Jumbo from the Weekend FT of May 3, 2025
I found this more difficult than most of Julius’ puzzles but a very satisfying slog with three cryptic-definition clues and some other greats at 7 (EARTHWORMS), 10 (BASTILLE DAY), 14 (FARTHER), 17 (HUMAN RIGHTS), 26 (TASMANIAN DEVIL) and 47 (ADJUDICATOR). I am hurriedly blogging this while feeling wretched due to seasonal allergies (tree pollen) and I have to thank another member of the blogging team for giving me a bunch of the answers. Please forgive me if I have made some mistakes. And thank you to Julius.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SEMAPHORE |
Dad, Julius and son backed nag losing seconds, flagging (9)
|
| PA (dad) + ME (Julius) + S (son) all backwards (backed) + HOR[s]E | ||
| 6 | SWELL |
Dandy succeeded thoroughly (5)
|
| ‘S WELL (succeeded thoroughly) | ||
| 9 | BABYSAT |
Took care of minor issue (7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 13 | RENIN |
Russian revolutionary switching sides, which helped his blood pressure (5)
|
| LENIN (Russian revolutionary) with the ‘L’ changed to ‘R’ (switching sides) | ||
| 14 | FARTHER |
36D boring, more distant (7)
|
| R (river) in (boring) FATHER (old man) | ||
| 15 | CARDSHARP |
Comedian keen, but I wouldn’t trust his hands! (4,5)
|
| CARD (comedian) + SHARP (keen) | ||
| 16 | PREMIERSHIP |
Peer: “Rishi? PM? Unfit for the job!” (11)
|
| Anagram (unfit) of PEER RISHI PM | ||
| 17 | HUMAN RIGHTS |
Migrants, huh? After Reform, will they be at risk? (5,6)
|
| Anagram (after reform) of MIGRANTS HUH | ||
| 18 | PAUNCH |
Blow catching area that’s quite flabby (6)
|
| A (area) in (catching) PUNCH (blow) | ||
| 19 | ON AND OFF |
Switch positions every now and again (2,3,3)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | SOLACE |
Very delicate material a source of pleasure (6)
|
| SO (very) + LACE (delicate material) | ||
| 25 | BRAKE PAD |
Key component of Tesla slow down? (5,3)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 26 | TASMANIAN DEVIL |
Aussie carnivore ordering vast Indian meal (9,5)
|
| Anagram (ordering) of VAST INDIAN MEAL | ||
| 28 | LARGE |
Popular, genuine, welcoming, generous (5)
|
| Hidden word (welcoming) | ||
| 29 | IRONED |
Employed Press Club senior journalist (6)
|
| IRON (club, as in golf) + ED (senior journalist) | ||
| 30 | MURPHYS LAW |
Which guarantees the worst potato and cabbage salad? (7,3)
|
| MURPHY (potato) + SLAW (cabbage salad). New to me but “murphy” is an old slang term for a potato, particularly in Irish-American communities, | ||
| 33 | DEVONSHIRE |
Vin rosé he’d produced for a duke (10)
|
| Anagram (produced) of VIN ROSE HED | ||
| 35 | ORWELL |
Blair originally discharged order satisfactorily (6)
|
| O[rde]R + WELL (satisfactorily). George Orwell was a pen name. The guy’s real name was Eric Blair. | ||
| 36 | OLIVE |
Growth getting squeezed in the oil-producing sector (5)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 38 | SINGAPORE SLING |
Peroni glass served with gin cocktail (9,5)
|
| Anagram (served with) of PERONI GLASS GIN. A Singapore Sling being a cocktail that I have enjoyed at the place of its invention. | ||
| 40 | STUDIOUS |
Diligent boss accumulated debts (8)
|
| STUD (boss) + IOUS (accumulated debts) | ||
| 42 | MENAGE |
Household soldiers become old (6)
|
| MEN (soldiers) + AGE (become old) | ||
| 43 | YOSEMITE |
Large park in Tokyo, semi-terraced (8)
|
| Hidden word (in) | ||
| 44 | NAPERY |
Never taking exercise in linen (6)
|
| PE (exercise) in (taking) NARY (never) | ||
| 47 | ADJUDICATOR |
Judge starts to applaud Dame, actor Dame, amazing actor (11)
|
| A[pplaud] D[ame] JUDI (actor Dame) + anagram (amazing) of ACTOR | ||
| 50 | NAIL VARNISH |
Polish applied manually? (4,7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 52 | CAPRICORN |
Old Ford, my new sign (9)
|
| CAPRI (old Ford) + COR (my) + N (new). In the U.S. market, this car was called a Mercury Capri. | ||
| 53 | NO-HOPER |
Japanese drama? Ordinary, a certain failure (2-5)
|
| NOH (Japanese drama) + O (ordinary) + PER (a certain) | ||
| 54 | VENAL |
New in: young bull meat for sale (5)
|
| N (n) in (in) VEAL (young bull meat) | ||
| 55 | ANNOYED |
Angry retired Italian madam grabs controversial rapper (7)
|
| YE (controversial rapper, i.e. [Kan]YE [West]) in (grabs) DONNA (Italian madam) backwards (retired) [Corrected] | ||
| 56 | AESOP |
Fabulous writer periodically faxes scoop (5)
|
| [f]A[x]E[s] S[c]O[o]P | ||
| 57 | DREARIEST |
Extremely dull doctor most tired, taking week off (9)
|
| DR (doctor) + [w]EARIEST (most tired taking ‘W’ off) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | STRAP |
Thong splits from the bottom (5)
|
| PARTS (splits) backwards (from the bottom) | ||
| 2 | MONTEZUMAS REVENGE |
Violent movement, runs? Geez, a nasty business! (10,7)
|
| Anagram (violent) of MOVEMENT RUNS GEEZ A | ||
| 3 | PONZI SCHEME |
Chez moi, spent time off running a scam (5,6)
|
| Anagram (running) of CHEZ MOI SPEN[t] | ||
| 4 | OXFORD |
Steer in the direction of key university city (6)
|
| OX (steer) + FOR (in the direction of) + D (key) | ||
| 5 | EARPHONE |
Wyatt, famously first to hire single listening device (8)
|
| EARP (Wyatt) + H[ire] + ONE (single) | ||
| 6 | SCHOPENHAUER |
18 heroes rehabilitated German pessimist (12)
|
| Anagram (rehabilitated) of PAUNCH (18) HEROES | ||
| 7 | EARTHWORMS |
Open-cast miners covering German city with dirt (10)
|
| EARTH (dirt) + WORMS (German city) with a splendid cryptic definition | ||
| 8 | LOCUM |
Temporary replacement colonel upset uniformed men at first (5)
|
| COL (colonel) backwards (upset) + U (uniformed) + M[en] | ||
| 9 | BERING SEA |
Empty barge circles each area of Pacific (6,3)
|
| B[arg]E + RINGS (circles) + EA (each) | ||
| 10 | BASTILLE DAY |
When France celebrates wildly, albeit sadly (8,3)
|
| Anagram (wildly) of ALBEIT SADLY | ||
| 11 | SMASH |
Destroy small mobile military hospital (5)
|
| S (small) + M*A*S*H (military hospital) | ||
| 12 | TYPIST |
Key worker, one employed in pool? (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 18 | PEBBLEDASH |
After getting stoned, Wood got plastered with this (10)
|
| PEBBLED (getting stoned) + ASH (wood). A little personal story: I lived most of my teenage years in a little house that had a pebbledash exterior. I thought it was beautiful. When I left the family home, my parents sold the house and moved elsewhere. And the new owner whitewashed all the exterior walls. I thought this was a crime, a horrible thing to do; it ruined the charm of the house to me. And I have never forgotten. | ||
| 20 | FUNGUSES |
Guy principally after pleasure takes shrooms (8)
|
| FUN (pleasure) + G[uy] + USE | ||
| 22 | CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE |
CID video Lib’s niece involved in rioting (5,12)
|
| Anagram (involved) of CID VIDEO LIBS NIECE | ||
| 23 | LAVISH |
Extravagant loo on island hotel (6)
|
| LAV (loo) + IS (island) + H (hotel) | ||
| 24 | FLAWLESSLY |
Perfectly female, in an unruly way (10)
|
| F (female) + LAWLESSLY (in an unruly way) | ||
| 27 | COURTESY |
Jersey regularly supports royal household, an act of respect (8)
|
| COURT (royal household) + [j]E[r]S[e]Y | ||
| 31 | POLITE |
Genteel eastern European drinking vermouth from Italy (6)
|
| IT (Italy) in (drinking) POLE (eastern European) | ||
| 32 | BRINKMANSHIP |
Tattooist on board British vessel sailing close to the edge? (12)
|
| INK MAN (tattooist) in (on board) BR (British) + SHIP (vessel) | ||
| 34 | NEAT AND TIDY |
Dad at ninety…extraordinarily smart… (4,3,4)
|
| Anagram (extraordinarily) of DAD AT NINETY | ||
| 36 | OLD MAN RIVER |
…dad I have featured in intros of rock and roll song (3,3,5)
|
| OLD MAN (dad) + IVE (I have) in (featured in) R[ock] R[oll] | ||
| 37 | CLOSE RANKS |
Stuffy, smelly squaddies at the front pack together (5,5)
|
| CLOSE (stuffy) + RANK (smelly) + S[quaddies] | ||
| 39 | OVERCROWD |
Pack finished gate (9)
|
| OVER (finished) + CROWD (gate) | ||
| 41 | STRIPPED |
Head of Sales danced naked (8)
|
| S[ales] + TRIPPED (danced) | ||
| 45 | SANCTA |
Christmas visitor tours 100 private rooms (6)
|
| C (100) in SANTA (Christmas visitor). ‘Sancta’ is a plural of ‘sanctum”. | ||
| 46 | AVERSE |
Hostile states met in the middle (6)
|
| AVERS (states) + [m]E[t] | ||
| 48 | JAPAN |
Following agreement from Berlin, criticise Asian country (5)
|
| JA (agreement from Berlin) + PAN (criticise) | ||
| 49 | TINEA |
Ringworm at home in tree (5)
|
| IN (at home) in (In) TEA (tree) | ||
| 51 | HELOT |
One enthralled, captivated by the lottery (5)
|
| Hidden word (captivated by) |
Thanks Pete for stepping in – much appreciated.
🌟
Forgetting about the early May Bank Holiday, I was delighted to see a jumbo Julius puzzle awaiting me this weekend.
It was, naturally, loaded with the sly humour, great surfaces and deft anagrams we’ve come to expect from this setter…and happily, more of it all than usual.
I was liberal with my ticks but the two standouts for me were HUMAN RIGHTS (17A – a fine anagram with the capitalized ‘Reform’ adding poignancy) and MONTEZUMA’S REVENGE (2D for the pungent surface!)
Thanks to Julius and Pete for the bumper task of blogging this at the last minute and in trying circumstances.
Liked your ‘pebbledash’ anecdote, Pete. By the way, a small slip but 44A should read PE inside ‘nary’ and 55A is (KAN)YE (WEST).
Thanks Pete for doing double duty and for a great blog. You & Diane@2 summed up the crossword nicely for me. Thanks for parsing shrooms for me.
Thanks Julius too
Yes, what Diane said. I forgot the holiday and enjoyed the anecdote. I didn’t do any ticks, but I smiled several times as I solved this. I’ll pick YOSEMITE as tops because I consider Julius to be the master of hidden answers. Thanks to him and Pete.
Thanks for a great blog and the overtime is greatly appreciated , Julius seems to manage these with so much style that the sheer number of clues to solve does not become a chore . I will just name two out of so many , HUMAN RIGHTS for the reasons given by Diane@2 and FARTHER for clever use of another entry plus it is rather cheeky .
Hope the pollen subsides for you , I am sure you have tried everything but the old-fashioned remedy is a smear of vaseline around the nostrils and under the eyes .
Can somebody please explain 31D and the vermouth relevance ?
Thanks for the blog, dear Pete, and thanks to those who have commented. I’m a fellow sufferer in the hay fever dept. and everything here in The Black Forest has a covering of pollen making it seem as though someone has been shaking Colman’s mustard powder all over the place.
This is my 150th puzzle for the FT and I was very pleased to have been asked to provide a jumbo puzzle for the first May Bank Holiday weekend.
I know that you were a bit caught by surprise Pete with this puzzle and I will mention to Roger that simply uploading two puzzles with consecutive serial numbers makes it likely that one will be missed so:
IMPORTANT: there will be another jumbo around the Whitsun holiday and, since I know who is compiling it, you won’t want to miss it so keep that in mind.
Best wishes to all, Rob/Julius
Mark @7 “It” is slang for “Italian vermouth” – see Chambers – the wordplay uses IT for “vermouth from Italy”.
Ah yes. Thanks Rudolf
Congratulations, Julius, on reaching that proud landmark, thanks for the tip-off re the Whitsun holiday and, bless you for good measure!
Futher to my post above, the puzzle has now been re-uploaded to the FT website with the word “jumbo” bunged in which will hopefully make it a bit easier to spot in future
@Diane…thank you. Unfortunately, I am the owner of the world’s loudest sneeze and I’m frequently given a friendly “Gesundheit” from neighbours some distance away
I’m more than a little ANNOYED with myself for having missed this puzzle on Saturday, having been busy all day. I hadn’t realised that there would be a Jumbo on the first May Bank Holiday until I saw the blog this morning.
Thanks to Diane @2 for an excellent summary – ‘sly humour, great surfaces and deft anagrams’ in abundance, often combined in the same clue and, in particular for me, in 10dn. As a small child, I looked up my birthday in Old Moore’s Almanac and was disappointed to find simply BASTILLE DAY, which meant nothing at all to me then. Years later, on our first camping holiday in Brittany, we enthusiastically joined in a village celebration in a field – lots of Breton costumes and dancing, with trestle tables lined up with copious supplies of mussels and muscadet – for which we ‘sadly’ paid the price the next morning. (I have many happy, less rueful, memories of subsequent birthdays in France on le Quatorze Juillet.)
I agree with ub’s observation @5 re Julius’ s mastery of hidden answers but in today’s puzzle it was particularly the anagrams, in which he also excels, that bowled me over with their superb surfaces – and so many of them. I was going to say that I wouldn’t list them but I can’t not: PREMIERSHIP, HUMAN RIGHTS, TASMANIAN DEVIL, DEVONSHIRE, SINGAPORE SLING, SCHOPENHAUER, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, NEAT AND TIDY, MONTEZUMA’S REVENGE.
Another stand-out was ADJUDICATOR, for the delightful reference to the amazing actor Dame Judi.
Huge thanks and congratulations to Julius for a fitting celebration of your milestone (and for the heads-up for the next BH Jumbo) and to Pete for the blog. I hope for a reduction in the pollen count soon for both your sakes.
Well, back at you, Eileen! Your summaries are always apt, positive and fun to read. And what a great day to celebrate a birthday (as did my late grandmother), especially in France! [My own’s not too shabby being the longest day of the year!]
Hi, Diane – my father shared your birthday (and, as a child, I believed him that he had a longer one than me (most unfair!).
A great puzzle. I do love the jumbos with all their extra-long entries.
Gripe, wanted more from the BRAKE PAD clue as it looked like there was more in the clue. (Wouldn’t have mentioned it in a news crosser.)
But that shouldn’t suggest anything other than I really enjoyed this puzzle – and in particular that I finished it within the bank holiday and quicker than my wife finished her jigsaw…
@Rudolph Thanks – I’ve never heard that before and the ‘vermouth’ part of the clue was driving me crazy. I knew it had to be ‘POLITE’ but I just couldn’t parse it!
I missed this too and, like Eileen, only became aware due to noticing Pete’s excellent blog. What a delight to see it was a Julius Jumbo and it certainly did not disappoint!
Quick question for any geographers out there – I know Eastern European / Pole is a staple in crosswordland, but isn’t Poland generally considered to be in Central Europe these days?
MURPHYS LAW was brilliant -sadly too brilliant for me. A lovely way to spend a long weekend
Took Kim and I just under a week. Yeah, I know, mere amateurs. But so delightful. Kim liked OVERCROWD. So many witty puzzles and wordplays. Cor! And big thanks to Julius and Pete without whom, even allergy-free, we’d suffer no end. And Kim says she bets I sneeze louder than Julius.