Times Jumbo 1389: The Man From Forelock

Author   verlainePosted on Categories Jumbo Cryptic
I thought we were in good hands with this Jumbo, which was fairly chewy and really rather enjoyable – thanks setter! 50ac was quite possibly the last one in due to being an unfamiliar expression, though there were a good few others that took a while to “see” as well. My favourite this time possibly 15ac, simple but very neat; but 19dn is rather nice too, and not even the only excellent-sounding hat in this puzzle.

How’d you all get on?

ACROSS
1 Like an old maid with unserviceable cooker (6)
PRIMUS – PRIM [like an old maid] with U/S [unserviceable]

5 Scraps a few words in speech (7)
AFFRAYS – homophone of A PHRASE [a few words]

9 Check canine? (8)
DOGTOOTH – double def – though my dictionary app lists the tweedy check pattern as dog’s-tooth. Close enough anyway.

13 Dreadfully crude cuts in Manchester, due to conditions (5,3,13)
UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES – (CRUDE CUTS IN MANCHESTER*) [“dreadfully”]

14 Bombardment on town primarily, then country (8)
THAILAND – HAIL [bombardment] on T{own} + AND [then]

15 Part of mechanism leaking fluid (7)
LINKAGE – (LEAKING*) [“fluid”]

16 Co-ordinated report of high water? (4,2)
TIED IN – homophone of TIDE IN [from which intelligence we can assume high water]

17 A close relative cutting exercise, so it seems (10)
APPARENTLY – A + PARENT [close relative] “cutting” PLY [exercise]

20 Eastern weapon for shooting a politician revealed in correspondence (12)
EPISTOLATORY – E PISTOL A TORY [eastern | weapon for shooting | a | politician]

23 Hat requiring some dagger-like pins (4)
KEPI – hidden in {dagger-li}KE PI{ns}

24 Diplomatic prison guard briefly incarcerated by regime (8)
DISCREET – SCRE{w} [prison guard “briefly”] “incarcerated” by DIET [regime]

26 Two locals, the first in California to find mineral (8)
CINNABAR – INN and BAR [two locals], the first of which is in CA [California]

29 Tam-o-Shanter’s super-hot pepper? (6,6)
SCOTCH BONNET – the hot pepper’s name suggests an item of Scottish headgear, which the Tam is

30 Break forth and flee Forces in disarray (10)
EFFLORESCE – (FLEE FORCES*) [“in disarray”]

32 Take off over area of grassland and bush (4,6)
MOCK ORANGE – MOCK O RANGE [take off | over | area of grassland]

34 Enthusiastic supporters boost government’s morale? (12)
CHEERLEADERS – or CHEER LEADERS [boost the morale of | government]

36 US psychiatrist that is ultimately seen amid toprankers (8)
ALIENIST – I.E. [that is] + {see}N, amid A-LIST [toprankers]

38 Cake covering when swathed in sauce (8)
SOLIDIFY – LID IF [covering | when] “swathed in” SOY [sauce]

39 Eleven motorists cross about origin of journey (4)
AJAX – AA X [motorists | cross] “about” J{ourney}. Eleven as in a football side, of course.

41 Because airport’s close, our home proved extremely expensive (4,3,5)
COST THE EARTH – ‘COS [because] + {airpor}T + THE EARTH [our home]

43 Doctor chips in, say, for his colleagues? (10)
PHYSICIANS – (CHIPS IN SAY*) [“doctor”], semi-&lit

44 When one lacks power, there’s no resistance in assault (6)
OUTAGE – take OUTRAGE [assault], and remove R = resistance

46 An attempt on record broken by any number in the past (4,3)
LONG AGO – A GO [an attempt] on LOG [record] “broken by” N [any number]

48 Disorganised gaggle regularly roaming harbours (8)
STRAGGLY – G{a}G{g}L{y}, harboured by STRAY [roaming]

50 Seize the chance to linger canal-side? Without warning of course (4,4,2,3,8)
TAKE TIME BY THE FORELOCK – TAKE TIME BY THE LOCK [linger canal-side], “without” FORE! [warning of (golf) course]

51 Pest controller ceaselessly campaigning? (8)
WARFARIN – WARFARIN{g} [“ceaselessly” campaigning]

52 Customer from the States coming in closer? (3,4)
END USER – US [the States] “coming in” ENDER [closer]

53 Overcoming strong smell, I’m going back inside (6)
TAMING – TANG [strong smell], with I’M reversed inside it

DOWN
2 Uneven grating below par (5)
ROUGH – triple def, referring perhaps to ground, a voice, and a person with a hangover perhaps, respectively

3 Singer from capital appended to unbalanced schedule (11)
MADRIGALIST – RIGA [capital] appended to MAD [unbalanced], plus LIST [schedule]. Took a while for me to realise the capital wasn’t Madrid.

4 Talk of banker, fired, having additional liabilities (8)
SURTAXED – homophone of CERT [banker, as in “a sure thing”] + AXED [fired]

5 Did long account on hard press chief (5)
ACHED – AC [account] on H ED [hard | press chief]

6 Memory possibly defective, Charlie admitted (7)
FACULTY – FAULTY [defective], “admitting” C

7 Energy-packed FBI agents, in absolute terms (11)
ARRANGEMENT – G-MEN [FBI-agents], “packing” E [energy], in ARRANT [absolute]

8 Very much America’s March man? (5)
SOUSA – SO USA [very much | America]. Marches as in military music. Sousa was not just a March man but The March King!

9 Depict spy hilariously out of humour (9)
DYSPEPTIC – (DEPICT SPY*) [“hilariously”]

10 19th century president‘s allowance (5)
GRANT – double def

11 Arrange theatre score? Just about? (11)
ORCHESTRATE – (THEATRE SCOR{e}*) [“arrange”], &lit

12 More crusty deposit raised bank (7)
TESTIER – reversed SET [deposit] + TIER [bank]

18 Coach supports gym, limiting runs in early years (9)
PRESCHOOL – SCHOOL [coach] supports P.E. [gym] “limiting” R [runs]

19 Hat in good condition obscuring male ears? (7)
TRICORN – TRI{m} [in good condition, minus M for male] + CORN [ears]

21 Winning entailed galloping astride horse (2,3,4)
IN THE LEAD – (ENTAILED*) [“galloping”] “astride” H [horse]

22 Outsider welcomes teacher being in capital (8)
LONDONER – LONER [outsider] “welcomes” DON [teacher]

25 Criminal retreats with engineer’s coat — could it add to the charge? (9)
CONDENSER – CON DENS [criminal | retreats] + E{nginee}R. AKA a capacitor.

27 Establish a spot to house country’s first queen (9)
ASCERTAIN – A STAIN [a spot] to “house” C{ountry} + E.R.

28 Correct delivery is taken in by ruler without delay (8)
SHARPISH – R.P. IS [correct delivery, sez some | is] “taken in by” SHAH [ruler]

31 Light horse-drawn carriage: a crawler? (7)
FIREFLY – FIRE FLY [light | horse-drawn carriage]

33 Follow detailed instruction to avoid crossing railway line (4,5,2)
KEEP TRACK OF – take KEEP OFF [instruction to avoid], de-tail it, and put it across TRACK [railway line]

34 Harsh complaint impassioned with king’s intervention (11)
COLDHEARTED – COLD [complaint] + HEATED [impassioned] with R [king] “intervening”

35 Scene of life class, maybe, where guests are entertained? (7,4)
DRAWING ROOM – or a room in which more literal drawing is taking place

37 Dad instructed staff, introducing Higher Education (3,3,3)
THE OLD MAN – TOLD MAN [instructed | staff], “introducing” HE [Higher Education]

40 Strongest church beset by strife, suffering (8)
FIERCEST – CE [church] “beset by” (STRIFE*) [“suffering”]

42 Top of oak stake tipped prime cactus (7)
OPUNTIA – O{ak} + PUNT [stake, as in wager] + A1 [prime] tipped over

43 Use IT perhaps to handle move in train (7)
PROCESS – double def

45 When territorial guards submit? (5)
ENTER – “guarded” by {wh}EN TER{ritorial}

47 Lord’s swipe — one bye conceded (5)
NOBLE – NOB{b}LE [as in “get hold of illicitly”], “conceding” one B for bye

48 Thoroughly clean comb (5)
SCOUR – double def

49 Compare Liberal president with nation’s leader (5)
LIKEN – L IKE [Liberal | president] + N{ation}

13 comments on “Times Jumbo 1389: The Man From Forelock”

  1. A couple of DNKs: WARFARIN as a pest controller–I only knew it as a drug; ‘banker’=cert (so I had to biff SURTAXED from the def); nobble=swipe (another BIFD); SCOTCH BONNET. I have ‘Duh!’ in the margins by 15ac and 44ac; meaning these should have been obvious, but were anything but. LOI PROCESS, preceded by OPUNTIA. I don’t understand what the ‘US’ is doing in 36ac; so far as I (or ODE) know, it’s an old term for psychiatrist (also the title of a story by the great Brazilian writer, Machado de Assis).
  2. I wondered that too, although let it pass on the grounds that it might just as well be an American trick cyclist.
    According to Google, “The Alienist is an American period drama television series based on the novel of the same name by Caleb Carr.” The opening title ran: “In the 19th century, persons suffering from mental illness were thought to be alienated from their own true natures. Experts who studied them were therefore known as alienists.” Seems to cover all the bases, though I never saw an episode myself.
    1. I actually read the novel (a murder mystery); would never have remembered that fact had you not mentioned the TV series. The word came (into English) from the French, and left some time ago.
  3. I think I must have dozed off during this one, as the time stopped at 1.15.27, and I don’t remember it being that difficult.
    TAKE TIME BY THE FORELOCK is a new phrase to me, but I might try and pitch it into a conversation and see if anyone blinks. Times crossword as education – the wordplay led you (eventually) home.
  4. I found this quite difficult and eventually had to look up FORELOCK having derived the rest of it but having never come across the expression. Needed all the checkers for MADRIGALIST. SCOTCH BONNET appeared somewhere quite recently. Hadn’t heard of ALIENIST, but the wordplay was kind. 1:29:36. Thanks setter and V.
  5. ALIENIST is indicated as a US usage in both Collins and Chambers. I could have been Azerbaijani for all I knew.

    Edited at 2019-07-13 12:46 pm (UTC)

    1. ODE says nothing about dialect, and of the 4 example texts it gives, 2 are British. In any case, it’s dead; no one uses it on either side of the pond, and no doubt later editions of Collins and Chambers will come to recognize that. And I suspect the odds were pretty strong against your being Azerbaijani.
      1. I have no view on the matter: I have never come across the term before (I was meant to be it, of course). But since Collins and Chambers indicate it’s an Americanism, the setter is justified in doing so too.
        1. I think I’ve read a (British) sci-fi comic strip called The Alienist – must have been fairly irresistible to use once come across, Americanism or no.

          Edited at 2019-07-13 09:50 pm (UTC)

  6. 37:54. I found this pretty tricky. Add me to the hadn’t-heard-of-the-expression club.
  7. Hadn’t-heard-of-the-expresion club… can I join? I found this quite chewy but enjoyable as there was nothing too obscure or unfair. No time but about 70 minutes I reckoned. I failed to parse a few (DOGTOOTH, COST THE EARTH and SURTAXED), so thanks for enlightening me, V. I liked the triple def at 2D, but enjoyed SOLIDIFY the most. Thanks V and setter.

    Edited at 2019-07-13 06:36 pm (UTC)

    1. The first rule of haven’t-heard-of-the-expression club is that you haven’t heard of the haven’t-heard-of-the-expression club.

Comments are closed.