This is new ground for me. I don’t think I’ve ever attempted a cryptic of this size before and I’ve only done the FT a few times when I’ve found copies of the newspaper lying about on trains.
It was a themed puzzle, which was mostly on the easy side, although a few clues did hold me up and the sheer size of it was daunting at the start. The theme wasn’t too abstract, being Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the answer to the unclued entry is the first chapter of that novel. As mentioned in the preamble, lots of things from the story appeared in the answers e.g. tea party, Cheshire cat, hedgehogs, croquet, queen and knave. Both the writer and main character also appeared as ninas (shown below).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TREATISES |
Setter’s AI composed Works On A Theme (9)
|
| (Setter’s AI)* | ||
| 6 | SMOCK |
Garment Mike stuffed into bit of hose (5)
|
| M{ilke}(=phonetic alphabet) in sock(=bit of hose) | ||
| 9 | PARAPET |
Low wall split around mirror (7)
|
| Part(=split) around ape(=mirror in the sense of copying something) | ||
| 13 | RIVAL |
Match entrance first couple missed (5)
|
| [Ar]rival | ||
| 14 | ICE COLD |
Baltic island church school ads periodically scrubbed (3-4)
|
| I{sland} + CE(=abbrev for Church of England) + even letters of school ads. Baltic here is used as a slang term for cold. | ||
| 15 | ARTICULAR |
Details uncovered relating to joint (9)
|
| [P]articular[s] | ||
| 16 | STRAGGLIEST |
Most untidy streets full of paper? Good story! (11)
|
| (St{reet} St{reet}) around (rag(paper) + g{ood} lie(=story)) | ||
| 17 | PTERODACTYL |
Portly cadet moved creature way back (11)
|
| (Portly cadet)*. A pterodactyl was a winged dinosaur, so lived “way back” in history. | ||
| 18 | RUNWAY |
Strip heartless person in flight (6)
|
| Run[a]way | ||
| 19 | LIONISED |
Laid back nudes in oils partly lauded (8)
|
| Hidden, reversed in nudes in oils | ||
| 21 | COMEDY |
Line replaced by Penny previously in fine looking play? (6)
|
| Comely(=fine looking) with D(=denarius, an old word for penny) replacing l{ine} | ||
| 25 | CHESHIRE |
Quiet anger east of Red County (8)
|
| (Sh(=quiet!) + ire(=anger)) after(=east of) Che(=Che Guevara, a well-known left-wing guerrilla) | ||
| 26 | STEERER |
Beast of burden carrying last of slate for 11? (7)
|
| I think it’s steer(=beast of burden) around [slat]e [fo]r. A steer is a male ox, which could be used for ploughing, so a beast of burden in that sense. | ||
| 27 | BOWER |
Violinist perhaps outside enclosure (5)
|
| DD | ||
| 29 | CATER |
Trace possibly put on food (5)
|
| Trace* | ||
| 30 | PILLAR |
Misfortune obstructs standard support for stylites (6)
|
| Ill(=misfortune) in par(=standard, as in golf). A stylite is a religious person who chooses to live on top of a pillar. The first such was Simeon Stylites the elder, who lived for 36 years on top of his pillar. | ||
| 31 | COURGETTES |
Veg bed bordering drive group turned over (10)
|
| (Cot(=bed) around urge(=drive)) + set< | ||
| 34 | UNLABELLED |
New blue ladle manufactured without a tag (10)
|
| (N{ew} blue ladle)* | ||
| 36 | TONSIL |
A lot with infection located originally in gland (6)
|
| Tons + i[nfection] l[ocated] | ||
| 37 | QUEEN |
Number on back of odd tailless bee? (5)
|
| N{umber} on quee[r] | ||
| 39 | SISAL |
Plant contributing to exports is alarmed (5)
|
| Hidden in exports is alarmed | ||
| 40 | CROQUET |
Game and fried morsels reduced by 30% (7)
|
| Croquet[tes] (3 of the 10 letters or 30% removed) | ||
| 41 | DELAWARE |
Informed on key state (8)
|
| Aware(=informed) on key(=Del key on the keyboard) | ||
| 43 | OSMIUM |
Element of bone relative charged with current (6)
|
| Os(=medical word for a bone) + (mum around i(=abbrev used for current in physics)) | ||
| 44 | TEA PARTY |
X briefly joins separate unknown political movement (3,5)
|
| Te[n](=X in Roman numerals) + apart(=separate) + y(=unknown) | ||
| 45 | NIMBUS |
1024 kilobytes stored by students in Cloud (6)
|
| (I MB(=one megabyte)) in NUS(=National Union of Students) | ||
| 48 | AT THE DOUBLE |
Quickly attending party with unlimited currency (2,3,6)
|
| At the do(=attending party) + [r]uble[s](=Eastern European currency) | ||
| 51 | APOCALYPTIC |
A typical cop in action is disastrous (11)
|
| (A typical cop)* | ||
| 53 | HEDGEHOGS |
Mammals Hot House across border guys cleared out (9)
|
| (H{ot} + ho{use) around edge(=border)) + g[uy]s | ||
| 54 | EASIEST |
Most simple question leaving most nauseous (7)
|
| [Qu]easiest | ||
| 55 | IRONS |
Clubs running under protection of tax dept. (5)
|
| On(=running, as in the “tv is on”) in IRS(=US Internal Revenue Service). Irons are clubs used in golf. | ||
| 56 | ROSETTE |
Award titles alternately after wine (7)
|
| Odd letters of titles after rosé(=wine) | ||
| 57 | NESTS |
Lodges partners collecting base stone (5)
|
| (N{orth} + S{outh})(=partners in a Bridge game) around (e(=base in natural logarithms) + st{one}) | ||
| 58 | SORCERESS |
One spells ‘recrosses’ differently (9)
|
| Recrosses* | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TARTS |
Jerk cycling to see some in fancy dress? (5)
|
| Start(=jerk in the sense of start at a sudden noise) with the S cycling to the end | ||
| 2 | ENVIRONMENTALISTS |
Marine on TV out feeding recruits greens (17)
|
| Enlists(=recruits) around (marine on TV)* | ||
| 3 | TELEGRAPHER |
Note member on strike with her signaller (11)
|
| Te(=note in doh,re,mi) + leg(=member) + rap(=strike) + her | ||
| 4 | SPILLS |
Upsets son on medication (6)
|
| S{on} + pills(=medication) | ||
| 5 | SHE DEVIL |
Cast off bad lady with a fork? (3-5)
|
| Shed(=cast off) + evil(=bad) | ||
| 6 | SHOOTING STAR |
Rolling camera on lead actor’s heavenly body (8,4)
|
| Shooting(=rolling the camera) + star(=lead actor) | ||
| 7 | OEDIPUS REX |
Old prudes crazy about one old play (7,3)
|
| O{ld} + (prudes* around i) + ex(=old, as in ex/old girlfriend) | ||
| 8 | KNAVE |
Jack’s place in church declared (5)
|
| Hom of nave(=part of a church) | ||
| 9 | PATROL CAR |
Wheels a PC runs a lot around, right? (6,3)
|
| (A PC r{uns} a lot)* + r{ight} | ||
| 10 | RECLAIMABLE |
OK for use again on state island in retirement (11)
|
| Re(=on,about) + claim(=state as a verb) + Elba< | ||
| 11 | PILOT |
Trial of Greek and Biblical characters (5)
|
| Pi(=Greek letter/character) + Lot(=character in Bible) | ||
| 12 | TURTLE |
Animated teenager maybe in tense dash out of hotel (6)
|
| T{ense} [h]urtle (minus hotel, which is in the phonetic alphabet for h). The def refers to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, an animated series. | ||
| 18 | RACECOURSE |
Track busy EU carers traversing county (10)
|
| (EU carers)* around co{unty} | ||
| 20 | DORMOUSE |
Place for sleeping river rodent (8)
|
| Dorm{itory} + Ouse(=name of a couple of rivers in Yorkshire and Sussex) | ||
| 22 | DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE |
[See Setter’s Notes] (4,3,6,4)
|
| Worked out from ninas and other answers. | ||
| 23 | PROPEL |
Line bisecting middle of Poplar Drive (6)
|
| Rope(=line) in [po]pl[ar] | ||
| 24 | PRESENTERS |
Hosts monarch once enthralled by largesse (10)
|
| ER(=late queen) in presents(=largesse) | ||
| 28 | SLEEP OUT |
Sulk after fish taken north for bivouac? (5,3)
|
| Pout(=sulk) after eels< | ||
| 32 | ROLLER |
Pricey motor in heavy engine venting steam (6)
|
| DD, the first def referring to a Rolls Royce | ||
| 33 | CONTRABASSES |
Instruments on cart B agitated animals (12)
|
| (On cart B)* + asses(=animals) | ||
| 35 | BELLIGERENT |
Hostile Liberals hosted by Brown before split (11)
|
| (Beige(=brown) around l{iberal} twice) + rent(=split) | ||
| 37 | QUALITY TIME |
Fairness primarily lacking on magazine Precious Moments (7,4)
|
| [E]quality + Time(=Time magazine) | ||
| 38 | HUMANENESS |
Chum barely with hair on head gets compassion (10)
|
| [C]hu[m] + mane(=hair) + ness(=head{land}) | ||
| 40 | COMMODORE |
Officer lining furniture item with gold (9)
|
| Commode(=furniture item) around or(=gold) | ||
| 42 | STOOPERS |
Southern soldiers removing king’s bent people (8)
|
| S{outhern} + t[r]oopers(=soldiers minus R{ex}) | ||
| 46 | BATHER |
One who’s washing article pressed by Rod (6)
|
| Her(=article in the same sense that “the” is an article) under(=pressed by) bat(=rod) | ||
| 47 | HATTER |
Bitter type essentially copied tile maker (6)
|
| Hater(=bitter type) with the essential (middle) section, the T, duplicated | ||
| 49 | TIDES |
Time fish’s main movements (5)
|
| T{ime} + ide’s(=fish’s). The ide, also known as an orfe, is a type of freshwater fish which is sometimes kept in ponds. | ||
| 50 | BISON |
Relative climbing atop bovine (5)
|
| Sib{ling}< + on(=atop) | ||
| 52 | CASTS |
Succeeded in musical projects (5)
|
| S{ucceeded} in Cats(=musical). The def is used in the sense of projecting something across a room. |
I did not have access to this puzzle online (I don’t buy the print version).
Still decided to read the blog (I always learn so much from these blogs).
Brilliant blog. It must have been quite some effort. Thanks a lot, NealH.
ROLLER
Is it possible that the second half of the clue is WP?
Steam-ROLLER venting (leaving out) ‘steam’.
Neal- I think it would be helpful to have a reference to the FT in the heading for the blog
Thanks Leonidas and NealH
I thought this was an excellent puzzle, well up to this setter’s usual high standard.
Superbly enjoyable, with an accessible theme and entry clue. Very nice indeed.
Thanks for the blog , a mammoth effort . Did not notice the theme until I came to the missing clue , had enough letters by then to spot it . Very high and consistent standard of clues .
Lots of very nice clues here – particularly 18, 31, 51A, 5, 12, 20, 35, 40D. Thank you Leonidas for a most enjoyable puzzle.
I agree with KVa@1 about the parsing of 32D, ROLLER.
I had the same for 26A, STEERER, as Loonapick but I don’t think “last of”, without more, is sufficient to capture the R in FOR as well as the E in SLATE if that was the intention. The use of “across” as a containment indicator in 53A seems a bit dubious to me, and I think a US indicator was needed in 55A. I’m not a fan of the “invisible comma” after “entrance” which is needed to make sense of the cryptic reading of 13A, although I acknowledge that use of this shortcut is, alas, widespread.
I was delighted to see on the FT website this morning that there was an Easter Jumbo puzzle by one of my favourite setters and thought that would be a treat to do over the weekend, after Julius (double delight). I wasn’t expecting a blog so soon – and certainly not today!
I was rather disappointed to feel under pressure to solve it but was determined to do so, because it was Leonidas and spent an enjoyable afternoon nibbling away at it. I’m in total agreement with most comments above (must confess to not having sifted through all of Rudolf’s @6, which appeared while I embarked on this).
I could write one of our setter’s 1acs on my favourite clues. There’s hardly one that didn’t get a tick for some reason or other but the one that gave me most pleasure was 7dn OEDIPUS REX – great construction and surface (and Aristotle’s ‘perfect tragedy’, Google, passim) – a play that I’ve so enjoyed studying and, later, teaching (a wonderful aid to explaining dramatic irony) – and endured Brian Blessed’s dreadful overacting in Leicester’s Haymarket Theatre in the 70s (which, I see, didn’t merit a mention in his Wikipedia entry).
Huge thanks, as ever, to Leonidas and chapeau to NealH for a super blog – I’m not sure whether I envy you or not: I certainly couldn’t have produced a blog so promptly. 😉
As Roz said, a mammoth blogging effort. Thank you Neal.
What Roz@5 (and Michael) wrote. Like Eileen@7, so many clues had ticks. Quite approachable, despite not having read the book since childhood
The Cheshire Cat appeared in the Julius puzzle online too.
Thanks Leonidas and NealH
Eileen neatly sums up many of my thoughts on this wonderful puzzle (wonder if she ever saw The Times cryptic published on 14 January 1998, the centenary of Carroll’s death?) – not least, surprise at the blog being up so quickly.
Besides the many clues I smiled at, I loved the theme and spent a couple of enjoyable sessions on this over the holiday.
A huge thank you to Leonidas for an engaging puzzle and to Neal H on a stellar blog.
I hope we are all having a nice Easter BH. Thanks to those who have commented on this Jumbo and thanks to NealH. For completion, the thematic elements are: TARTS, sMOCK TURTLE, CHESHIRE CATer, CATER PILLAR, QUEEN, CROQUET, TEA PARTY, HEDGEHOGS, KNAVE, DORMOUSE, HATTER. ALICE and LCARROLL hidden. Really wanted a flamingo in there, but it just wouldn’t fit. Awkward birds.
I re-read the book before putting this together. I’d forgotten how very very strange it is. See you all next time.
Curiouser and curiouser, indeed, Leonidas!
Just spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon in spring time new york doing this puzzle. Thank you all.
In response to kva – it was available online. You do have to search sometimes but I just checked and it’s there and I can open it. If only I could solve it! Thrilled if I can do a few and once I read solutions I feel far far away from ever solving in its entirety!
Finally managed to ‘finish’ on Easter Monday afternoon, except I just could not get 12d.
Partly because, having worked out 15a, I filled it in wrongly, which gave me ‘e’ as the third letter, rarther than ‘r’…
An alternative for 46d, BATHER is THE (article) inside (pressed by) BAR (a rod).