Times Jumbo 992

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
28:35 on the Club timer, which suggests this didn’t give much trouble (just lately I’ve been noticing a trend for the standard Saturday to be tough and the Jumbo much less so, to the point where I was actually quicker for the Jumbo last week…) On re-examining for blog purposes, I’d say this would have been a good puzzle for newer solvers: plenty of straightforward material, especially in the downs, with the odd bit of extra thought required in places around the grid.

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
7 REDEEM – double def., making up one of them from the notion that if you think something, you “deem” it, so to re-think on that basis is to “re-deem”.
14 SWEETEN – SWEEp + (NET)rev.; the material of curtain-twitchers across suburbia.
15 INDOORS – clever reverse wordplay: to make “donors” you enter Name IN DOORS.
18 OPEN ENDED – [PEN + END] in O.E.D.
19 NONCE – Noun + ONCE; a nonce word being a coinage for a particular occasion, such as Boris Johnson’s Olympomania.
21 TEENY WEENY – TEEN + [WEEN (old word for “think”) in Y,Y]. The downside of this clue is that it calls to mind one of the most irritating songs ever committed to vinyl…
23 JOSTLE – Jack + OSTLER.
30 DESPERADO – (DARE)rev in DESPOt.
31 TIMER – TIMBER minus Built.
32 THEME – THE MEssiah. This would be what I meant about the easier end of the spectrum…
39 UNCONTAMINATED – Motorway in U.N. CONTAIN A TED. I’m guessing this setter hasn’t heard the complaints from various commenters on this site about the disparaging tone adopted towards Teddy Boys, especially those who regard them as synoymous with hooligans.
41 HYDROGEN – HelpfullY DiscoveR OrbitinG ElectroN, and a splendid &lit (see fig. 1 here). On the other hand, this clue will decisively please those who think the crossword is too weighted towards the Arts over Science.
48 GUERRILLA – [ERR ILL] in GUAM without the Male.
49 ELECTROMOTIVE – ROt in [ELECT, MOTIVE].
51 ENTENTE – European New TENT E. Any wine list based on crossword vocabulary would be oddly slanted towards TENT, SACK and RED.
52 INGROWN – Rex in IN GOWN.
54 STYE – STYLE minus Large.
 
Down
1 BASTION – NO, IT’S A Bishop all rev.
2 COEXTENSIVE – (SIXTEEN)* in COVE.
3 HATER – HAT + E.R.
4 NON-CONTROVERSIAL – NONe CONTROl VERSe It ALl.
5 LEISURED – LEI + SURE + Daughter. Why “with next to no work” and not “with no work”, I wonder?
7 ROOMY – KANGAROO + MY!.
9 EYELET =”ISLET”.
11 BLOODSTREAM – {FLOOD ST.] in BREAM.
13 GENEROUS – NERO in GEniUS.
24 MONOCOTYLEDONOUS – [Nitrogen in MOO] + [Year in COT LED ON 0 U.S.]; one of those terms which occurs in O level biology, Gardeners’ Question Time, and cryptic crosswords.
28 IDENTIFICATION – 1 + [F,I,CA in DENTITION].
38 SIGNIFICANT – SIGN, IF 1 CAN’T.
40 NEOPRENE – (OPEN)* + RENE.
42 CANTONAL – TON in CANAL; Switzerland is divided into smaller states called cantons.
49 EAGLE – double def., sharp-eyed bird and two under par on a hole in golf.

2 comments on “Times Jumbo 992”

  1. 59′; always happy to get in under the hour for these. I had the same reaction as you did, Tim, to 21ac; and now once again it’s surfaced to consciousness, ta. I’m surprised you didn’t mention MONOCOTYLEDONOUS, which I think I’d give my COD to (along with HYDROGEN); I can imagine having a good deal of trouble parsing this a couple of years ago. Hell, it took me a while when I did it.
    1. Hi Kevin

      I’ve stuck it in now, as I take the point it’s simple when it’s broken down, but might not be that obvious at first. Maybe I’ve become desensitised by repeated exposure…

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