Times Jumbo 922

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
38:23 according to the Club timer, which suggests a fairly testing puzzle, though I never really thought to myself it was that tough while I was doing it (which suggests that I was enjoying the challenge).

With Jumbos I generally confine myself to discussion of answers which I think might be a) less straightforward for inexperienced or non-UK based solvers, or b) especially elegant / questionable. However, as always, if a particular clue is not discussed, please feel free to raise it in comments for explanation or discussion.

Across
9 MANX CAT – a fairly weak cryptic, I thought; for those unfamiliar with the Manx cat, its defining characteristic is the absence of a tail.
16 HEDGE – as in many funds in today’s financial world; I like the definition of “growing division”.
19 TERRACE – ERR in [Time ACE]. textbook example of how to disguise what sort of row is meant by using the surface to suggest the wrong one.
20 GAUDEAMUS IGITUR – (MIDAUGUSTIARGUE)*; not a song used at any of my academic institutions, but apparently popular worldwide. A good one to clue with an angram, as the checking letters made me think I must have made an error, because it didn’t look like any proper words would fit..
22 LOGGERHEAD – LOGGER (one who records) + HEAD (principal) gives the large and cosmopolitan turtle.
23 FIANCE – FInANCE without Name.
25 AJAR – A (RAJ)rev., and an &lit if one wants to be political about it.
28 GATED COMMUNITY – not massively common in the UK, but a phenomenon which I suspect is found in most countries to some degree.
30 STRATEGY – TEG in STRAY. A “teg” is a two year old sheep, and one of those words that probably gets used on farms, in crosswords, and nowhere else.
32 COCKTAIL – COCK (set up) + TAIL (to act as a chaser). Obvious definition in “drink”, and something of an &lit as well.
34 OUT OF CHARACTER – I found it difficult to parse this one precisely, though I can see it’s A Conservative in OUT OF CHARTER.
37 BURN – River in BUN, and a surface that nods to King Alfred.
38 GLOOMY – iGLOO + MostlY.
39 FIGUREHEAD – took a while to establish what constituted the double def. (a leader with no actual power, and the front part of a ship).
43 TO THE MANNER BORN – (ABHORRENTMENNOT)* gives the Shakespeare quote.
47 ACROBATIC – (ORCA)rev. + BAlTIC without the Large.
49 BOTANIC – Bowled Over + (ICANT)*; the obligatory cricket reference.
52 INESSENTIAL – INES (Spanish version of Agnes) + SENT + 1 + A Line.
54 GO TO SEA – GO + OutSize in TEA.
55 NASEBY – hidden reversed in maYBE SANctions. One of the key battles of the English Civil War
 
Down
2 INSIDE RIGHT – (ISDITHERING)*; football position of the old school, before we had wing-backs, and Christmas Trees, and a free man in the hole.
3 REITERATE – [Energy in RITE] + RATE.
6 UNLAWFUL – UNLit without IT + AWFUL.
9 MILAIS – A in [MILL + IS]. One of Constable’s best-known pictures.
10 NERVE – New + sERVE.
13 BILL – BILLy, as in the Three Gruff Goats.
20 GRAMME – proGRAMME without the PROfessional.
22 LEGACY – LEG (=on, in cricket) +A/C + familY.
24 EXTRA-CURRICULAR – EXTRA (run in cricket – lots of them today) + CUR + [I/C in (RURAL)*].
26 ANNUS MIRABILIS – (IRUINAMANBLISS)*. Another nice long Latin anagram.
29 DETENTE – i.e. ignore the space between the words and you can see caDET ENTErprise. Nice to see a Star Trek surface to accompany 7 down.
31 ACTION – fACTION without the Fighting &lit.
33 COUNTERFEIT – COUNTER + Forte + [Energy in IT].
35 TREASONABLE – REASON in TABLE; the Joyce in question being the best-known Lord Haw Haw.
36 CONNECTION – CONfECTION with Needed instead of Female.
41 STEAMING – TEAM in SING; I suspect it says something about the national character that the English language has so many synonyms for “drunk”.
42 TOM THUMB – cryptic reference to the vertically-challenged star of Barnum’s Circus.
46 ENDLESS – tENDLESS without the Time.
50 NAPE – NAP (fluff, as found on certain cloths) + rhymE.

2 comments on “Times Jumbo 922”

  2. This took me a bit less than an hour and a half, which I think is par for me; so I’m surprised now to see that I flagged very few clues. 32 and 34ac were the ones I hadn’t figured out, so thanks Tim. I spent some time wondering what James Joyce had done that was treasonable, until somehow Lord Haw Haw surfaced in my always unpredictable memory. CODs to 47ac, 19ac, 20ac.

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