Times Jumbo 742 (Feb 16)

Posted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
My broadband connection was down all weekend, hence the lateness of this report.

Solving time 49:06 – a bit slower than usual, but as it was two weeks ago I can’t remember what I got stuck on now, although the anagram at 11D took me a while to get (mainly because I was trying to put it together with 45A).

Across

7 THIN,GUM,A,JIG – one of nine different spellings of this given in Chambers!
14 N(ICH)E – ICH is German for I, nothing to do with any monarch called Wilhelm the first.
15 RHYMER – good cryptic definition with a football surface, while being an accurate definition too – not all poets (cryptic linesmen) use rhyme.
16 CLA(UDI)US(e) – UDI stands for Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
27 0,INKED
31 THE LONG GOODBYE – one of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe novels.
38 RE(SO,LUTE)LY
41 RAISE – “rays”, i.e. sun rays, things that tan!
44 SCH,M,00,Z(o)E
45 B,OT,SWAN,AN
49 MAGICKED – G inside (kid came)*
50 0VIED0 – VIED inside 0-0, a town in Northern Spain.
53 ISERE – “is ‘ere”. An alpine department of France.
54 PENNIES FROM HEAVEN – originally sung by Bing Crosby in the 1936 film of the same name.

Down

1 JACK,(R),US,SELL
3 ROE,D(E)AN – posh girls’ school in Brighton.
5 INTOLERANT – or “into le rant“. Another little tribute to Miles Kington perhaps, who died a couple of weeks before this puzzle came out.
9 GAY-L,US,SAC – I think he appeared in a recent Azed too.
11 JACOBITE REBELLION (reliable objection)* – what a great and unlikely-looking anagram! Took me ages to crack.
12 GUESST(“guest”),(I),MATE
18 SPOO(K,IE)R – bottles here is a verb meaning “contains”.
20 THE ENGLISH PATIENT – “Job description” for patient is brilliant. Booker prize-winning novel by Michael Ondaatje, and the film version won 9 Oscars.
22 COLON,Y – sneaky clue that’s always hard to spot. “Hive perhaps: ultimate in industry”, the colon after perhaps being part of the wordplay.
26 SHRIVE(L)S – shrive is an archaic word meaning to hear confession.
32 G(RAF,FIT)I
36 EX,EUN(T OM)NES – EUNNES around TOM being unseen*. Stage direction for all to leave the stage.
37 BUBBLE WRAP – or, as Spooner would say, “rubble bap”.
39 TECH,NO,POP
42 GOOGL(I)ES – a cricket-hating technophobe might have had trouble with this clue! To google means to search the Internet using Google. A googly is a type of bowling in cricket, an off break bowled by a leg-spinner.
46 W(A,VI)EST – more cricket, a boundary can be a 4 or a 6.
51 (s)ELVES
52 E(MI)R – clever one. RE reversed around MI, its successor on the musical scale.

5 comments on “Times Jumbo 742 (Feb 16)”

  1. I agree with 11d being a terrific anagram. The checking B in the second word made me see “rebellion” pretty quickly, that helped the first word fall into place. 1d was a sweet construction too, really enjoyed this Jumbo.
  2. I found this one very difficult, and still cant work out why 7d is tipsiest if it is. Your assistance would be most welcome.
    1. It is TIPSIEST (tired and emotional being slang for drunk)

      TIP(=upset),SIEST(a)

  3. I went for THINGUMABOB at 7A, and identifying this mistake and fixing up that corner took ages.
  4. Brilliant puzzle, great skill and invention all the way through. Favourite (from a long list of admired clues) INTOLERANT.

Comments are closed.