I have been the host and organizer of Times for the Times for about a year now, and it is really quite an easy job. The bloggers do their thing, and the blogs appear every day like clockwork. Every once in a while, I have to arrange for a substitution or fix a problem, but it’s mostly clear sailing. We really have a great crew here, and I would like to thank them all for their diligence.
However, errors do sometimes do happen, as our bloggers lead full lives and have other things to do besides explain all the cryptics to you every day of the week. So it appears that this particular Jumbo got overlooked, and no blog appeared. Rather than trouble the blogger, who is probably sound asleep right at the moment, I just solved the puzzle myself and whipped off a quick blog.
I am not very good at Jumbos, as the longer answers tend to give me more trouble, but I’ll have to admit I was able to biff a lot of this and got through in under an hour. It will probably take nearly as long to blog it, but there you go.
| Across | |
| 1 | Physician became dictator’s prisoner (5) |
| MEDIC – Hidden in [becam]ME DIC[tator’s]. | |
| 4 | Do too little work and prepare to play, given the chance (10) |
| UNDERSTUDY – double definition, one facetious | |
| 9 | Ran through party on purpose (4,2) |
| USED UP – USE + D.U.P., that lot over in N.I. | |
| 14 | As fruit, cut by length four times (9) |
| QUADRUPLE – QUA DRUP(L)E, where a ‘drupe’ is a botanical term for a type of fruit. | |
| 15 | Is financing it in a new way not worth considering? (13) |
| INSIGNIFICANT – anagram of IS FINANCING IT | |
| 16 | Confused report of more profound times (2,1,4) |
| IN A DAZE – sounds like INNER DAYS, if you speak with a BBC accent | |
| 17 | Holes in long-haul craft (9) |
| SPACESHIP – SPACES + HIP. | |
| 18 | Chief heading off westward quaffing island’s wine (5) |
| RIOJA – [m]AJO(I)R, all backwards | |
| 19 | Couturier’s accessories causing a sensation (4,3,7) |
| PINS AND NEEDLES – double definition | |
| 22 | Detecting online espionage? (7) |
| ESPYING – E-SPYING. | |
| 25 | Trouble after an invention puts off Tesla’s foremost supporter (10) |
| AFICIONADO – A FIC[t]ION + ADO | |
| 27 | Normal rugged sort: old actor (6,6) |
| MARLON BRANDO – anagram of NORMAL + BRAND + O | |
| 30 | Find fault with batsman’s innings (5) |
| KNOCK – double definition, another bit of cricket slang. | |
| 31 | Collaborator getting slower taken in by shrink (2-6) |
| CO-WRITER – COW(RIT)ER, where rit. is the musical abbreviation for ritardando. | |
| 32 | Sound measure by which to rank European city (8) |
| BELGRADE – BEL + GRADE. | |
| 35 | No clergy, only Mae West in disguise (8) |
| LAYWOMEN – anagram of ONLY MAE W. | |
| 36 | German governor critical after contrary strike (8) |
| MARGRAVE – RAM backwards + GRAVE. | |
| 37 | Attractive female player’s first to go in eliminator (5) |
| CUTIE – CU[p] TIE. | |
| 39 | Thought’s being restricted again, as it were (12) |
| DELIBERATION – DE-LIBERATION, presumably the opposite of LIBERATION. | |
| 41 | Potential catch by fishing port barely mentioned (6,4) |
| SKATED OVER – SKATE + DOVER. | |
| 43 | Search suspect, male, ahead of time (7) |
| RUMMAGE – RUM + M + AGE. | |
| 45 | Philosopher Latinises text I mistranslated (14) |
| EXISTENTIALIST – anagram of LATINISES TEXT I | |
| 48 | It often goes with “cheers”, and audible countercheers (5) |
| BOOZE – sounds like BOOS. | |
| 49 | Teach music abroad, ditching posh teaching method (9) |
| CATECHISM – anagram of TEACH M[u]SIC | |
| 51 | Scoffer joins press, producing crude output (3,4) |
| PIG IRON – PIG + IRON. | |
| 53 | Not being alone at work is essential (3-10) |
| NON-NEGOTIABLE – anagram of NOT BEING ALONE. | |
| 54 | Coming to littl’un exhausted granny to start with (9) |
| TOTALLING – TOT + ALL IN + G[ranny]. | |
| 55 | Cover for Oriental bowl of some antiquity (6) |
| OLDISH – O[rienta]L DISH. | |
| 56 | Top working girl in bodyguard benefits initially (4,6) |
| HEAD STARTS – HEAD + S(TART)S. I’m afraid the Schutzstaffel and Beerbohm Tree are immortal so far as crosswords are concerned. | |
| 57 | Son in confinement lashed out (5) |
| SPENT – S + PENT, where ‘lashed out’ is slang for spending lavishly…I think. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Resistance from foreign noble deprived of his own? (6) |
| MAQUIS – MA[r]QUIS. | |
| 2 | Wilde resorted to this club after eventful year (8,5) |
| DRAMATIC IRONY – DRAMATIC + IRON |+ Y[ear] | |
| 3 | Fine provincial force once set up court abroad (5) |
| CURIA – A.I. R.U.C. backwards, the Royal Ulster Constabulary. | |
| 4 | Politician needs support of course within global alliance — plenty given (7) |
| UMPTEEN – U(MP + TEE)N, presumably at an international golf outing. | |
| 5 | Drink, getting into gear before lecture? (8,4) |
| DRESSING DOWN – DRESSING + DOWN, in entirely different senses. | |
| 6 | One sorcerer with scarlet cloak portrayed again (8) |
| REIMAGED – RE(I MAGE)D, presumably through CGI. | |
| 7 | Pinch mistress’s bottom in gallery (5) |
| TASTE – TA[mistres]S)TE. | |
| 8 | A top-of-range gadget for boxer’s trainer, perhaps (3,7) |
| DOG WHISTLE – double definition, where a ‘boxer’ is a dog. | |
| 10 | Run in to rouse support for equestrian (7) |
| STIRRUP – STIR(R)UP.. | |
| 11 | Oppressive form of greeting rebounded on Scot? (9) |
| DRACONIAN – CARD backwards + ON + IAN, | |
| 12 | Ruined city‘s favourite artist (5) |
| PETRA – PET R.A., a compendium of cryptic clches even if you don’t know the city. | |
| 13 | Stormy petrels in Times account may attract it (6,8) |
| SIMPLE INTEREST – anagram of PETRELS IN TIMES. | |
| 20 | Liquid (black) in small vault whence pong emanates (5,4) |
| STINK BOMB – S + T(INK, B)OMB. | |
| 21 | Can’t grasp what happens during fall (6,2) |
| LEAVES GO – double definition. | |
| 23 | Bird we’re told put six feet under bush (10) |
| GOOSEBERRY – GOOSE + sounds like BURY….in most dialects. | |
| 24 | Recidivist bets on queen wearing hat (10) |
| BACKSLIDER – BACKS + LID + E.R. | |
| 26 | Note: United explicit about player making a pile (7,7) |
| NUCLEAR REACTOR – N + U + CLEAR + RE ACTOR. | |
| 28 | One detective force intercepts sovereign trying to kill his relative? (9) |
| REGICIDAL – REG(I CID)AL, the first self-referential clue. | |
| 29 | Stimulant mostly taken after capital pasta (8) |
| RIGATONI – RIGA + A TONI[c]. | |
| 33 | Moving ceremony to celebrate engagement (6,7) |
| ACTIVE SERVICE – ACTIVE + SERVICE in entirely different senses. | |
| 34 | Spooner’s assessing safe charging point for motorist (7,5) |
| PARKING METER – Spoonerism of MARKING PETER. | |
| 38 | Canny, by the way? (10) |
| STREETWISE – Cryptic definition. | |
| 40 | Mincing man with poodle ridiculed (9) |
| LAMPOONED – anagram of MAN + POODLE. | |
| 42 | Spades and fork, rough but penetrating (8) |
| STRIDENT – S + TRIDENT. | |
| 44 | Even dons like exams (1,6) |
| A LEVELS – A(LEVEL)S, where ‘dons’ does not signify academics, but is an enclosure indicator. | |
| 46 | Drive time’s up, unfortunately (7) |
| IMPETUS – anagram of TIME’S UP | |
| 47 | Cavalier almost impaling himself, in brief (6) |
| KNIGHT – K(NIGH)T, the second self-referential clue. | |
| 48 | Writer rejected one indoor game for another (5) |
| BINGO – BIN GO. | |
| 50 | Juvenile journalist particularly cut up (5) |
| CUBED – CUB + ED. | |
| 52 | Red Guard primarily holds sway, having ousted leader (5) |
| GULES – G[uard] + [r]ULES. The heraldic red. My FOI; I studied heraldry as a child, and still remember a bit. | |
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