I found this a bit on the tricky side, with the kind of literals one might find in Mephisto. Fortunately, the vocabulary was not particularly esoteric, so if you trust the cryptics you will get the answers.
Author: vinyl1
Mepisto 3272 – “With razor blades and hand grenades….”
I didn’t find this too bad, but made very slow progress for a while. I plodded on from ten until midnight, finishing a few bits here and there.
Times 28603 – First a coronation, then….
Although I didn’t get an answer right away, and only had six in my first run-through of the across clues, I started to make good progress with the downs. I was doing pretty well, but after 14 minutes I still had three to solve that I found a bit tough.
Mephisto 3270 – The terminal puzzle?
I didn’t have much difficulty with this one, although the pun was even more excruciating than usual. There are a few obscure literals that you have to check in Chambers, but this is scarcely a novelty in Mephisto.
Times 28591 – Half an answer is better than none!
After getting only two answers in my first run-through of the across clues, I realized I might need to think a little. Looking over the solved puzzle, I don’t think it is really that hard.
Mephisto 3268 – Like Peter, say?
While for the previous Mephisto I barely needed to touch Chambers, this John Grimshaw production will require considerable checking for most solvers. I had to make a number of guesses, most of which turned out to be correct.
Times 28579 – Never heard of it!
After completing my solve, I was wondering if the puzzle was really quite simple and I was just not on the wavelength. However, on checking the SNITCH, it seems like this was quite a difficult Monday puzzle, and I may not be alone in my struggles.
Mephisto 3266 – That you, Jethro?
I didn’t find this one that difficult, although I was a little slow getting started, and had to put off a the left side until the next day. The pun didn’t help me much, and I ended up having to push through the left from the bottom to the top.
Time 28567 – Just wait until Friday…
Well, nobody seems to have found this one very difficult, so welcome to another easy Monday. I put the answers in pretty steadily, only pausing at the end to figure out my last two.
Mephisto 3264 – ….the cats will play!
This one was not too bad, although I gave up after an hour and went to bed. I finished it off pretty quickly the next morning.