This one was just a little tricky, as the setter seems to like to rely on the secondary and tertiary senses of words. I made slow progress at first, and then sped up a little, but it was still a bit of a slog.
Author: vinyl1
Mephisto 3262 – A bottle of white, a bottle of red….
Most of this was straightforward enough, but there are a few bits I did’t fully understand while solving. I finished it in two sessions, and checked my results against Chambers.
Times 28543 – Some bloggers drop by
On my first run through, I did not get any complete across answers – I only had the last word in one of the long ones. So I thought it might be a little hard, but usually the downs turn out to be easier in such cases, and so it proved.
Mephisto 3260 – We welcome new Mephisto setter John Grimshaw
When tackling a puzzle like Mephisto with a new setter, one never knows quite what to expect. As solvers, we have gotten used to the styles of the rota of solvers, and we know what tricks they are likely to use.
Times 28531 – Nearly the Pines of Rome
This was mostly a Monday puzzle, but towards the end I ran into a little difficulty in the SW area. As it turned out, there was some UK-specific knowledge that I either had to recall, or did not know at all.
Mephisto 3258 – Within and without?
I found this just a little tough, and some of the wordplay is still a little vague. But I did finish, and all my answers were correct.
David Horry, 1949-2023
It is not often that we publish a memorial for one of our commenters, but anyone who has been a regular user of the blog for at least a year or two will remember David Horry, who posted as Horryd while we were on LiveJournal, and as Meldrew on the current site.
Times 28519 – Not our responsibility!
It seemed a bit like the Friday puzzle had been held over for Monday for this one. I was dismayed to get only two answers on my first run through the across clues, but fortunately found the down clues more amenable.
Mephisto 3256 – In which Don Manley has the last word
I did not find this too bad for the most part, and got pretty far in one session. The next morning, I polished off most of the rest except for one stubborn hold-out.
Times 28507 – The aviary, and what to do about it!
I was definitely a bit off-wavelength with this one, and I expect that most solvers will have done better than I did.