Times Jumbo Cryptic Crossword 1689

A medium-strength Jumbo and one of the better ones thanks to a good helping of creative clues. There was also a refreshing lack of stuffy Times crossword clichés, so I’ll stay the countdown a week, meaning there are still 12 Jumbos to go before I wrap up these posts.

Now that the competition deadline has long since past 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 dunked its biscuits in your tea then you might find my Just For Fun page of use, where you’ll find links to solutions for hundreds of the things.

Thanks again for your patience and input. Till next time, stay safe out there kids.

LP

The case for the prosecution

Across clues

1. Tussore worked with gold for the bottom drawer (9)

Answer: TROUSSEAU (i.e. “the bottom drawer” – Chambers makes no mention of this, offering merely: “the clothes … collected by a bride for her marriage”, or “a bundle”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “worked”) of TUSSORE followed by AU (chemical symbol of “gold”), like so: TROUSSE-AU. Time was I would class this as an exotic solution, or at least certainly not an everyday term. This is the fourth time TROUSSEAU has appeared in Jumbos in four years, however, the last only a couple of months ago, making this an easier get.

6. Unlit playing area has defender crossing line (5-5)

Answer: PITCH-BLACK (i.e. “unlit”). Solution is PITCH (i.e. “playing area”) followed by BACK (i.e. “defender” in a number of sports) once wrapped around or “crossing” L (a recognised abbreviation of “line”), like so: PITCH-B(L)ACK.

12. Hear wrongly about account – key problem for the listener? (7)

Answer: EARACHE (i.e. a complaint or “problem for the listener”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “wrongly”) of HEAR wrapped “about” AC (a recognised abbreviation of “account”) and followed by E (i.e. musical “key” or note), like so: EAR(AC)H-E.

13. Officer, one sometimes preceding general (9)

Answer: INSPECTOR. Solution satisfies police “officer” and also “one sometimes preceding general”, an Inspector General being an equivalent within the military.

14. Glasses with bits of dust detected (5)

Answer: SPECS (i.e. “glasses”, short for spectacles). Solution is a homophone (indicated by “detected” – loosely!) of SPECKS (i.e. “bits of dust”).

16. Dresses too little for what they cover (12)

Answer: UNDERCLOTHES. Clue plays on how “dresses … cover” such things, being one’s smalls. It also playfully satisfies “dresses too little”. Nicely worked.

17. Thought the settling of disputes is about time (10)

Answer: MEDITATION (i.e. “thought”). Solution is MEDIATION (i.e. “the settling of disputes”) wrapped “about” T (a recognised abbreviation of “time”), like so: MEDI(T)ATION.

19. A university citation then redrafted a task for a notary (14)

Answer: AUTHENTICATION (i.e. “task for a notary”). Solution is A followed by U (a recognised abbreviation of “university”) and an anagram (indicated by “redrafted”) of CITATION THEN, like so: A-U-THENTICATION.

22. Attila perhaps reportedly fears veteran divisions (8)

Answer: HUNDREDS (i.e. “veteran divisions”, “veteran” being taken to mean old, a hundred can be “a division of a county in England originally supposed to contain a hundred families” (Chambers)). Solution is HUN (i.e. “Attila perhaps”) followed by a homophone (indicated by “reportedly” of DREADS (i.e. “fears”), like so: HUN-DREDS.

24. Appalling court order (6)

Answer: DIRECT (i.e. “order”). Solution DIRE (i.e. “appalling”) followed by CT (a recognised abbreviation of “court”). Another nicely worked clue.

25. Getting into stocks for one in official garment (10)

Answer: INVESTMENT (i.e. “getting into stocks” – “for one” can be read as “for example”, as one can invest in other assets). Solution is IN followed by VESTMENT (i.e. “official garment”).

26. Nothing once purchased loses billions (5)

Answer: OUGHT (i.e. “nothing once” – a variant meaning of OUGHT is “a non-standard corruption of naught”. And we wonder why English is a tricky language to learn). Solution is BOUGHT (i.e. “purchased”) once the B has been removed (indicated by “loses billions”, B being a recognised abbreviation of “billions”).

29. Love? Halo? These in essence may appear so (4)

Answer: OVAL. Solution satisfies the clue as a whole if “love” is taken as a zero score in tennis, but the solution also comprises OV and AL, the “essences” or middle letters of LOVE and HALO. Another well-worked clue.

30. What may track down renegade changing sides in fight? (8)

Answer: DETECTOR (i.e. “what may track down”). Solution is DEFECTOR (i.e. “renegade”) with the F swapped or “changed” for T (i.e. the “sides in fight”, F and T being the left- and right-hand sides of the word “fight”), like so: DE(F)ECTOR => DE(T)ECTOR. Another creative clue. Good stuff!

32. To us, nurse is working hard (9)

Answer: STRENUOUS (i.e. “hard”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “working”) of TO US NURSE. Another good un.

34. No longer watch out after second run for free program (9)

Answer: SHAREWARE (i.e. “free program”). Solution is WARE (i.e. “no longer watch out”, i.e. an archaic word for “to beware”) placed “after” S (a recognised abbreviation of “second”) and HARE (i.e. to “run” around), like so: (S-HARE)-WARE.

35. Gold found in dry French river, a slow runner (8)

Answer: TORTOISE (i.e. “a slow runner”). Solution is OR (i.e. “gold” in heraldry) placed “in” TT (i.e. “dry”, specifically a recognised abbreviation of teetotal) and followed by OISE (i.e. “French river”), like so: T(OR)T-OISE. I usually grumble when setters stray over the channel, and today is no exception:

36. Laze about? This can get one fired (4)

Answer: ZEAL (i.e. “this can get one fired” up). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “about”) of LAZE.

39. Turner starts on representation of rocky hill (5)

Answer: ROTOR (i.e. “turner”). Solution is RO (i.e. “starts on representation of”, i.e. the first letters of “representation” and “of”) followed by TOR (i.e. “rocky hill”).

40. Commit to fire one new film judge (10)

Answer: INCINERATE (i.e. to “commit to fire”). Solution is I (i.e. “[Roman numeral] one”) followed by N (a recognised abbreviation of “new”), then CINE (i.e. “film”) and RATE (i.e. to “judge”).

42. Collection including extinct group (6)

Answer: SEXTET (i.e. “group”). Solution is SET (i.e. “collection”) wrapped around or “including” EXT (a recognised abbreviation of “extinct”), like so: S(EXT)ET.

44. Act decently in drama festival (4,4)

Answer: PLAY FAIR (i.e. “act decently”). Solution is PLAY (i.e. “drama”) followed by FAIR (i.e. “festival”).

46. Jumbo next to jumbo, very close together (6-2-6)

Answer: BUMPER-TO-BUMPER (i.e. “very close together”). Solution is BUMPER (i.e. “jumbo” or something big) next TO BUMPER again. You get the idea.

48. What’s useful for getting into cold sheets? (10)

Answer: ICEBREAKER. Solution satisfies the clue as a whole, taking “cold sheets” being ICE. I’m not immediately seeing anything else, but I could be missing something clever.

49. Part of pop song put round with The Boxer, perhaps? (12)

Answer: MIDDLEWEIGHT (i.e. “boxer”). Solution is MIDDLE EIGHT (i.e. “part of pop song”) wrapped “round” W (a recognised abbreviation of “with”), like so: MIDDLE-(W)-EIGHT.

53. Italian tenor, large one closing live performance (5)

Answer: Beniamino GIGLI (i.e. “Italian tenor”). Solution is L (a recognised abbreviation of “large”) and I (i.e. “[Roman numeral] one”) both placed after or “closing” GIG (i.e. “live performance”), like so: GIG-(L-I). Theatre and opera stars are ten-a-penny in Times crosswords, so have a demerit.

54. Awkward lines with elegy – Dante to remove outer parts (9)

Answer: INELEGANT (i.e. “awkward”). “To remove outer parts” indicates the solution is derived by taking the first and last letters away from LINES, ELEGY and DANTE.

55. Men led by characteristic backstabber (7)

Answer: TRAITOR (i.e. “backstabber”). Solution is OR (i.e. “men”, specifically the Other Ranks of the British Army) placed after or “led by” TRAIT (i.e. “characteristic”), like so: TRAIT-OR.

56. Programme editor dropping duke in favour of knight’s forebear (10)

Answer: PROGENITOR (i.e. “forebear”). Solution is PROG (a recognised abbreviation of “programme”) followed by EDITOR once the D (a recognised abbreviation of “duke”) has been removed or “dropped” and replaced by (indicated by “in favour of”) N (a recognised abbreviation of “knight” used in chess), like so: PROG-E(D)ITOR => PROG-E(N)ITOR.

57. Trade chip circuits at a very low price (4-5)

Answer: DIRT-CHEAP (i.e. “at a very low price”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “circuits”) of TRADE CHIP.

Down clues

1. Exhausted member of the Dáil broken by Ireland (5)

Answer: TIRED (i.e. “exhausted”). Solution is TD (i.e. “member of the Dáil”, specifically a Teachta Dála or Deputy to the Dáil – hands up anyone else who tunes out the moment a news story strays into Irish politics. Could just be me) wrapped around or “broken by” IRE (a recognised abbreviation of “Ireland” – my Chambers and Oxford don’t want to know, but it’s backed up by my Collins Concise), like so: T(IRE)D.

2. Company set up a lot of ongoing church event (10)

Answer: OCCURRENCE (i.e. “event”). Solution is CO (a recognised abbreviation of “company”) reversed or “set up” – this being a down clue. This is then followed by CURRENT (i.e. “ongoing”) once its last letter has been removed (indicated by “a lot of”), then CE (i.e. “church”, specifically the Church of England), like so: OC-CURREN-CE.

3. Measure introduced by country, spreading from the centre (8)

Answer: STELLATE (i.e. “spreading from the centre” – a new one on me). Solution is ELL (i.e. a “measure” we’ve seen a few times in Jumbos now, being “a varying measure of length originally taken from the arm” (Chambers)) placed in or “introduced by” STATE (i.e. “country”), like so: ST(ELL)ATE.

4. Order used in some dictionaries (5)

Answer: EDICT (i.e. “order”). “Used in” indicates the solution has been hidden in the clue, like so: SOM(E DICT)IONARIES.

5. Uncover second butterfly in centre of sand hills (9)

Answer: UNSHEATHE (i.e. “uncover”). Solution is S (a recognised abbreviation of “second”) and HEATH (i.e. a type of “butterfly” apparently – the lepidopterist escaped me here) both placed “in” UNE (i.e. “centre of sand hills”, i.e. the middle letters of DUNES), like so: UN(S-HEATH)E.

6. Be very nosy about closure of stone quarry (4)

Answer: PREY (i.e. “quarry”). Solution is PRY (i.e. “be very nosy”) wrapped “about” E (i.e. “closure of stone”, i.e. the last letter of “stone”), like so: PR(E)Y.

7. Beginning to turn fish catcher’s reel (6)

Answer: TOTTER (i.e. to “reel”). Solution is T (i.e. “beginning [letter] to turn”) followed by OTTER (i.e. “fish catcher”).

8. One often on the job in bed? (14)

Answer: HORTICULTURALIST. Taking “bed” to be somewhere to plant flowers and such, the solution satisfies the clue as a whole. I appreciate the naughtiness of this one. Oh-la-la!

9. Having abandoned property plot located round Old Street (4-3-5)

Answer: LOST-AND-FOUND (i.e. an area “having abandoned property”). Solution is LAND (i.e. “plot”) and FOUND (i.e. “located”) all wrapped “round” O (a recognised abbreviation of “old”) and ST (ditto “street”), like so: L(O-ST)AND-FOUND.

10. Crack core voice, withdrawing over and over again (7)

Answer: CREVICE (i.e. “crack”). Solution is CORE VOICE with the Os removed (indicated by “withdrawing over and over again” – O being a recognised abbreviation of “over” used in cricket). Another inventive clue. A thumbs-up here.

11. Drive rig with energy (3-2-3-2)

Answer: GET-UP-AND-GO (i.e. “drive”). Solution is GET-UP (i.e. “rig”) followed by AND (i.e. “with”) and GO (i.e. “energy”).

15. Source of radiation is up – it’s a problem for airways (9)

Answer: SINUSITIS (i.e. “it’s a problem for airways”). Solution is SUN (i.e. “source of radiation”) and IS all reversed (indicated by “up” – this being a down clue) and followed by IT IS (i.e. “it’s”), like so: (SI-NUS)-IT-IS.

18. User of rack perhaps right to be fitted in large open-top car (8)

Answer: TORTURER (i.e. “user of rack perhaps”). Solution is RT (a recognised abbreviation of “right”, as in the title Rt Hon) placed or “fitted in” TOURER (i.e. “large open-top car”), like so: TO(RT)URER.

20. Name a good insect for shrew (9)

Answer: TERMAGANT (i.e. a “shrew” or scolding woman). Solution is TERM (i.e. “name”) followed by A, then G (a recognised abbreviation of “good”) and ANT (i.e. “insect”).

21. Meeting one against Liszt, perhaps English (10)

Answer: CONFERENCE (i.e. “meeting”). Solution is CON (i.e. “one against”, as in pro and con) followed by FERENC (i.e. “Liszt, perhaps”, being his first name – other Ferencs are available) and E (a recognised abbreviation of “English”).

23. Exercises with a small warning such as might get child puffing? (10)

Answer: PEASHOOTER (i.e. a toy “as might get child puffing”). Solution is PE (i.e. “exercises” or Physical Education) followed by A, then S (a recognised abbreviation of “small”) and HOOTER (i.e. “warning”).

27. Parade of geese irregularly chased by returning doggy? (5-4)

Answer: GOOSE-STEP (i.e. “parade”). Solution is GOOSES (i.e. “geese irregularly”, i.e. an incorrect plural of goose) followed by PET (i.e. “doggy”) once reversed (indicated by “returning”), like so: GOOSES-TEP.

28. Heron with tail and tibia broken gets healing treatment (14)

Answer: REHABILITATION (i.e. “healing treatment”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “broken”) of HERON, TAIL and TIBIA.

31. Metal satellite – one with edges of Uranium (8)

Answer: TITANIUM (i.e. “metal”). Solution is TITAN (i.e. moon or “satellite” of Saturn) followed by I (i.e. “[Roman numeral] one” again, again) and UM (i.e. “edges of Uranium”, i.e. the first and last letters of “Uranium”).

33. Changing environment sounded alarm for old Chinese rulers (12)

Answer: TERRAFORMING (i.e. “changing environment”). Solution is a homophone (indicated by “sounded”) of TERROR (i.e. “alarm”) followed by FOR and MING (i.e. “old Chinese rulers”).

34. Young one succeeded with expedition over heather (9)

Answer: STRIPLING (i.e. “young one”). Solution is S (a recognised abbreviation of “succeeded”) followed by TRIP (i.e. “expedition”) and LING (i.e. “heather”).

37. Letters illuminated with tare and rue interwoven (10)

Answer: LITERATURE (i.e. “letters”). Solution is LIT (i.e. “illuminated”) followed by an anagram (indicated by “interwoven”) of TARE and RUE, like so: LIT-ERATURE.

38. Repeat cure afresh and get better (10)

Answer: RECUPERATE (i.e. “get better”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “afresh”) of REPEAT CURE. Nicely worked.

41. Rate of SA currency holding record edge (9)

Answer: REPRIMAND (i.e. to “rate”, a variant meaning to berate or scold). Solution is RAND (i.e. “SA currency”) wrapped around or “holding” EP (i.e. “record”, specifically an Extended Play) and RIM (i.e. “edge”), like so: R(EP-RIM)AND.

43. Private medics to get new deal (8)

Answer: DOMESTIC (i.e. “private”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “get new deal”) of MEDICS TO.

45. Collector of rubbish street cleaner at first missed. Peel, perhaps (7)

Answer: AVENGER (i.e. “Peel, perhaps” – Steed being another, a reference to characters in the old TV series The Avengers). Solution is SCAVENGER (i.e. “collector of rubbish”) once the S and C have been removed (indicated by “street cleaner at first missed”, i.e. the first letters of “street” and “cleaner”).

47. Rue not seeing later king about name for the future George IV (6)

Answer: REGENT (i.e. “the future George IV”). Solution is REGRET (i.e. “rue”) with the second R removed (indicated by “not seeing later king” – R being a recognised abbreviation of “king” after the Latin Rex) and the remainder wrapped “about” N (a recognised abbreviation of “name”), like so: REG(R)ET => REGET => REGE(N)T.

50. Prevent wild animals eating them, destroying the border (5)

Answer: DETER (i.e. “prevent”). Solution is DEER (i.e. “wild animals”) wrapped around or “eating” THEM once the HEM has been removed (indicated by “destroying the border”), like so: DE(T)ER.

51. Outfit with, initially, geese, emus and sheep (3-2)

Answer: GET-UP (i.e. “outfit”). Solution is GE (i.e. “initially, geese, emus”, i.e. the first letters of “geese” and “emus”) followed by TUP (i.e. “sheep”, specifically another name for a ram).

52. Bring up the tail end (4)

Answer: REAR. Solution satisfies “bring up” and “the tail end”.