Times Jumbo 691 – Asian elephant

Author   petebiddlecombePosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
Solving time 20:18

I hadn’t noticed, when calling a previous Jumbo post “African Elephant”, that the other kind appears at 30D in this puzzle. A few tricky corners here – my copy has some crossing out of red herrings like FALSE HOPE for FALSE DAWN, and there are some words from the dustier corners of the dictionary and atlas.

Across
14 ALBIGENSIAN – (I ban a single)*
21 PECHORA – O in (a perch)* – you know it’s an obscure river when you read the words “this … article is a stub”.
39 ANI – a bird, the “black cuckoo”
42 ORGAN,ON – a system of logic (easily confused in my mind with organum – early counterpoint)
54 THE NOES HAVE IT – (in vote he hates)*
 
Down
2 THE OAKS – clue refers to the saying about tiny acorns and mighty oaks
4 ST.(AIR)WELLS
5 SIB=bis<=,SHIP
10 (cli)ENTELE,C,H,Y – maybe a slight slip from usual Times standards here – surface meaning seems unusually weak.
25 ORIG(A.M.)I(nates)
30 ASIAN ELEPHANT – (then is a plane a)*
43 BACTRIA – (air,ta(c)b)<= – which must be where the two-humped camels come from

2 comments on “Times Jumbo 691 – Asian elephant”

  1. I got into a bit of a mess in the top right, for some reason struggling with “Split personality before the split?” (11) (answer: YUGOSLAVIAN) which I loved when I finally got it, and also 17ac (BRUCELLOSIS).
    1. I should probably have included BRUCELLOSIS as an obscure answer. Anyone puzzled by Neil’s way of showing the answer when you’re ready: select the white area with the mouse.

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