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A Rosa Klebb Jumbo puzzle – a real Bank Holiday treat!
This is vintage stuff: a familiar potpourri of excellent anagrams, inventive definitions, some deftly hidden, scintillating wit and, as always, meticulously honed surfaces throughout.
Rosa makes full use of the facility a Jumbo puzzle offers for accommodating multi-word answers, such as the splendid LIKE A CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (18ac) and NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (44ac), so there’s no need for traipsing all over the grid.
I couldn’t possibly list my many favourites – I’ve left a few comments in the blog – but I’m sure you’ll enjoy highlighting some of your own.
Huge thanks to Rosa for the fun-filled treat.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Ocean wind from east captured in photo (7)
PELAGIC
A reversal (from the east) of GALE (wind) in PIC (photo) with ‘ocean’ as an adjective
5 Clobber half-wit males (7)
CLOTHES
CLOT (half-wit) + HES (males)
9 Tower by sea equipped with more weapons (7)
REARMED
REAR (tower, as a verb) + MED[iterranean] (sea)
13 According to Spooner, Conservative woman is liar (11)
STORYTELLER
TORY (Conservative) + Stella (woman) – I think we have to take ‘according to’ to cover the ‘sound-alike’
14 Bears pain, angst and nameless suffering (5,6)
GIANT PANDAS
An anagram (suffering) of PAIN ANGST A[n]D (nameless)
15 Where Greeks met in drag, or androgynously (5)
AGORA
Hidden in drAG OR Androgenously
16 Worker located phone (7)
HANDSET
HAND (worker) + SET (located)
17 Repetition of back trouble after energy drink spiked with heroin (9)
ECHOLALlA
E (energy) + H (heroin) in COLA (drink) + a reversal (back) of AIL (trouble)
18 Left furniture store with piece from Tennessee, very edgy (4,1,3,2,1,3,3,4)
LIKE A CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
L (left) + IKEA (furniture store) + CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (play by Tennessee Williams) – some interesting background here on the origin of the expression
23 Decorated some beds extravagantly (8)
EMBOSSED
An anagram (extravagantly) of SOME BEDS
25 Powerful criminal with saint for wife (6)
STRONG
[w]RONG (criminal) with ST (saint) replacing w (wife)
27 Boxers perhaps put sticky stuff on shiner (3,4)
DOG STAR
DOGS (boxers, perhaps) + TAR (sticky stuff)
30 My apologies for the previous omission of this clue
March is bad time, in retrospect (5)
TROOP
A reversal (in retrospect) of POOR (bad) + T
32 Fatty acid without carbon is incomplete, I submit (7)
ADIPOSE
A[ci]D minus c (carbon) and i (i[s] incomplete) + I POSE (I submit)
33 Show extremes of resilience here (9)
REPRESENT
R[esilienc]E + PRESENT (here)
35 Rust-proofing submarine by loch (9)
UNDERSEAL
UNDERSEA (submarine) + L (loch)
36 Perhaps first extract from crossword in Albanian? (7)
ORDINAL
Neatly hidden in crosswORD IN ALbania, with a great surface
37 Cave-dweller rambles naked (5)
TROLL
[s]TROLL[s] (rambles)
38 French monarch registered with leader of government
SUN KING
SUNK IN (registered) + G[overnment]
Louis XIV of France, known as ‘le Roi Soleil’
40 All the same US states inspired by case for autonomy (6)
ANYWAY
NY (New York) and WA (Washington) – US states in A[utonomy]
41 Emphatically wearing suit (2,6)
IN SPADES
IN (wearing) + SPADES (suit)
44 Have-nots herein call it a mismanaged medical system (8,6,7)
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
Brilliant anagram (mismanaged) of HAVE-NOTS HEREIN CALL IT A, with an equally brilliant surface
48 Pygmy hippo initially enthralled by acrobatics (9)
THUMBLING
H[ippo] in TUMBLING (acrobatics)
50 False-hearted fieriness (3,4)
RED HEAT
An anagram (false) of HEARTED
53 Expect America to supplant UK over in Gulf state
AWAIT
A (America) supplants a reversal (over) of uk in Kuwait (Gulf state)
54 Kind of dating director, I am wavering (11)
RADIOMETRIC
An anagram (wavering) of DIRECTOR I AM
55 Pallid Republican retired to follow Ginger Spice (5,6)
WHITE PEPPER
WHITE (pallid) + PEP (ginger, as in ‘pep/ginger up’) + a reversal (retired) of REP[ublican]
56 Translated Lao word as “legendary cricketer” (7)
LARWOOD
An anagram (translated) of LAO WORD for this legendary cricketer
57 Husband and daughter in windy Stoke work where possible (3-4)
HOT-DESK
H (husband) and D (daughter) in an anagram (windy) of STOKE – great surface
58 Diffidence is regularly intensest after fling
SHYNESS
SHY (fling) + alternate letters of iNtEnSeSt
Down
1 Philosopher intermittently carsick in China (6)
PASCAL
Alternate letters of cArSiCk in PAL (china – rhyming slang)
2 Lover, not on top, loves smooth bottom sheets (3,4)
LOO ROLL
L[over] (minus over – not on top) + O O loves) + ROLL (smooth, as a verb – to roll the lawn, for instance) -a witty definition and surface
3 Conspirator reportedly splits, faced with rope (3,6)
GUY FAWKES
GUY (rope) + FAWKES (sounds like, reportedly, ‘forks’ – splits)
4 Bohemian police escaping trap (5)
CZECH
Sounds like (escaping trap!) check (police, as a verb); I’ve met that amusing indicator before – from the same setter, I think
5 Reorganise and clear schedule (8)
CALENDAR
An anagram (reorganise) of AND CLEAR
6 Perfume ingredient from Morrisons (5)
ORRIS
Contained in mORRISons
7 Eats eighth rum baba at last (4,3)
HIGH TEA
An anagram (rum) of EIGHTH + [bab]A
8 Wild Amen Corner gigs causing alarm (14)
SCAREMONGERING
Another great anagram (wild) of AMEN CORNER GIGS
9 Scoundrel heartlessly betrayed partner and irrevocably moved on (9)
RATCHETED
RAT (scoundrel) + CHE[a]TED (heartlessly betrayed partner) – I was initially puzzled by ‘irrevocably’, until I found, in Collins, ‘ratchet: to increase or decrease, esp. irreversibly‘
10 Calamitously rejecting outsiders in any circumstances (2,3)
AT ALL
[f]ATALL[y] (calamitously)
11 Hero, a moderate (6-2-3-4)
MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD
HERO A is the middle of tHE ROAd
12 Detective supported by team of females (7)
DISTAFF
DI (detective) + STAFF (team) – a neat definition
19 Declare later life is nothing special(7)
AVERAGE
AVER (declare) + AGE (later life)
20 Heads off north to make axes, in principle (9)
ORTHODOXY
[n]ORTH [t]O + DO (make) + XY (axes)
21 Disregard part of education e.g. lectures (7)
NEGLECT
Hidden in educatioN E G LECTures
22 Clutches baroque flutes behind northern soprano (8)
NESTFULS
An anagram (baroque) of FLUTES after N (northern) + S (soprano)
24 London debut, hard-boiled and violent (5-3-7)
BLOOD-AND-THUNDER
Another great anagram (boiled) of LONDON DEBUT HARD
26 Dodgy advert for banking facility (9)
OVERDRAFT
And another (dodgy) of ADVERT FOR
28 Brutal regulations restricting half of this society (8)
RUTHLESS
RULES (regulations) round TH[is] + S (society)
29 English engraver and writer lives in fancy house with courtyard (7,7)
WILLIAM HOGARTH
A neat charade of WILL (fancy) + I AM (writer lives) + HO (house) + GARTH (courtyard)
31 Ducks fed by right jerk behind penny arcade (7)
PORTICO
P (penny) + O O (ducks) round R (right) + TIC (jerk)
34 Drink, reflecting on new indiscretion (7)
PILSNER
A reversal (reflecting) of RE (on) + N (new) + SLIP (indiscretion)
39 Cooked some baked beans perhaps, seized by hunger (9)
GRATINEED
GREED (hunger) round TIN (some baked beans, perhaps, baked beans being the epitome of canned food, I suppose; I was reminded of the old TV jingle – I found gratinee as a verb in Collins (‘to cook {food} au gratin’)
42 Hobby of cycling, hip these days (9)
PHILATELY
HIP (cycling) + LATELY (these days)
43 Essentially drunk on danger * (8)
ASTERISK
[w]ASTE[d] (drunk) + RISK (danger)
44 Not sharp or flat or normal (7)
NATURAL
Not sharp or flat (music)
45 Fruit bats, tropical for the most part (7)
APRICOT
An anagram (bats) of TROPICA[l], for the most part
46 Former plus-size model (7)
EXAMPLE
EX (former) + AMPLE (plus-size)
47 *But falters ultimately, and flinches (6)
STARTS
* (star) + [bu]T [falter]S
49 Life on knockout African island (5)
BIOKO
BIO(graphy] (life) + KO (knockout)
51 Divine party with endless sex (5)
DOWSE
DO (party) + W (with) + SE[x]
52 Elders perhaps displaying terseness periodically (5)
TREES
Alternate letters of TeRsEnEsS
Fully agree with Eileen, this was a delightful puzzle.
You are correct Eileen, Arachne used “escaping trap” in January this year (see Guardian 29,596) and very recently Everyman used it in 4,098.
Thanks to RK.
Thanks for the blog , Jumbo puzzles can often seem a chore from the sheer number of clues but this flowed very nicely . Neat , consistent and often concise clues throughout . UNDERSEAL turned up in Vulcan just after , very similar clue but this is bound to happen . For CLOTHES I did wonder about the tautology but both parts were needed .
As always a wonderful puzzle which kept me happily occupied on a wet Bank Holiday Saturday.
Couldn’t parse 2 of them fully and didn’t get 2 down.
So many likes – but here’s some: MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, AT ALL, PORTICO, ORTHODOXY, SUN KING, UNDERSEAL, WHITE PEPPER
Thanks Rosa Klebb and Eileen
Can’t disagree with you Eileen, it was a tour-de-force piece of setting from Rosa Klebb which had me smiling throughout. I
I’m sure I won’t be alone in having liberally sprinkled the crossword with ticks. The sweet simplicity of CALENDAR was one, the surface for APRICOT with its ‘fruit bats’ was another. The NHS clue was superb and the use of IKEA in 18a was inspired. My favourite, though, was HIGH TEA as I’m rather partial to rum baba though I’d draw the line at eight of them!
There were quite a few more but I’ll exercise some restraint and see what others have to say! And you’re right, Roz, it did flow beautifully.
Always a pleasure, Rosa, and thanks to Eileen for reliably filling in the gaps.
I beg your pardon, Eileen, for not spotting your name at the top initially!
The trademaRK style, wit, and invention, writ large.
62 clues, and every one of them with something to enjoy. A Herculean achievement, ( I hope setters get pay-per-clue, and not pay-per-puzzle).
And there must be bonus pay, for 21-square solutions? If not – get on to it, Rosa!
My only slight grimace was 49(d), BIOKO, which felt like one of those, “I’m stuck with [ B~O~O ] – what’s available? ” situations for the setter; so the clue is a bit uninspired. Crumbs, there’s just no pleasing some people, is there?
I’m OK with BIO, for “life”, it’s a common enough prefix to a myriad of words. It’s one those Greek rascals, where the B is actually a β, so pronounced with a V, “veeos”.
Favourite clue for me: 2(d), LOO ROLL. Classic RK, a slightly risque clue and solution. My first one in, and so I thought …”I’m going to enjoy this”.
And, by gum, I did. 100%.
Lovely stuff.
Thanks to Rosa & Eileen
Thanks Rosa for a splendid crossword with more ticks than a country dog — here are some of my favourites — GIANT PANDAS, 18a with its ‘piece from Tennessee’, STRONG, TROOP, CALENDAR, HIGH TEA, ORTHODOXY, PHILATELY, EXAMPLE, and DOWSE. I couldn’t parse WILLIAM HOGARTH. Thanks Eileen for the blog.
Thanks, Rosa – this was a treat, though I didn’t help myself by starting off with PACIFIC. Many favourites: GIANT PANDAS (I think it’s now been decided that they are bears, after a while when they officially weren’t… is there a zoologist in the house?), the Albanian crossword, the NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, a cricketer that even I knew, the “bottom sheets” (who let Paul in?), MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, DISTAFF, and the asterisks (which were almost invisibly tiny on my printed copy – I had to squint.)
Wonderful
Clever. Witty. And above all, fair.
Thank you all.
Brilliant puzzle. Enjoyed
Wow! I had a lot of notes, but there is nothing to add to the last few posts.
Thanks Eileen and Rosa
A bit late now, but just to add my thanks to RK for this terrific puzzle, especially the wicked NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE.
Also, for those who find printing a pain, the great jono at the crosswordsolver.org forum has created an interactive grid for the puzzle here: https://crossword.info/jono/FT_18062_May25 which is a boon if you’d prefer to solve on a screen than on a printout (especially with a 23x 23 grid!)
I found it pretty OK having two overlapping not-full-screen browser windows, one with the FT’s puzzle page and one with the grid from crossword.info. That way you can see the clues and your answers at the same time
Super treat!
Lovely stuff! I failed to piece together the nho ECHOLALIA, and forgot to parse MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD which I’m kicking myself about because it’s one of many great clues that others have already highlighted.
Thanks both, and also to jono and jvector.
Thanks to Rosa for a lovely bank holiday treat. I really couldn’t parse 11d. The answer for 30a is missing, above, I think?
Mrs Graves @15 – so sorry, I don’t know how that happened: restored now.