TIMES JUMBO 1286

Author   PenfoldPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic

Here we go again.  I’d say we were in straightforward / average territory here as this took me 50 minutes across two sessions.

First in was IN ARREARS, last was HAUL OFF.


Across

1
RUMBUSTIOUS – RUM + BUST + I.O.US.  Hands up if you would have spelled it rumbustuous without the helpful wordplay.  *sheepishly puts hand up*

7
EMANCIPATED – (paidmeacent)*

14
RAFFISH – R.A.F. + FISH

15
IN ARREARS – IN EARS around A R[olls] R[oyce]

16
NINETIETH – I (one) inside (nicked by) (inthenet)*, the ninetieth minute of a football match (as alluded to by the surface reading) being the last minute of “normal” time (the last minute at Old Trafford being about the 107th if the ref deems that Man U need a little more time to score)

17
ZABAGLIONE – A BAG LION in Z(imbabw)E for the lovely whipped concoction of egg yolks, sugar and Marsala wine

20 
OEDIPUS – O.E.D. then I then SUP reversed

22
TWEETER – DD, one a bird, the other a Twitter used whose messages are currently restricted to 140 characters

24
MAITRE D’ – A in MITRED.  The definition and enumeration made this a bit of a giveaway.

26
STORE DETECTIVE – CD.  A judge was about to sentence a woman caught shoplifting to 6 days in prison on the basis that the tin of peaches she stole contained 6 peaches.  Her husband shouted from the gallery: “You honour, she stole a tin of peas as well!”

28 
SCOOT – CO[mpany] in SOT

30
APICULTURE – U(nion) L[eft] in A PICTURE, “managing workers?” being the rather pleasing definition for the technical term for bee-keeping

35
APNOEA – {r}A{m}P{i}N{c}O[m}E{t}A{x}. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a relatively common condition where the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing.

39
RHODE ISLAND RED – (Cecil) RHODES around I[ndia] then R[iver] in LANDED

41
SPORADIC – RADI{o} in a reversal of COPS

44
TASKING – {cas}T AS KING (in royal part)

46
CLEARER – LE in TENDER, clearer being shorthand for clearing bank

47
SCRAP METAL – (clapmaster)*

49
BERING SEA – BEARING S[outh] E[ast] with {alask}A moved to the back.  The Bering Sea is that bit of water between Alaska and Russia.

53
EQUIPOISE – EQUIP O (circle) then the very neatly indicated I{s}S{u}E (left, centre and right).  Equipoise can be both noun and verb.

54
EDGIEST – ED[itor] then E in GIST

55
BRILL – R[ight] in BILL

56
RESPLENDENT – ESP[ecially] LEND in RENT

57
TAKE ON BOARD – Sort of CD/DD based on chess


Down

1
ROBIN HOOD – O[ld] BIN in R[epublican] HOOD (as in Boyz n the)

2
MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE – CD

4
TURKEY SHOOT – TURKEYS HOOT

5
OFF WHITE – DD, OFF being US slang for to kill/murder/assassinate

6
SWIZZLE STICK – SOZZLES (gets drunk) with W[hisky] I(ce) replacing the O then TICK

7
EXHIBITORS – EX HIS around BIT OR.  Clever use of the two different pronounciations of SHOWERS to mislead the solver.

8
AWING – A WING 

9
CHARISMATIC – CHAR IS MA TIC

10
PARANOIAC – PARA[trooper] NO IAC (one ac[cross])

12
DOSH  – DO SH

18
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA – R[omeo] in TOIL then (readdiscussan)* with two anagram indicators, it would appear

19
ADHERENT – AD H{ous}E RENT

21
PINATAS – A(mericans) in PINT AS

23
REDEPLOY – E(nergy) in RED PLOY

27
BEQUEATH – {s}EQUE{l} in BATH.  I had all sorts of problems with this one, where the definition was hiding in plain sight and I was convinced I was looking for the Roman name for a British city.

28
SYBARITE – hidden in clasSY BAR I TEmpt. A sybarite is a person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury.

31
LUCERNE – {h}E{r}R{i}N{g} in LUCE (another name for our fishy friend the pike).

32
SPEED OF LIGHT – SEE around P[ressure] then DO FLIGHT

34
RESIGNATION – (ironseating)*

36
ASPECT RATIO – A SPECTRA T[ime} IO

38
ADJUSTMENT – A.D. JUST MEN (par)T(ies)

40
EPISCOPAL – (whit)E P[awn] IS COP A (b)L(ack)

42
CURTAILED – DD, one cur-tailed

43
OFF-BREAK – here’s our cricket clue for the day, OFF before BREAK

48
MY EYE – MY then soundee-likee for I

50
NABOB – NAB O[ld] B[oy]

51
BEER – BE{tt}ER

 

10 comments on “TIMES JUMBO 1286”

  1. Slogged at this for 1:24:33 before I was done. LOI was BEQUEATH and I needed help with that. I started somewhere in the NW, but have no idea which clue. Lots of enjoyable stuff in between. Thanks setter and Penfold.
  2. Thank you for the excellent blog. Yes, I also thought this was of average difficulty and a fine puzzle. COD NINETIETH and also liked BEQUEATH a lot, in which my experience was very similar to yours.
  3. In TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, my reading when solving was that “badly” was the anagram indicator with “alternative” being part of the definition as an alternative Shakespeare play to Romeo (and Juliet). Not too difficult this clue, if one knew the names of his plays.
  4. 48:40. I obviously found this quite hard, although I can’t now remember why. I do remember being surprised that RUMBUSTIOUS wasn’t RUMBUSTUOUS.
    Today’s was an absolute stinker!

    Edited at 2017-10-07 04:31 pm (UTC)

  5. No problem with RUMBUSTIOUS, what with the ‘promises to pay’ and what with my not knowing the word in the first place. Also DNK ASPECT RATIO. COD to 27d or 7d. I’m relieved to know that I’m not alone in thinking that this week’s Jumbo is a stinker.
  6. FOI ZABAGLIONE,LOI BEQUEATH,I’m with Kev that today’s jumbo is a stinker,off to bed with a1/4 to go.
    Ong’ara,
    Kenya.
  7. Yes. Hands up for me. It too thought there should be another U in 1a. Done in 46 1/2 minutes, so not much of a struggle for me – the easy clues giving helpful checkers. Didn’t know Luce was another name for a Pike. A number of enjoyable clues – 15a, 39a, 49a and 32d all good, but 18d my favourite for the smoothe surface.
  8. Sorry to bother you and I don’t know if this is the right place to post this. I’m way behind with my crosswords and, having just completed J1287, wanted to check the parsing of some of the clues (too many to write up here!).
    It’s not in the archives although October 14 does show two blogs; unfortunately only one blog (the Saturday crossword) actually appears.
    Thanks in advance for any help.
    Adrian Cobb

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