABSOLVE – AB + SOLVE
12 THE AYES HAVE IT – (a heavy sheet it)*
19 USURIOUS – U + RIO, in US US
22 DITCH – fluiD + ITCH
23 DEATH OF A SALESMAN – double indication
25 MISUSED – MUSED around IS
28 MARCEAU – (using camera)*. Refers to the famous mime artist Marcel Marceau
29 DOUBLE-CHINNED – NED, after DOUBLE (‘maybe a large rum’) + CHIN (‘punch’)
30 PEA-BRAIN – PE + AB + RAIN
32 PROPORTIONAL – (poor April not)*
34 ALAMO – hidden in seldOM A LAudable, reversed
36 IN ONE’S SLEEP – I, + on (reversed), + NESS + LEE + P
37 CHANCELLOR – CHANCE, + roll (reversed)
40 BIZARRELY – BIZ + ARe + RELY
41 SWINGBOAT – WING + BOA, in ST (street)
43 NAVARIN – NA, + VAIN around dinneR
45 SHIKARI – alternate letters of ‘in road knight’s’, reversed
46 WILSON – LSO in WIN. Probably refers to Harold Wilson, who was UK Prime Minister (loosely, Premier) for two periods in the 1960s and 70s
48 RHODA – RHO + DA
51 ODIN – O + DIN

4 comments on “Times Jumbo 1269”

  1. The toughest jumbo in several weeks,completed it after two days,LOI TINSELLY.
    ONG’ARA,
    NAIROBI.
  2. Agonizingly slow in solving this. Lots of DNKs–ROO BARS, Brazilian wax jobs, CARRYCOTS, SWINGBOAT, NAVARIN, BRELOQUES (finally decided that BREL was more likely than BLER) … LOI 13ac. I hadn’t noticed the rocking-horse problem at the time, but I think the clue can be said to work: If one’s on a hobby horse, one is neither on nor off a rocking horse. Although I hated the puzzle, there were a number of good clues, like 9d, 28d, 40d, and my COD 42ac.

    Edited at 2017-06-17 11:48 pm (UTC)

  3. I struggled with this and made a couple of mistakes.

    18a. To me, TINSELLY is barely a real word, although it is listed in Chambers. It seems unfair to clue it with two rather obscure definitions, pocket=TINY and hawk-SELL. But that’s probably just sour grapes on my part. I BIFD VISUALLY.

    31a. Chambers notes that a hobby-horse can be a rocking horse as well as the more common horse’s head on a stick. So all is well there.

    9d. A BEE IN ONES BONNET. This seems like only half a clue. It has very clever wordplay, but no definition.

    22d. ‘Drop of fluid’s ending thirst’. I initially wrote DRINK which seems to fit the clue perfectly. The correct answer is DITCH.

    DNK: NO-SIDE, BRELOQUES, SHIKARI. Did know: OBOLI, LYDIA, SENSEI, KEPI, NARCO, ERATO, ROO BARS, NAVARIN, MARCEAU. Quite a lot of obscurities for a single puzzle.

    Edited at 2017-06-28 06:39 pm (UTC)

  4. I agree it was a REALLY hard puzzle! I had to look at the answers to 4 or 5 clues. 9d and 31a were really good!

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