Mephisto 2629 – Mike Laws

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
OK, after the disaster of two weeks ago I’m pretty sure I have the right puzzle sitting in front of me. I found this one pretty straightforward for a Mephisto, though several of the clues are tricky, there’s some rather generous checking letters (that Z at the bottom right for example). Interesting grid, with the three eleven-letter downs crossing the two thirteen letter acrosses. Not sure I’ve seen this grid used before, however I don’t know if there’s standard grids for these barred crosswords.

Away we go…

Across
1 VAULTING-HORSE: anagram of (SO RELATIVE HUNG) minus an E
11 EMPLOYEE: PLOY inside EM(c)EE
12 ADUKI: UK inside ADI(t). Got this from the wordplay, then looked it up – interesting that ADUKI itself isn’t in Chambers, it’s only there as ADUKI BEAN. Is this a little naughty?
14 AC,CR,EDIT
15 PRAYER: the question mark is a hint something may be a little screwy with the clue (or it’s a cryptic definition) so I’m already on the defensive. Is it A in PRYER or am I missing something?
17 VINDALOO: DA(District Attorney) in VIN,LOO
19 THEME: THE ME
20 ECU: hidden
21 STEMS,ON: another one from wordplay – curved timber at the front of a ship
23 SIR: AESIR (Norse Gods, who made an appearance in another crossword this week) without AE
24 NARVA: RAN reversed, then V,A. Apparently the third-largest city in Estonia, thankfully for the geographically ignorant like me, having clear wordplay
25 SAMPLING: AMPL(e) in SING
28 WHEUGH: W(Welsh) then E in HUGH
31 RESEARCH: AR(Annual Return, which is in Chambers) in (CHEERS)*
32 E.S.,SAY
33 OERLIKON: RO scattered in (LIKE,NO)*. Chambers says this could be a plane or a gun, but I can’t seem to find a picture of the plane. So here’s another crazy model fan
34 ZEBRA CROSSING: BEZ(Bay) reversed, then ROSS(cold sea) in RACING. Got this from the definition, had to pore over the wordplay
 
Down
1 VEEP: PPEV(e) reversed
2 AMERICANESE: A MERI, CAN and then (SEE)*. My adopted tongue! Plug your batter-ees in on a toos-day and prepare to take the garbage out and set it on the sidewalk, it’s a new language from a to zee.
3 LLOYD: I only remember him from “Airplane”
4 (s)TOKE
5 NECROMANCER: (CRONE)*, MAN, REC reversed. Q. “What do we burn apart from necromancers?” A. “More necromancers!”
6 GECKOS: GECK(scorn), then SO reversed
7 HARDTOP: (DOT)* in HARP
8 O(h),DEA(r)
9 SKIMMING,TON: never heard of this custom before, but I’d like to see it make a comeback
10 EITHER: I in ETHER
13 MAN,URE: URE was a new one to me, but makes sense coming from UEVRE
16 CESIUM: E in (MUSIC)* – all the group IA metals are less dense than water, due to large atomic radii and low coordination numbers. Doesn’t it feel good to learn some chemistry?
18 ATALAYA: TALA(music) in AYA(h)
20 (c)ENTRE,Z
22 ESCROC: anagram of COURSE without the U (don’t think I’ve seen FLUNKED as an anagrindicator before), then C.
26 LENIS: I in LENS
27 YEAR(n)
29 HOLS(t): two cut-offs in a row, can a third give us the cut-off hattrick?
30 HANG: no, but we finish on one I can’t quite get. HAN for Chinese I get, but G for WAREHOUSE? Edit: I fell for the trap, didn’t I – should have looked further into Chambers to see HONG, check comments

4 comments on “Mephisto 2629 – Mike Laws”

  1. Hi George. The answer to 30D is HONG. Two meanings 1=Chinese warehouse 2=0ld word for hang.

    I don’t understand 15A PRAYER either

    Agree, not difficult. I think we’re seeing a lot of new grids lately. I don’t recall this one before.

    1. No sooner had I logged off than it came to me. It’s P(RAY)ER where PER=A and RAY=look!!
  2. Yes, a very gentle one this week. I was able to finish it on the train without recourse to a dictionary or any other solving aids, although I did have to make a couple of corrections when I got home – NARLA and HANG were both guesses that I knew I’d have to check.

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