Xmas Eve Jumbo – 24th December 2009

Author   7dpenguinPosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
A very enjoyable crossword with a good mix of easy and tricky clues and a fair few jokes. It took 36 minutes before I gave up and looked up the answer to 25a – don’t you just hate spending all that time on a crossword to be beaten by one clue? It just remains for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I wonder if we’ll get snow.

Across
1 STOIC –  I in STOC[-k]. The meaning of bank here is stored up reserves.
4 S(UPPER,LES)S
9 V,IGOUR – V + [-r]IGOUR
14 LA,TEC,OM,ER  – four cryptic cliches in a row.
15 PERODIC TABLE – (PITIABLE DECOR)*
16 COMMEN[-ce],T
17 MAINSHEET – (HIT SEAMEN)* Most people I know are surprised that sheets on a sailing boats are ropes, not sails.
18 GUIDE – “GUYED”
19 ONE DIMENSIONAL – two definitions, one (square isn’t) slightly whimsical
22 NO(R)MANS – NO MANS as in no man’s land
25 LAM[b],A,SERIES – I couldn’t get this one and had to do a Onelook letter match. In fact, I didn’t understand the LAM bit until blogging. They are monasteries for lamas, which are a bit like camells. A very tricky clue but just gettable, so that’s 1-0 to the setter.
27 MAGNETIC,POLE – “attractive fellow from Gdansk” made it easy but highly enjoyable. “a point far from home” was the rather oblique definition.
30 TWINE – [shif]T+WINE. Another oblique definition – “what’s stranded”
31 N(A U SEAT)E
32 I,RANI,A,N,S
35 THE,SP(A)IN
36 A BI DANCE – “a gay/straight social event” is marvellous.
37 A(MA)SS
39 DIVERTIMENTO – (IT,MONTEVERDI)* A musical composition in several movements. I got this as soon as I read it – I can only assume I’ve seen it before in a crossword and it lodged in my brain.
41 MA(1,SON,ET)TE – the Times Crossword comes screaming into the 20th century with a cultural reference that’s only 28 years old
43 SCRATCH – C,RAT in SCH[ool]
45 MONROE DOCTRINE  Marilyn + (NO CREDIT)* I’ve never heard of it but Wikipedia says this about it.
48 BE A NO 
49 SAT,IRISES – more laughs with the “flowers bought at the weekend”
51 BAT(IS)TE[-n]
53 ALISTAIR COOKE – it’s COOK (doctor) in A LIST,A,IRE – this took me ages to parse.Alistair Cooke is probably most famous for his “Letter from America” which he sang with his twin brother
54 EG,L(ANT)INE – a Eurasian rose
55 SH(ERR)Y – another lovely surface “Drink could make one be naughty in fling”
56 A,L,TERN,A,TOR
57 ECLAT – C in TALE rev

 
Down
1 SO,LACE
2 OTTOMAN EMPIRE – (IMPOTENT ROME A)*
3 CACHE – “cash” – does anybody outside the crossword world ever refer to money as “tin”?
4 SYMP,TOM – SYMP being half of symphony
5 PORTMANTEAUS – (MANURE PA’S TO)* around [allotmen]T
6 EXPLICIT – 1,C in EXPL[-o]IT
7 LORDS – two definitions,  one a cricket ground.
8 STONE BLIND – (BLONDE ISN’T)* I haven’t seen this phrase before but I have seen “stone deaf”
10 INT(EG)ER – I wonder why 60,000 was chosen as an example of an integer
11 OBBLIGATO – 1,LB,B[et] in OTAGO all reversed. Another musical term that I only know from doing crosswords (see 39a). It’s part of a score that must be performed without change or omission.
12 REEVE – two defs
13 SITTING TARGETS – a not very challenging cryptic def. No complaints though – we need a few easy ones to get us going
20 DI’S TEMPER – will DI ever be allowed to be a princess in the Times crossword?
21 NEAP TIDE – (AIN’T DEEP)*
23 STEPS,ISTER – (TRIES)*
24 P(LATITUDE)S
26 RUNS A TIGHT SHIP – I think I’ve seen the “lots of drunken sailors” treatment recently so this came pretty easy.
28 CONTAINER – (ON CRANE IT)* I wonder if the setter was tempted to go for the &lit and leave the clue as  “On crane it swings”? I think to add the qualification “at the docks” was probably the right thing to do.
29 VERB,OTEN – (NOTE)*
33 AT A STANDSTILL – this setter must have scriptwriters! “Exhibition rep who hasn’t yet given up may be”
34 INCAN,DESCENT
38 HER(M)ETICAL
40 VERSATILE –  VERSE around ATIL[t]
42 HOLST,EIN
44 T,ROTTER – using “bit of a pig” as both the def and part of the wordplay is quite clever though the purist in me wants to dismiss this as a flawed clue. Hang on a minute! I’m not a purist – it’s a perfectly fine clue
46 COBB(L)ER – I bet the Aussies don’t really use the word “cobber”. Can any of you antipodean galahs confirm or deny?
47 CE(ME)NT
48 BRA,SS – I bought my wife an Arsenal bra for Christmas – plenty of support but no cups.
50 R,HONE[-y] – clever
52 TON(N)E or TO(N)NE, – you decide

5 comments on “Xmas Eve Jumbo – 24th December 2009”

  1. A cobber is common currency here in NZ as a synonym for “a pal” or “a mate”. Not commonly used as a form of direct address, but you get the occasional “OK Cobber” as an assent, or “Now look here Cobber” as a aggressive introduction.

    Did not record a time for the crossword, but found it (and indeed all of the holiday jumbos) to be an enjoyable diversion from the interminable false and forced bonhomie of the season.

  2. Since no one else has submitted Ogden Nash’s explanation, I will:
    The one-L lama, he’s a priest;
    The two-L llama, he’s a beast;
    And I will bet a silk pajama
    There isn’t any three-L lllama.

    If there were a US version of “1066 and All That”, the Monroe Doctrine would be in it as a Good Thing; at least it was always taught us schoolchildren as such. Opinions, especially in Latin America, may differ.

  3. 25:55 for this one – straightforward but not quite as easy as some recent Jumbos.

    20D – [Di = princess] became such a huge cryptic xwd cliché in other puzzles during her period of fame that I still don’t miss it here. At 44D I think “That’s it” is the same kind of self-discipline from the setter as you identified at 28D – I can imagine some just putting “A bit of a pig, to a T.”

    Two minor typos in current report – missing A in 5D, and “given up” rather than “give up” in 33D.

    1. Thanks Pete, report now amended. By coincidence I was looking at a site last night after posting the report and came across the following words of wisdom:

      “Every reader will immediately find the typo that no proofreader could ever find.”

  4. Talking of typos, there’s one in 35a – you’ve put THESPAIN instead of THESPIAN.

    And I believe 60,000 was chosen in 10d as it’s the approximate population of Bury (60,718 according to Wikipedia)

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