The Christmas Jumbo from Gozo in which we were told “The 52 clues lead to pairs of solutions beginning with all 26 letters of the alphabet, as indicated. Within each pair of clues, letter by letter, there is one normal clue and one clue leading to a themed solution which is not defined thematically. Clues are presented in strict alphabetical order of their solutions which solvers then have to assign to their correct position in the grid, jigsaw-fashion.”
So, an unspecified theme for 26 of the answers, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. This sounds familiar, we’ve been here before only last time the theme was birds. Unlike last year, though I again saw the theme of writers (authors/poets) quite quickly (from AUSTEN and DE LA MERE), I didn’t solve as many of the clues during my first pass through them.
When I then had a look at the grid it was obvious that the starting point for entering answers had to be the only location with a common initial letter and the right enumeration for the two entries. This turned out to be S and at this point Sod’s Law kicked in as I hadn’t solved either of these two clues.
I did however have the only other 12 letter entry (ROBBE-GRILLET) so was able to enter that in the SW corner and then build around it with some of the other clues I had solved during the first pass. Progress was then slow but steady, with different parts of the grid being filled progressively with answers found on the first pass, new clues solved and a bit of inspired guesswork as to what should be entered where. I was quite pleased that I only had to rub out one tentative entry that was in the wrong place.
All in all quite a tough challenge but it passed a couple of hours on a wet Saturday morning. I will admit that there were quite a few authors of whom I’d never heard so Wikipedia had many visits in order to confirm some of the answers.
I do have one small quibble in that, unless I am missing something, there are two possible entries for Zxxx.
A Short reply about Italian city and US one (9)
ANNAPOLIS – ANS (short reply) around NAPOLI (Italian city)
A Golden Gun (6)
AUSTEN – AU (golden) STEN (gun)
B Supports Chelsea, Waterloo and Richmond, say (7)
BRIDGES – cryptic def.
B Show resentment when centre of hard toffee is changed (7)
BRISTLE – BRItTLE (hard toffee) with middle letter (centre) changed
C Typhus affected head of faculty all the time (4-5)
CAMP-FEVER – CAMP (affected) F[aculty] (head of faculty) EVER (all the time)
C Ill-tempered, not young, a bit edgy (6)
CRABBE – CRABB[y] (ill-tempered not young) E[dgy] (a bit edgy)
D Some French monk with sappers (2,2,4)
DE LA MARE – DE (some French) LAMA (monk) RE (sappers)
D Offering of flowers for attractive girl (5)
DOLLY – double def.
E Appalling end for chief (11)
EICHENDORFF – anagram (appalling) of END FOR CHIEF
E Verdi opera with some modern animation (6)
ERNANI – hidden in (some) ‘modERN ANImation’
F Iris will droop (4)
FLAG – double def.
F No charge for fish (8)
FREELING – FREE (no charge) LING (fish)
G Maiden left street urchin the profit (4)
GAIN – GA[m]IN (maiden left street urchin)
G Haggard is anonymous. That is right (7)
GAUTIER – GAU[n]T (haggard is anonymous) IE (that is) R (right) – or his daughter Judith
H Game caught away on eastern land (5)
HESSE – [c]HESS (game caught away) E (eastern) – not sure what ‘land’ is doing there though Hesse is a German state
H Party-giver broke lyre at inn (8)
HOSTELRY – HOST (party-giver) anagram (broke) of LYRE
I Looks at popular glasses. That’s about time! (8)
INSPECTS – IN (popular) SPECS (glasses) around T (time)
I Two roughs on the rampage (8)
ISHIGURO – anagram (on the rampage) of II (two) ROUGHS
J Sudden harsh vibration restricted part of guarantee of posh car (6)
JAGUAR – JAR (sudden harsh vibration) around GUA[rantee] (part of guarantee)
J Embarrassing situation with playing opponents (5)
JAMES – JAM (embarrassing situation) ES (playing opponents {bridge}) – or if you prefer something more erotic
K Cooked our cake (7)
KEROUAC – anagram (cooked) of OUR CAKE
K Speaking of gardens, bide your time in the Gulf (6)
KUWAIT – homophone (speaking of) of ‘Kew’ (gardens) WAIT (bide your time)
L Alfred organised mid-week petrol (4-4)
LEAD-FREE – anagram (organised) of ALFRED [w]EE[k] (mid-week)
L The Square in Paris (2,5)
LE CARRÉ – ‘the square’ in French
M Old song about a mad girl (8)
MADRIGAL – anagram (about) of A MAD GIRL
M In heaven, limbering up (5)
MILNE – hidden reversal in ‘heavEN LIMbering’
N New book translated in King James’s Bible (7)
NABOKOV – N (new) anagram (translated) of BOOK in AV (King James’s Bible {Authorised Version})
N Diana’s disturbed nymphs (6)
NAIADS – anagram (disturbed) of DIANA’S
O Dim outside broadcasts improved (8)
OBSCURED – OBS (outside broadcasts) CURED (improved)
O A couple of agreements overseas (5)
OUIDA – OUI DA (two foreign words meaning yes)
P Oil, bit of butter, cream bun, and half a lime (9)
PATCHOULI – PAT (bit of butter) CHOU (cream bun) LI[me] (half a lime)
P Works gym outside (4)
POPE – PE (gym) around OP (works)
Q Lilibet loses heart with French water (7)
QUENEAU – QU[e]EN (Lilibet loses heart) EAU (French water)
Q Who in France has lines to pen? (5)
QUILL – QUI (who in France) LL (lines)
R Inhumane, concerning Lewis nowadays? (11)
REMORSELESS – RE (concerning) MORSELESS (Lewis nowadays)
R Bell Trio Berg composed (5-7)
ROBBE-GRILLET – anagram (composed) of BELL TRIO BERG
S Might be a patron formerly at university ending the favour suddenly (5-7)
SAINT-EXUPÉRY – SAINT (might be a patron) EX (formerly) UP (at university) [th]E [favou]R [suddenl]Y – or his wife or even one of his two sisters – Edited, see comments 3 & 5
S Monster sculpted by comrade is upset (6)
SCYLLA – SC (sculpted {sculpsit}) ALLY (comrade) reversed (is upset)
T TV PM in river (9)
THACKERAY – HACKER (TV PM {Yes Prime Minister}) in TAY (river)
T Faithful butler, drunk – not half sad (4,4)
TRUE BLUE – anagram (drunk) of BUTLER [bl]UE (not half sad)
U Nobleman goes topless – entertaining wild dip! (6)
UPDIKE – [d]UKE (mobleman goes topless) around (entertaining) anagram (wild) of DIP
U True – English can’t reform speech (9)
UTTERANCE – anagram (reform) of TRUE E[nglish] CAN’T
V From the heart of the Capital of the Highlands (5)
VERNE – [in]VERNE[ss]
V Very inebriated at first, everyone returns home (5)
VILLA – V[ery] I[nebriated] ALL (everyone) reversed (returns)
W Thrown out, accepting apology first (7)
WHARTON – A[pology] in anagram (out) of THROWN – or one of several others
W Circular movement with coarse yarn (8)
WHEELING – double def.
X A20 is off line (1-4)
X-AXIS – anagram (off) of A XX IS
X 10 – 1 upset – somewhat fake (8)
XENOPHON – X (10) ONE (1) reversed (upset) PHON[y] (somewhat fake)
Y Contents of theory on Genesis (5)
YONGE – hidden in (contents of) ‘theorY ON GEnesis’
Y Greeting member of Biblical people in park (8)
YOSEMITE – YO (greeting) SEMITE (member of Biblical people)
Z In a haze, tottering round pub (9)
ZEPHANIAH – anagram (tottering) of IN A HAZE around PH (pub) – or even the prophet who wrote a book
Z They’re last to indicate sleep (4)
ZEDS or ZEES depending on which side of the Atlantic you are on – double def.
Thanks Gaufrid and Gozo,
I agree that this was an interesting challenge and, for me, perfect for this time of year. Like you, I was unable to solve the S cues without crossers. Unlike you, I was similarly unable to get ROBBE-GRILLET until late on. This meant that I was obliged to solve 2/3 of the clues cold and then play around with the answers looking for entries that were likely or certain to be in the correct position.
I think ZEDS is close to being unambiguous for an anglo-centric audience.
Gozo is a master of this sort of thing, and he graced my festive season with this superb puzzle. Thanks Gaufrid for the blog.
Thanks, Gaufrid & Gozo. This was an enjoyable challenge.
I failed on OUIDA, being unable to get past OUIJA.
Your parsing of SAINT-EXUPERY is missing a “PE”. I think it should be:
SAINT (might be a patron) EX (formerly) UP (at university) [th]E [favou]R [suddenl]Y
Re HESSE, “Land” is the German word for state, so I guess Gozo gave us a (non-thematic) definition (by example) for that clue.
Sorry, one more thing: I found a couple of your author links a bit surprising. I would offer the following alternatives:
Robert (vice William) BRIDGES (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bridges)
Edith (vice William) WHARTON (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton)
P.D. JAMES is well-known enough, but I thought of Henry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James)
Hi Keeper
Thanks for pointing out the error (now corrected). Looking back at my original notes, I see that was the way I parsed it when solving. Unfortunately, when I was writing the post I must have had a senior moment and didn’t fully re-read the clue/solution (perhaps I was getting a little tired by the time I got down to S).
Many thanks, Gozo and Gaufrid.
It was Saturday morning and some of Saturday afternoon for me!
I liked the ‘…zzzz…’ touch at the end, but I would have preferred a definitive clue for Z.
The two 12-letter words were my last solves but luckily I had REMORSELESS early on.
This was useful at the jigsaw stage, as the second last S would have required an 8-letter word beginning with S in one of the two possible 11-letter positions.
Thanks Gaufrid and Gozo – enjoyed this immensely, though I would have preferred to spend less time googling authors – though that may be my ignorance.
I managed to get the majority of the answers cold (over two days on and off)- but not the obvious opening with S – nevertheless the jigsaw was then a relatively painless ink-in.
Loved it, Gozo. And I did it without a single google. Thanks for your commentary, Gaufrid.
Well I enjoyed the 2012 birds but this one stumped me. Go the authors theme, and I did over half the clues but couldn’t get either “S” or the 12 letter “R” so was stuck for starting the grid. Did some tentatively in the bottom left but not enough to get going, so very frustrated. I bow to those that succeeded!