Another medium strength puzzle this week, but one that felt a bit untidy in places. There were some good clues and steady progression to enjoy, but the vibes were let down by a couple of things that didn’t quite work, at least for this pseudonymous nobody.
As ever you can find my completed grid below along with explanations of my solutions where I have them. I hope you find them useful. If a recent Jumbo has you stumped then you might find my Just For Fun page helpful, listing solutions to the last 100+ of these things. Meanwhile there are the usual dusty old book reviews and a story of mine.
Thank you for all the kind and appreciative comments in recent weeks. They’ve meant a lot as lockdown continues to bite. Let’s hope these blasted Covid rates keep dropping to reflect the vaccination rollout. Until next time, stay safe, mask up and keep supporting the NHS and key workers everywhere.
Toodles,
LP
Across clues
- What happens in autumn with departure of the first bug (9)
Answer: EAVESDROP (i.e. to listen in on or “bug”). Solution is LEAVES DROP (i.e. “what happens in autumn”) once the initial letter has been removed (indicated by “with departure of the first”).
- Cut usual storm when going round cloud (13)
Answer: STRATOCUMULUS (i.e. “cloud”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “when going round”) of CUT USUAL STORM. Hands up who originally wrote CUMULOSTRATUS in the grid. Yeah, me too.
- Annoyance with firework not starting (5)
Answer: ANGER (i.e. “annoyance”). Solution is BANGER (i.e. “firework”) with its initial letter removed (indicated by “not starting”).
- When there’s no drink to be had in bar (11)
Answer: PROHIBITION. Solution satisfies “when there’s no drink to be had” and to ban or “bar” something. Nicely worked.
- Foreign food delivered by ship, mostly around America (5)
Answer: SUSHI (i.e. “foreign food”). Solution is SHIP with its last letter removed (indicated by “mostly”) and the remainder wrapped “around” US (i.e. “America”), like so: S(US)HI.
- One who manages to dispatch branch email (11)
Answer: CHAMBERLAIN (i.e. “one who manages”). “To dispatch” indicates anagram. Solution is an anagram of BRANCH EMAIL.
- School has short novel about a Royal Navy battleship sunk in 1943 (11)
Answer: SCHARNHORST (i.e. German “battleship sunk in 1943”). Solution is SCH (a recognised abbreviation of “school”) followed by A and RN (ditto “Royal Navy”), then an anagram (indicated by “novel”) of SHORT, like so: SCH-A-RN-HORST. One gotten solely from the wordplay.
- Turmoil at head of British mint? (7)
Answer: POTHERB (i.e. “mint”). Solution is POTHER (i.e. commotion or “turmoil”) followed by B (i.e. “head of British”, i.e. the first letter of “British”).
- Shut. Shot (5-2)
Answer: CLOSE-UP (i.e. “shot”). When written as CLOSE UP the solution also satisfies to “shut”.
- Current spinner is cheered at Lords at first appearance (7) – not (4), as printed
Answer: TOPICAL (i.e. “current”). Solution is TOP (i.e. “spinner”) followed by ICAL (i.e. “is cheered at Lords at first”, i.e. the first letters of “Is Cheered At Lords”).
- Painting those people on bridge, often man has left in informative details (3,7,2,3,4)
Answer: THE MONARCH OF THE GLEN (i.e. “painting” by Sir Edwin Landseer, and an absolute beauty it is too). Solution is THEM (i.e. “those people”) followed by ON, then ARCH (i.e. “bridge”), then OFT (i.e. shortened form of “often”), then HE (i.e. “man”) and L (a recognised abbreviation of “left”) once placed “in” GEN (i.e. “informative details”), like so: THEM-ON-ARCH-OFT-HE-G(L)EN.
- A church service (3)
Answer: ACE (i.e. “service” in tennis). Solution is A followed by CE (i.e. “church”, specifically the Church of England). Simple, but nicely worked.
- Get back control, eclipsing General Assembly (6)
Answer: REGAIN (i.e. “get back”). Solution is REIN (i.e. “control”) wrapped around or “eclipsing” GA (a recognised abbreviation of “General Assembly”), like so: RE(GA)IN.
- About twelve, going round? (6)
Answer: ZODIAC. A bit of a guess, but I’m pretty confident it’s correct given there are “twelve” signs of the zodiac (don’t at me, Ophiuchuses), each supposedly representing a 30-degree section of an imaginary belt in the heavens, i.e. the “round” bit of the clue.
[EDIT: A big thank you to Sue in the comments for clearing this one up. The solution is CA (i.e. “about”, specifically a recognised abbreviation of “circa”) followed by I DOZ (i.e. “twelve”, or 1 dozen – DOZ being a recognised abbreviation) all reversed (indicated by “going round”), like so: ZOD-I-AC. Very nicely worked. Cheers, Sue! – LP]
- Perhaps Morse not working has time for female (9)
Answer: DETECTIVE (i.e. “perhaps Morse” – other detectives are available. So many detectives. Many, many detectives. So many, in fact, it’s a wonder anyone actually bothers with crime. Bump someone off with a candlestick or a spot of digitalis these days and there’ll be at least a dozen TV detectives on the scene within the space of an ad break, all with trusty sidekicks, all detecting in ways indistinguishable from one other save for their character flaws and dysfunctional personal lives, and all getting it neatly wrapped up within the space of two hours. Take that, crime! Oh look, I’ve wandered off track again…) Solution is DEFECTIVE (i.e. “not working”) with the F (a recognised abbreviation of “female”) replaced by T (ditto “time”), like so: DE(F)ECTIVE => DE(T)ECTIVE.
- What attracts magazine into London borough (3,6)
Answer: BAR MAGNET (i.e. “what attracts”). Solution is MAG (shortened form of “magazine”) placed “into” BARNET (i.e. “London borough”), like so: BAR(MAG)NET.
- Emotional shock when former president nearly accepts answer (6)
Answer: TRAUMA (i.e. “emotional shock”). Solution is Harry S. TRUMAN (i.e. “former president” of the United States) with it’s last letter removed (indicated by “nearly”) and the remainder wrapped around or “accepting” A (a recognised abbreviation of “answer”, as in Q&A), like so: TR(A)UMA.
- Silence about clip being wide open (6)
Answer: GAPING (i.e. “being wide open”). Solution is GAG (i.e. to “silence”) placed “about” PIN (i.e. to affix or “clip”), like so: GA(PIN)G.
- Maturity regularly displayed by hangmen (3)
Answer: AGE (i.e. “maturity”). “Regularly displayed by” indicates the solution is derived from every other letter of HANGMEN.
- Badly clueing “thin” as “elvery” for quiz (10,9)
Answer: UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (i.e. TV “quiz” in which I get the presenter’s name right and that’s about it for half an hour). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “badly”) of CLUEING THIN AS ELVERY.
- Piece of text fool inserted into episode (7)
Answer: PASSAGE (i.e. “piece of text”). Solution is ASS (i.e. “fool”) “inserted into” PAGE (i.e. “episode” – Chambers offers this for a definition of PAGE: “an incident, episode or whatever may be imagined as matter to fill a page”), like so: P(ASS)AGE.
- Noisily get round girl with sex appeal (7)
Answer: GALUMPH (i.e. “noisily get round”). Solution is GAL (i.e. “girl”) followed by UMPH (i.e. “sex appeal” – Chambers doesn’t want to know, but my Oxford supports this as a variant spelling of OOMPH).
- Replayed point before sad disappointment (7)
Answer: LETDOWN (i.e. “disappointment”). Solution is LET (a “replayed point” in tennis) followed by DOWN (i.e. feeling “sad”).
- Organised site in mine to store uranium, a radioactive element (11)
Answer: EINSTEINIUM (i.e. “radioactive element”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “organised”) of SITE IN MINE wrapped around or “storing” U (chemical symbol of “uranium”), like so: EINSTEINI(U)M. Nicely worked.
- One trying to impress modern paper with editing (4-7)
Answer: NAME-DROPPER (i.e. “one trying to impress”). “With editing” indicates anagram. Solution is an anagram of MODERN PAPER.
- Happen to rain heavily around cricket club, cutting off parking (5)
Answer: OCCUR (i.e. “happen”). Solution is POUR (i.e. “to rain heavily”) wrapped “around” CC (a recognised abbreviation of “cricket club”) and the P of POUR “cut off” – P being a recognised abbreviation of “parking” used on signage and maps – like so: O(CC)UR.
- Bury coins in crossroads (11)
Answer: INTERCHANGE (i.e. “crossroads”). Solution is INTER (i.e. to “bury”) followed by CHANGE (i.e. “coins”).
- Earliest of dialects of rough intonation, classically (5)
Answer: DORIC, an “early” or ancient Greek “dialect”. Solution is derived from the initial letters (indicated by “earliest of”) of Dialects Of Rough Intonation Classically.
- Spar shows, mind, terribly good use of steel (13)
Answer: SWORDSMANSHIP (i.e. “good use of steel”). “Terribly” indicates anagram. Solution is an anagram of SPAR SHOWS MIND.
- Naval ship Thalaba, for instance (9)
Answer: DESTROYER. Solution satisfies “naval ship” and “Thalaba, for instance”, referring to an epic poem, Thalaba the Destroyer by Robert Southey. Yeah, me neither. Given the three editions I’ve found on Goodreads have attracted a positively Brobdingnagian fifteen ratings between them, I wouldn’t feel too guilty about it.
Down clues
- Freer duty list with picture and title put up (11)
Answer: EMANCIPATOR (i.e. “freer”). Solution is ROTA (i.e. “duty list”) followed by PIC (shortened form of “picture”) and NAME (i.e. “title”). The whole is reversed (indicated by “put up” – this being a down clue), like so: EMAN-CIP-ATOR.
- Old lady found in vessel, wandering (7)
Answer: VAGRANT (i.e. “wandering”). Solution is GRAN (i.e. “old lady”) placed “in” VAT (i.e. “vessel”), like so: VA(GRAN)T.
- Get rid of Bush (5)
Answer: SCRUB. Solution satisfies “get rid of” and “bush” – ignore the misleading capitalisation.
- Game to tolerate including impudent children’s hero (6,4)
Answer: RUPERT BEAR (i.e. “children’s hero” created by Mary Tourtel). Solution is RU (i.e. “game”, specifically Rugby Union) and BEAR (i.e. “to tolerate”) wrapped around or “including” PERT (i.e. “impudent”), like so: RU-(PERT)-BEAR.
- Ordinarily professionals are initially in charge (7)
Answer: PROSAIC (i.e. “ordinarily”). Solution is PROS (shortened form of “professionals”) followed by A (i.e. “are initially”, i.e. the first letter of “are”) and IC (a recognised abbreviation of “in charge”).
- Solstice got in eccentric spiritual believer (13)
Answer: SCIENTOLOGIST (i.e. “spiritual believer”). “Eccentric” indicates anagram. Solution is an anagram of SOLSTICE GOT IN. Nice choice of anagram indicator.
- Cried following rail services starting late, beset by bad weather (9)
Answer: RAINSWEPT (i.e. “beset by bad weather”). Solution is WEPT (i.e. “cried”) placed after or “following” TRAINS (i.e. “rail services”) once the initial letter has been removed (indicated by “starting late”), like so: RAINS-WEPT.
- Tons cut hard work for music (4,3)
Answer: TRIP HOP (i.e. “music”). Solution is T (a recognised abbreviation of “tons”) followed by RIP (i.e. “cut”), then H (a recognised abbreviation of “hard” used in grading pencils) and OP (i.e. “work”, specifically a recognised abbreviation of “opus”).
- Trick rodent trapped by gluttony, note praise (12)
Answer: CONGRATULATE (i.e. “praise”). Not one I’m 100% about, but I can’t see anything else fitting the letters. Solution is CON (i.e. “trick”) followed by RAT (i.e. “rodent”) once placed in or “trapped by” GULA (supposedly “gluttony”, though none of my reference books back this up. Chambers offers gula as a zoological term concerned with the gullets of animals, which isn’t really the same) and TE (i.e. “note” in the do-ray-me style), like so: CON-G(RAT)ULA-TE. Open to alternatives for this one.
[EDIT: Thanks to Michael in the comments for clarifying GULA in this clue, being the Latin for ‘gluttony’ within the context of the seven deadly sins. Cheers, Mike! – LP]
- Girl has cut quill crooked (9)
Answer: MISSHAPEN (i.e. “crooked”). Solution is MISS (i.e. “girl”) followed by HAS once the last letter has been removed (indicated by “cut”), then PEN (i.e. “quill”), like so: MISS-HA-PEN.
- Strong light beer – good to be small (5)
Answer: LASER (i.e. “strong light”). Solution is LAGER (i.e. “beer”) with the G (a recognised abbreviation of “good”) replaced by (indicated by “to be”) S (a recognised abbreviation of “small”), like so: LA(G)ER => LA(S)ER.
- Their vessel transported army material? (11)
Answer: SHIRTSLEEVE (i.e. “army material”, with “army” playfully taken to mean “of the arms”). “Transported” indicates anagram. Solution is an anagram of THEIR VESSEL.
- Titillating material ripped up by art institute (7)
Answer: EROTICA (i.e. “titillating material”). Solution is TORE (i.e. “ripped”) reversed (indicated by “up” – this being a down clue) and followed by ICA (i.e. “art institute”, specifically the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, like so: EROT-ICA.
- Fusion fuel has appeal over charged particle (9)
Answer: COALITION (i.e. “fusion”). Solution is COAL (i.e. “fuel”) followed by IT (i.e. “appeal”, as in having got “it”) and ION (i.e. “charged particle”).
- Keen nature of silver eagles in European sierra (9)
Answer: EAGERNESS (i.e. “keen nature”). Solution is AG (chemical symbol of “silver”) and ERNES (i.e. “eagles”) both placed “in” between E (a recognised abbreviation of “European”) and S (i.e. “sierra” in the phonetic alphabet), like so: E-(AG-ERNES)-S.
- Laugh with little time left in tedious job (7)
Answer: CHORTLE (i.e. “laugh”). Solution is T (a recognised abbreviation of “time” – “little” could be an indicator of this) and L (a recognised abbreviation of “left”) both placed “in” CHORE (i.e. “tedious job”), like so: CHOR(T-L)E.
- Put a stop to rodents turning up in a particular area (7)
Answer: ENDEMIC (i.e. “in a particular area”). Another I’m not 100% on, but, again, not much else fits the letters. I get the feeling this is a half-finished clue that has slipped into publication. For what it’s worth, my solution comprises END (i.e. “put a stop to”) and MICE (i.e. “rodents”). The problem is “turning up” is a reversal indicator for down clues. Applied to MICE, you’d get END-ECIM, which obviously isn’t right. I suspect the phrasing was once “ending up” rather than “turning up”, as this could then describe the E – the “end” letter of MICE – moving “up” to the start like so: MIC(E) => (E)MIC, but this was then perhaps found to be unworkable as the setter had already used END in the solution. Again, I’m happy to consider alternative solutions, but this one feels like a balls-up.
- Quality of work key with crew in at least three boats (13)
Answer: CRAFTSMANSHIP (i.e. “quality of work”). Solution is C (i.e. “[musical] note”) followed by MAN (i.e. to “crew”, rather than a number of crewmen) once placed “in” RAFTS and SHIP (i.e. “at least three boats”, given RAFTS is plural), like so: C-RAFTS-(MAN)-SHIP.
- Man allowed string of beads (7)
Answer: CHAPLET (i.e. “string of beads”). Solution is CHAP (i.e. “man”) followed by LET (i.e. “allowed”).
- Discrimination in working isn’t Times’ aim (4-8)
Answer: ANTI-SEMITISM (i.e. “discrimination”). “Working” indicates anagram. Solution is an anagram of ISN’T TIMES AIM.
- Godless queen’s killer, on edge in short loose jacket (11)
Answer: BLASPHEMOUS (i.e. “godless” – as in immoral, rather than in not believing in a god. Weak, IMLTHO). Solution is ASP (i.e. “queen’s killer”, referring to the snake that did for Cleopatra) and HEM (i.e. “edge”) both placed “in” BLOUSE (i.e. “loose jacket”) once the last letter has been removed (indicated by “short”), like so: BL(ASP-HEM)OUS.
- Supplier of gram accepted by naïve leather-clad youth wanting kilos (11)
Answer: GREENGROCER (i.e. “supplier”). Solution is G (a recognised abbreviation of “gram”) placed between or “accepted by” GREEN (i.e. “naïve”) and ROCKER (i.e. “leather-clad youth”) once the K has been removed (indicated by “wanting kilos” – K being a recognised abbreviation of “kilogram”), like so: GREEN-(G)-ROCER.
- Look of snowfield’s extremity, poorly reflected in mountain route (10)
Answer: PALLIDNESS (i.e. “look of snowfield” – what an odd description). Solution is END (i.e. “extremity”) and ILL (i.e. “poorly”) both reversed (indicated by “reflected”) and placed “in” PASS (i.e. “mountain route”), like so: PA(LLI-DNE)SS.
- Lacking change, central fund haggled without pence (9)
Answer: UNALTERED (i.e. “lacking change”). Solution is UN (i.e. “central [letters of] fUNd”) followed by PALTERED (i.e. “haggled”) once the P has been removed (indicated by “without pence” – P being a recognised abbreviation of “pence”), like so: UN-ALTERED.
- Coastal area sailor damages with wash that hasn’t existed? (4,5)
Answer: SALT MARSH (i.e. “coastal area”). Solution is SALT (i.e. “sailor”) followed by MARS (i.e. “damages”) and H, i.e. WASH once WAS is removed (indicated by “wash that hasn’t existed” – WAS being another word for “existed”), like so: SALT-MARS-H.
- Menu, perhaps, has information about something sparkling (7)
Answer: GLISTEN (i.e. “something sparkling” – can be used as a noun, apparently). Solution is LIST (i.e. “menu, perhaps”) placed in or “has…about” GEN (i.e. “information”), like so: G(LIST)EN.
- Man that’s lost house key outside car (7)
Answer: HOMINID (i.e. “man that’s lost” – technically a group that covers humans and our close extinct or “lost” ancestors, and the great apes too while we’re at it. A bit narrow, then, but “that’s lost” does make for a clue that scans rather well). Solution is HO (a recognised abbreviation of “house”) and D (i.e. “[musical] key”) both placed “outside” of MINI (i.e. “car”), like so: HO-(MINI)-D.
- Rich border hotel invested in gold quarry (7)
Answer: ORPHREY (i.e. “rich border”, usually on an ecclesiastical vestment). Solution is H (“hotel” in the phonetic alphabet) placed or “invested in” OR (i.e. “gold” in heraldry) and PREY (i.e. “quarry”), like so: OR-P(H)REY.
- Snack served in Vienna chophouse (5)
Answer: NACHO (i.e. “snack”). “Served in” indicates the solution has been hidden in the clue, like so: VIEN(NA CHO)PHOUSE.
- Architectural style of edging with no breadth (5)
Answer: ORDER (i.e. “architectural style”). Solution is BORDER (i.e. “edging”) with the B removed (indicated by “with no breadth” – B being a recognised abbreviation of “breadth”).
I’ve pretty much given up on the footie, so some electrochoonage was had this week courtesy of:
— Justice (their last album, Woman, offers some brilliant retro-modern disco action. Safe and Sound, Alakazam! and Randy are {-chef’s kiss emoji-})
— Leuer Verte (more retro-modern stuff, this time with a big 80s influence. Not much to listen to, but it’s all good)
— Volkor X (I often return to his stuff. Shoot Them Up from his album This Is Our Planet Now remains a cheesy favourite.)
— Juno Reactor (I rather liked his remix of Gravity Kills’s Guilty back in the mid-90s and recently checked out his later releases. There’s some good stuff to be had, particularly in the later albums. Imagine if Enigma went harder for techno and you’re about halfway there.)
…and right now Spotify’s Walk Like a Badass playlist, which is very much doing the trick.
Meanwhile live sports has been replaced by Twitch, where I can witness gamers much better than me play the games I play only much (much, much) better than I can, and, if that wasn’t enough, be entertaining, host competitions, trigger humorous on-screen content and hold a half-dozen conversations with their audience all the while. I mean, I’m doing well if I remember to occasionally close my mouth during a game.
Pro tip: if you value your spare time then for goodness sake, DO NOT WATCH TWITCH. I ought to have published this post about five hours ago…
Laters, – LP
Lucian Poll's Web Ramblings 
Thanks Lucian. Overall we weren’t impressed with this one – too many deletions (I counted 15 in total, if you include those where more than one letter has been removed), and some pretty dodgy definitions. I’ve always understood that a CHAPLET (32d) was made of leaves (think Julius Caesar) or flowers, not beads.
Re ENDEMIC (26d), one possible explanation is that “turning” could be an anagram indicator, but that would then render “up” redundant. Either way, it’s very unsatisfactory.
ZODIAC (29a) can be parsed as CA (= ABOUT) I DOZ (= TWELVE) with the whole thing reversed (ROUND).
Take care, and stay safe. SB
Excellent work, Sue, many thanks for ZODIAC. I’ve updated the post. Keep well! – LP
Agree with your comments except for “chaplet” my OED gives, as its third definition “A string of beads for counting prayers, of five decades. M17” Congratulations on your parsing of Zodiac, made me feel a bit silly!
Thanks Lucian.
I couldn’t for the life of me work out how to get the ‘rains’ part of ‘rainswept’!
I also came to the conclusion that ‘endemic’ was a cock-up.
Re 9d. ‘Congratulate’: Gula is the Latin name for gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins.
Michael
Nice work, Michael, many thanks for that. I’ve now updated the post. It took me a while to twig RAINS, to be fair. In my mind, “starting late” indicates an initial letter being knocked back a few notches, so a bit of mental reprogramming was necessary. Thanks again for your help! – LP
Thank you, Lucian. I thought this week’s was rubbish; too easy & what on earth does “look of snowfield” mean? Very odd. Thanks also to Sue for zodiac as I hadn’t spotted it was about one dozen reversed. Agreed cock-up with endemic. I’m loving the footie btw but then, I am from Manchester.
After two very good crosswords we get this. Very easy and a bit rubbish, I had it finished by midafternoon yesterday. Far too many anagrams for my liking. I’m another who thought the parsing of some clues were rubbish. I marvel at how you (and others) arrive at the answers. Life’s too short etc! I have to admit I was using Trump for the ex-president, which goes a long way towards explaining my bafflement at the answer to that one. And 55a, Google Thalaba. Destroyer. Oh, really? Next.
Anyway, good times are just around the corner, according to the old song. Let’s hope so😁
One other comment.
It’s worth reading about the sea battle that led to the sinking of the Scharnhorst.
Fascinating but horrifying.
Greetings all, and particular thanks to my namesakes Michael (for nailing Gula) and Mick (for voicing my exact thoughts about this one: very easy, a bit rubbish).
I don’t object to anagrams as such even if numerous but these ones were crass, just words flung together that make no sense, and flagged by glaringly crude anagram signals.
I can however forgive 26d, as (1) I find “turning up in a particular area” to be a fine definition of endemic,and (2) it’s OK to define “emic” as “rodents turning up” because the final e has “turned forward”. So, inelegant but still within the conventions.
The clues I enjoy most are usually the short ones, maybe 4 words, like: Bury coins in crossroads’, or ‘Get rid of Bush’, or ‘A church service’. ‘About twelve going round’ was a fine clue for Zodiac – thanks Sue for explaining the second half which I hadn’t twigged.
But those were the only shining lights today. The clues I like least are usually clumsy, wordy and convey no image – and if I don’t agree with the grammar it’s even worse! “Menu, perhaps, has information about something sparkling” encompasses all these defects: first I am always suspicious of “perhaps” in a clue, as it’s often a lazy setter’s way of saying “Sorry, I’ve not quite nailed this”. Second, whatever dictionaries may claim, I have never in my life encountered use of glisten as a noun, it’s an unnecessary usage and I won’t support it! (My prejudices were hard attained and they remain in place, unless and until I am gently won over by evidence….)
Hi Lucian. Contrary to other posts I found it took me until Thursday evening to finish and did not find it easy but then I am still learning and have only recently graduated to this level so I’m not beating myself up. Some of that time was spent working, home schooling/refereeing and sleeping too; it wasn’t all cruciverbalism.
I was chuffed with The Monarch of The Glen when I finally cracked it – good stuff I thought.
Thanks for the solutions and explanations which helped (after completion) as a few were more than a bit vague but happily correct. Also thanks for the music tips, great stuff! Thought ‘trip hop’ might be a little niche for some but I got it so no worries!
Cheers to you and Mrs Bradford, would never have got to ‘umph’ without her.
Adrian
Well, thicko that I am, I didn’t finish this one until a couple of hours ago (Friday evening) – but I do have other things to do each day. I didn’t bother with the battleship clue (17a) as it obviously belonged in the General Knowledge category. I quite liked some of the clues but, to my discredit, I entered 30d as craftmansship instead of craftsmanship. A huge amount of time was then lost while sipping my whisky & soda and trying to figure out what had gone wrong..
Thanks Lucian for your efforts. Much appreciated.
Sipping whisky & soda is a very good use of time
Lucian, these Times Jumbo posts are great. Thank you so much. I have returned to crosswords during lockdown after a number of years’ break, and I’m somewhat rusty to say the least. Knowing/ checking the answers is one thing, but it’s so good to understand the ‘workings out’. Loving the ‘ramblings’ also.
Yes, hats off to Lucian. These days I only attempt the Saturday jumbo but in years gone by, I (very very very) occasionally solved the daily Times crossword on the morning train in under ten minutes. But my brain these days, like yours Helen, is rusty to say the least.
So, Lucian, please keep up the good work. I never look at your answers until Friday evening (honest) and it does sometimes take me well through the week before solving the final clue.