Times Jumbo 739 – Thought I was a week late!

Author   the_odPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic

Solving time: 36:22

Peter’s “false start” with Jumbo 740 had me disorientated for a while, but after checking the calendar I confirmed that I should be posting this blog this weekend!

I enjoyed this Jumbo a lot!  Some really good clues, many with excellent surface readings, made for a truly pleasurable solving experience!  Kudos the setter!                   

Across

1

ROCK SALMON (S in ROCKALl + MON) – fans of the shipping forecast would have known Rockall.

6

COAL MERCHANT (cryptic def.) – “slack” being a term for “coal dross”.

16

CAUSTIC (CA + jUSTICe)

17

AZIZ (A + ZIZz) – Doctor Aziz is a character in EM Forster’s A Passage to India.

25

REALTOR – a sort of “hidden” hidden, as “and” comes between montREAL and TORonto.

27

CAVELL (VAC rev. + E[nemy] + LL) – Edith Cavell who should be as famous as Nightingale – but she didn’t have a lamp.

36

STANDING AROUND (STAND IN + teAm in GROUND) – neat wordplay.

43

ROSE HIP (ROSE + HIP) – that little word “in” actually provides part of the wordplay here, meaning “with it”.

47

VENDETTA (VEN + bATTED rev.) – tricky wordplay to spot in a very neat surface.

49

JOSH (JOSepH) – the definition – “kid” – is very well disguised in another good surface.

57

STEAL THE SHOW (S + ATHLETES WHO*) – a smooth transition between definition and wordplay makes for a natural surface here.

58

ARCHITRAVE (A + CR rev. + HIT + RAVE)

               

Down

1

RANSACKER (CASe rev. in RANKER) – “rifleman” being coined to mean “one that rifles”.

5

OLD (gOLD)

9

ESCHEWER (WE in ESCHER) – the artist M.C.Escher’s work probably appeals to a lot of puzzle fans.

10

COUNTERPART (RE rev. in COUNT PART) – Dracula’s title means the role played is a “Count part”.

21

CONTRA (CONTRAct) – neat way to indicate the subtraction to give a good surface reading.

22

COTTON ON – the bandleader Billy Cotton.

28

BANGERS AND MASH (pANDa in BANGER SMASH) – I am not sure that the bangers and mash on Wikipedia look that appetizing, and I for one would require a lot more mash!

33

PINEWOOD (2 defs.) – I liked this one – the apposite film title was a good find.

37

RUSTIC (RU + STICk) – another excellent surface reading!

40

IN ADVANCE (I + N + V in A DANCE)

45

LIMEWASH (I MEW in LASH) – good use of these two meanings of CAT.

 

 

 

 

3 comments on “Times Jumbo 739 – Thought I was a week late!”

  1. 21:34 for me. I too thought this was a most enjoyable puzzle, with clues like 33D exceptionally fine.

    I wasn’t entirely sure about 19D (INFUSION): is there a special significance to “eastern and western”, or are they just there by way of example to make the surface reading OK?

    1. A foodie reference: “fusion cooking/cuisine” combines elements of different cuisines, especially European and oriental ones. You can also have fusion music, though there seems to be a bigger choice of genres to mix there.
  2. A very good puzzle, I agree.

    Solved on a long train journey, but got stuck on those two symmetrically placed 4-letter toughies AZIZ and JOSH which needed later research.

    Suspected the first might be from ‘A Passage to India’ but Zizz = nap was new to me. The second was even more difficult esp as josh = kid was also new to me. All justified by dicts but “Kid brother of Reuben has slipped disc” = JOS(ep)H is hard! 4 letter words with 2 unchecked can be very tricky even more so when there is a subtractive element as here.

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