Times Jumbo Cryptic Crossword 1708

A relatively straightforward Jumbo to tuck into on Boxing Day, though I did chew on IMPERSONATE and TAKE AIM for longer than I ought to have done. There were a few Times crossword clichés to suffer too, but for the most part this was a pleasant one to solve.

The competition deadline for this one passed a while ago, so here’s my completed grid along with explanations of my solutions where I have them. I hope you find them helpful. If a recent Jumbo has picked your pockets 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 kind words as I wrap up these last few Jumbo posts. One more after this. Till then, stay safe out there kids.

LP

The case for the prosecution

Across clues

1. It’s a festival – knock back one tot and lots of weed (5,4)

Answer: MARDI GRAS (i.e. “it’s a festival”). Solution is I (i.e. “[Roman numeral] one”) and DRAM (i.e. “tot” or small amount of strong drink) all reversed (indicated by “knock back”) and followed by GRASS (i.e. “weed”, both slang terms for marijuana) once its last letter has been removed (indicated by “lots of”), like so: (MARD-I)-GRAS.

6. Aphorism from private detective probing Mrs Simpson after retirement (7)

Answer: EPIGRAM (i.e. “aphorism”). Solution is PI (i.e. “private detective”, specifically a recognised abbreviation of “private investigator”) placed in or “probing” MARGE (i.e. “Mrs Simpson”, from the TV show The Simpsons) once reversed (indicated by “after retirement”), like so: E(PI)GRAM.

10. Leaders in Middle East celebrate centenary at holy city (5)

Answer: MECCA (i.e. “holy city”). “Leaders in” indicates the solution is derived from the initial letters of Middle East Celebrate Centenary At.

13. Guides that woman’s dad through southern Sierra (7)

Answer: SHERPAS (i.e. “guides”). Solution is HER PA (i.e. “that woman’s dad”) placed in or “through” S (a recognised abbreviation of “southern”) and S (“Sierra” in the phonetic alphabet), like so: S-(HER-PA)-S.

14. Traitor caught next to case of explosives – Times (7)

Answer: Robert CATESBY (i.e. “traitor” – who led the gunpowder plot of 1605). Solution is C (a recognised abbreviation of “caught” used in a number of ball games) followed by AT (i.e. “next to” – a bit flaky in my book, but whatever), then ES (i.e. “case of explosives”, i.e. the first and last letters of “explosives”) and BY (i.e. “times” – ignore the misleading capitalisation, this is referencing multiplication).

15. Depression is beginning to torment one filling in at work (7)

Answer: DENTIST (i.e. “one filling in at work”). Solution is DENT (i.e. “depression”) followed by IS, then T (i.e. “beginning [letter] to torment”).

16. Harvard, say, where the students like to take a punt? (9,10)

Answer: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY (i.e. “Harvard, say”). The rest of the clue refers to Cambridge University’s famous boating crew, them wot duke it out with Oxford in the annual boat race.

17. Father packs uniform coat (3)

Answer: FUR (i.e. “coat”). Solution is FR (a recognised abbreviation of the title “Father”) wrapped around or “packing” U (“uniform” in the phonetic alphabet), like so: F(U)R.

18. Best remote US broadcaster (6)

Answer: OUTFOX (i.e. to “best” someone). Solution is OUT (i.e. “remote”) followed by FOX (i.e. “US broadcaster”).

20. Country run stops painful injury (6)

Answer: SPRAIN (i.e. “painful injury”). Solution is SPAIN (i.e. “country”) wrapped around or “stopped” by R (a recognised abbreviation of “run” used in some ball games), like so: SP(R)AIN.

21. Carried by some piece of luggage whatever happens? (2,3,4)

Answer: IN ANY CASE (i.e. “whatever happens”). Solution also playfully satisfies “carried by some piece of luggage”.

23. Soft Shoe Shuffle April, Leeds (10)

Answer: ESPADRILLE (i.e. “soft shoe”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “shuffle”) of APRIL LEEDS.

25. Cheer hospital nurse Rosemary after clearing out braying toff (6,5)

Answer: HOORAY HENRY (i.e. “braying toff”). Solution is HOORAY (i.e. “cheer”) followed by H (a recognised abbreviation of “hospital”), then EN (i.e. “nurse”, specifically an Enrolled Nurse) and RY (i.e. “Rosemary after clearing out”, i.e. the word “Rosemary” with all its middle letters removed).

29. Picture that is used as cover for magazine (5)

Answer: IMAGE (i.e. “picture”). Solution is IE (i.e. “that is”, i.e. “i.e.”, short for the Latin id est) wrapped around or “used as cover for” MAG (short for “magazine”), like so: I(MAG)E.

30. Hide ecstasy inside gadget from the east after daughter did (8)

Answer: DECEIVED (i.e. “did”). Solution is E (alternative name for the drug “ecstasy”) placed “inside” DEVICE (i.e. “gadget”) once reversed (indicated by “from the east” – this being an across clue). This is all then placed “after” D (a recognised abbreviation of “daughter”), like so: D-(EC(E)IVED).

31. Timeless lawsuit involving tabloid paper in the capital (8)

Answer: ASUNCION (i.e. “capital” city of Paraguay). Solution is ACTION (i.e. “lawsuit”) with the T removed (indicated by “timeless” – T being a recognised abbreviation of “time”) and the remainder wrapped around or “involving” SUN (i.e. British “tabloid paper”), like so: A(SUN)CION.

34. Paradoxical burger? (4,4)

Answer: FAST FOOD (i.e. “burger”). “Paradoxical” plays on how fast food isn’t exactly suitable for someone who is fasting.

36. Mr Klein dropping in, rejected soda for something stronger (8)

Answer: CALVADOS (i.e. a fruit brandy, which is “something stronger” than a soda). Solution is CALVIN (i.e. “Mr Klein”, referring to the fashion designer) with the IN removed (indicated by “dropping in”) and the remainder followed by SODA reversed or “rejected”, like so: CALV-ADOS.

37. Way into pastry dish that’s frozen (5)

Answer: PISTE (i.e. “that’s frozen”). Solution is ST (i.e. “way”, specifically a recognised abbreviation of a “street”) placed “into” PIE (i.e. “pastry dish”), like so: PI(ST)E.

39. Tight deadline of English writer (6,5)

Answer: DANIEL DEFOE (i.e. “writer”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “tight”, another word for drunk) of DEADLINE OF followed by E (a recognised abbreviation of “English”), like so: DANIELDEFO-E. Nicely done.

41. Downy cloth Family Circle tableware item (6,4)

Answer: NAPKIN RING (i.e. “tableware item”). Solution is NAP (i.e. “downy cloth”) followed by KIN (i.e. “family”) and RING (i.e. “circle”).

43. Phantom at ill-omened gathering a Mexican favourite (9)

Answer: TOMATILLO (i.e. “Mexican favourite”, a kind of small sour green tomato). “Gathering” indicates the solution has been hidden in the clue, like so: PHAN(TOM AT ILL-O)MENED.

45. Plant-based cure containing skin of rhubarb (6)

Answer: HERBAL (i.e. “plant-based”). Solution is HEAL (i.e. “cure”) wrapped around or “containing” RB (i.e. “skin of rhubarb”, i.e. the first and last letters of “rhubarb”), like so: HE(RB)AL.

47. He’s booked to appear before Judges (6)

Answer: JOSHUA. Clue refers to the Old Testament of The Bible, where the Book of Joshua appears before the Book of Judges. One for the God-squadders.

49. Endlessly generous people (3)

Answer: KIN (i.e. “people”). Solution is KIND (i.e. “generous”) with the last letter removed (indicated by “endlessly”).

50. LibDems cover? (5-5,9)

Answer: THIRD-PARTY INSURANCE. Clue plays on the Liberal Democrats being the third-largest political party at the moment, and “cover” being another word for INSURANCE. You get the idea.

52. Rough Trade firm backs design movement (3,4)

Answer: ART DECO (i.e. “design movement”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “rough”) of TRADE followed by CO (i.e. “firm”, short for “company”), like so: ARTDE-CO.

53. Pancake fed the Spanish painter (7)

Answer: Giovanni BELLINI (i.e. Italian “painter” of old). Solution is BLINI (i.e. “pancake”) wrapped around or “fed” EL (i.e. “the Spanish”, i.e. the Spanish for “the”), like so: B(EL)LINI.

54. Pragmatic person starts to rank every category of celebs (7)

Answer: REALIST (i.e. “pragmatic person”). Solution is RE (i.e. “starts to rank every”, i.e. the first letters of “rank” and “every”) followed by A-LIST (i.e. “category of celebs”).

55. Deserve credit (5)

Answer: MERIT. Solution satisfies “deserve” and “credit”.

56. Chernobyl at last due for new reactor component (4,3)

Answer: FUEL ROD (i.e. “reactor component”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “new”) of L (i.e. “Chernobyl at last”, i.e. the last letter of “Chernobyl”) and DUE FOR.

57. 27 couple adopting dearest mongrel recently (9)

Answer: YESTERDAY (i.e. “recently”). Solution is Y and Y (i.e. “27 couple” – the solution to 27d being YANKEE, which is Y in the phonetic alphabet) all wrapped around or “adopting” an anagram (indicated by “mongrel”) of DEAREST, like so: Y-(ESTERDA)-Y.

Down clues

1. Old barrel organ, microphone covering unserviceable on crate (5,3)

Answer: MUSIC BOX (i.e. “old barrel organ”). Solution is MIC (short for “microphone”) wrapped around or “covering” US (a recognised abbreviation of “unserviceable”) and followed by BOX (i.e. “crate”), like so: M(US)IC-BOX.

2. Discharge ambassador into the booze (5)

Answer: RHEUM (i.e. snotty “discharge”). Solution is HE (i.e. “ambassador”, specifically a recognised abbreviation of His Excellency, if you go in for all that bowing and scraping) placed “into” RUM (i.e. “booze”), like so: R(HE)UM.

3. Do I pair individual parts? (11)

Answer: IMPERSONATE (i.e. “do”). Solution is I and MATE (i.e. “pair”) all wrapped around or “parted” by PERSON (i.e. “individual”), like so: I-M(PERSON)ATE.

4. Maybe Reading team screening YouTube finally live (6)

Answer: RESIDE (i.e. “live”). Solution is R (i.e. “maybe reading” – ignore the misleading capitalisation, this is one of the Three Rs: reading, riting, and rithmetic) and SIDE (i.e. “team”) all wrapped around or “screening” E (i.e. “YouTube finally”, i.e. the last letter of “YouTube”), like so: R-(E)-SIDE.

5. Dark force that might run an undercover Sting? (6,6)

Answer: SECRET POLICE (i.e. “that might run an undercover Sting” – nice capitalisation of Sting there, being the lead vocalist of The Police. I like to think it was something the setter felt they had to De-Do-Do-Do-De-Da-Da-Da. You’re welcome). Solution is SECRET (i.e. “dark”) followed by POLICE (i.e. “force”).

6. Land reportedly more rocky beneath earth’s surface (7)

Answer: ESTONIA (i.e. “land” or country). Solution is a homophone (indicated by “reportedly”) of STONIER (i.e. “more rocky”) placed after or “beneath” – this being a down clue – E (i.e. “earth’s surface” or first letter), like so: E-STONIA.

7. Blissfully happy Viennese haven’t worked – stifling hot (2,7,6)

Answer: IN SEVENTH HEAVEN (i.e. “blissfully happy”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “worked”) of VIENNESE HAVEN’T wrapped around or “stifling” H (a recognised abbreviation of “hot” used on water taps), like so: INSEVENT(H)HEAVEN.

8. I boo sorry, awful northern singer (3,7)

Answer: ROY ORBISON (i.e. “singer”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “awful”) of I BOO SORRY followed by N (a recognised abbreviation of “northern”), like so: ROYORBISO-N.

9. Fortified island, fortified wine (7)

Answer: MADEIRA. Solution satisfies “fortified island”, as in it has couple of forts on it – São Tiago and São José, for example – and also a variety of “fortified wine”.

10. WWII general sat on snake, which made us laugh (5,6)

Answer: MONTY PYTHON (i.e. comedy outfit “which made us laugh”. Never heard of them. (Looks to camera)). Solution is MONTY (i.e. nickname of “WWII general” Bernard Montgomery) followed by PYTHON (i.e. “snake”).

11. Links hosting one European newspaper head (9)

Answer: CHIEFTAIN (i.e. “head”). Solution is CHAIN (i.e. “links”) wrapped around or “hosting” I (i.e. “[Roman numeral] one”), E (a recognised abbreviation of “European”) and FT (i.e. “newspaper”, the Financial Times), like so: CH(I-E-FT)AIN.

12. Goddess beginning to get seen in A&E (7)

Answer: ASTARTE (i.e. Mesopotamian “goddess” of love, sex, war and hunting – quite the good-time girl, then). Solution is START (i.e. “beginning”) placed “in” A&E, like so: A(START)E. Not Ancient Greek, perhaps, but I’m still slapping a demerit on it.

19. Florentines succeeded under trade union scrutiny (7)

Answer: TUSCANS (i.e. “Florentines”). Solution is S (a recognised abbreviation of “succeeded”) placed “under” – this being a down clue – TU (ditto “trade union”) and SCAN (i.e. “scrutiny”), like so: (TU-SCAN)-S.

22. City poet, following change of heart, cross (8)

Answer: BRADFORD (i.e. “city”). Solution is BARD (i.e. “poet”) with the middle letters swapped (indicated by “following change of heart”) and followed by FORD (i.e. to “cross” a river), like so: BRAD-FORD.

24. Actor trained to breathe lazily (9,6)

Answer: ELIZABETH TAYLOR (i.e. “actor”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “trained”) of TO BREATHE LAZILY.

26. Ninja, modish, led by pair of donkeys? (8)

Answer: ASSASSIN (i.e. “ninja”). Solution is IN (i.e. popular or “modish”) placed after or “led by” ASS and ASS (i.e. “pair of donkeys”), like so: (ASS-ASS)-IN. An easy get after the basically the reverse of this appeared only a few weeks ago in grid 1703.

27. National bet (6)

Answer: YANKEE. Solution satisfies “national”, slang for someone from the US, and “bet”, apparently “a multiple bet on four horses in four races, consisting of six doubles, four trebles and one accumulator” (Chambers). I’m glad none of that made sense to me.

28. No time for quarrel with male journalist outside, somewhat offended (6)

Answer: MIFFED (i.e. “somewhat offended”). Solution is TIFF (i.e. “quarrel”) with the T removed (indicated by “no time for” – T being a recognised abbreviation of “time”) and the remainder placed in or having “outside” of it M (a recognised abbreviation of “male”) and ED (i.e. “journalist”, short for editor), like so: M-(IFF)-ED.

32. Matching dishes perhaps left here, we’re told (2,5)

Answer: IN SYNCH (i.e. “matching”). “We’re told” indicates homophone, in this case of IN SINK (i.e. “dishes perhaps left here”).

33. Pliable state of Pat & Lydia, a bit tipsy (12)

Answer: ADAPTABILITY (i.e. “pliable state”). Solution is an anagram (indicated by “tipsy”) of PAT, LYDIA and A BIT.

35. Express no longer on this quick route (5,6)

Answer: FLEET STREET (i.e. “Express no longer on this”, having moved away in the late 1980s. I wonder how few outside the newspaper industry knew or cared). Solution is FLEET (i.e. “quick”) and STREET (i.e. “route”).

37. Room willing for charades? (7,4)

Answer: PARLOUR GAME (i.e. “charades”). Solution is PARLOUR (i.e. “room”) followed by GAME (i.e. “willing”).

38. Pleasant housing over road that’s within budget (10)

Answer: AFFORDABLE (i.e. “within budget”). Solution is AFFABLE (i.e. “pleasant”) wrapped around or “housing” O (a recognised abbreviation of “over” used in cricket) and RD (a recognised abbreviation of “road”), like so: AFF(O-RD)ABLE.

40. Knight blocking list I’m on upset political sponsor (9)

Answer: NOMINATOR (i.e. “political sponsor”). Solution is N (a recognised abbreviation of “knight” used in chess) placed in or “blocking” ROTA (i.e. “list”) and I’M ON once they’ve all been reversed (indicated by “upset” – this being a down clue), like so: NO-M’I-(N)-ATOR.

42. Record second effort platinum-selling album (8)

Answer: TAPESTRY (i.e. 1971 “platinum-selling album” by Carole King). Solution is TAPE (i.e. to “record”) followed by S (a recognised abbreviation of “second”) and TRY (i.e. “effort”).

43. Rifleman’s told this way to get to Edinburgh? (4,3)

Answer: TAKE AIM (i.e. “rifleman’s told this”). When written as TAKE A1(M) the solution also playfully satisfies a “way to get to Edinburgh”.

44. Youth absent touring India made redundant (4,3)

Answer: LAID OFF (i.e. “made redundant”). Solution is LAD (i.e. “youth”) and OFF (i.e. “absent”) all wrapped around or “touring” I (“India” in the phonetic alphabet), like so: LA(I)D-OFF.

46. Living as a pensioner, given a minor internal adjustment, heard again (7)

Answer: RETRIED (i.e. “heard again” in court). Solution is RETIRED (i.e. “living as a pensioner”) with the middle letters swapped (indicated by “given a minor internal adjustment”).

48. Underworld head, very large flag (6)

Answer: OSIRIS (i.e. Ancient Egyptian “underworld head”). Solution is OS (i.e. “very large”, short for outsize) followed by IRIS (i.e. “flag”, a variant meaning we’ve seen a few times in Jumbos).

51. Nymph – primarily aquatic – featured in North American papers (5)

Answer: NAIAD (i.e. “nymph” of Greek mythology). Solution is A (i.e. “primarily aquatic”, i.e. the first letter of “aquatic”) placed or “featured in” NA (short for “North American”) and ID (i.e. identity “papers”), like so: NA-I(A)D. Yup. Nymphs are definitely a running theme in Jumbos at the moment. As Homer once famously wrote: “I’ve not seen this many nymphs since I was last kicked out of the communal baths”. I think it was Homer, anyway.