This is not a difficult puzzle, and I should have finished in good time. My momentum carried me to within three answers, but then I seemed to have lost all solving ability and was stuck for a good 10 minutes – I just couldn’t see the obvious.
Author: vinyl1
Mephisto 3284 – George Martin, producer
I didn’t find this difficult, as there were quite a few easy ones to get started. The vocabulary was well suited to those who like to read Middle English and Early Modern texts.
Times 28675 – What kind of gypsies, Steve?
This was not exactly what you would call an ordinary Monday puzzle. Fortunately, I was able to biff my way through the most difficult parts by calling on that most able officer, General Knowledge.
Mephisto 3282 – Yes, that’s what it is!
This was quite easy for a Mephisto, and I solved it in one sitting while hardly cracking my Chambers. There were few really obscure words, at least for the hardened Mephisto solver.
Times 28663 – Up the creek without an atlas
I was treating this as a typical Monday puzzle, biffing my way through the grid. But at the end, I came to the NW corner, and really had to think hard, using knowledge I didn’t know I had.
Mephisto 3280 – If you didn’t do it, try it
This was one of the easier Mephistos I’ve done. I definitely gained confidence when I found the first two across answers were write-ins for me, and some of the next few were also rather easy.
Times 28651 – Splendide Mendax!
I did most of this fairly easily, but I got stuck in the NE because of a wrong word. I also had some other answers that I had a lot of doubts about, but finally saw how they worked.
Mephisto 3278 – “Backed by our supreme authority….
I did solve this puzzle, but I would be the first to admit I don’t quite get some of the trickier cryptics. Careful research as turned up some of the parsings, but not all of them.
Times 28639 – A perennial that grows for me!
I thought this was a bit difficult for a Monday, and my solve ran slow, fast, slow, as the crossing letters helped speed me up until I came to the last few.
Mephisto 3276 – “When they were giving out brains, he thought they said trains….”
Last week’s Mephisto was not terribly tricky, and I finished before going to bed on a Saturday night. This is the grid where you can really help your solve by getting the long ones around the edges quickly.