This was a typical Monday puzzle, and I whipped through it without parsing some of the clues. It was a big help to see three of the four long ones almost instantly, which gave me plenty of crossing letters.
Author: vinyl1
Mephisto 3236 – Biffed it right, this time!
This one wasn’t too difficult for a Tim Moorey. There were at least a few fairly straightforward clues to get the solver started and provide crossing letters.
Times 28387 – Hey, Mr Jagger, this was a bit difficult!
I had intended to attribute the problems I had with the puzzle to the Bank Holiday, but upon checking the calendar I find that was last week. I didn’t help myself by biffing estaminet with two checkers, even though that is an old cafe and not an old hotel.
Mephisto 3234 – The bureaucrat of Middle Earth
I didn’t find this too bad, but had to give up and leave a few until the next morning. I filled in the bottom readily enough, but the top half was a little more challenging until I had a sudden breakthrough with the fear and the centre of excellence.
Times 28375 – Ignorant, sentimental, metaphoric?
This was almost a typical Monday puzzle, but I got stuck in the end. I do know a fair number of English towns, but I am a little vague on their location. For that matter, even in Connecticut, I recognize the name of the town but have to look on the map to see where it is.
Mephisto 3232 – Insect attack!
Like most Don Manley Mephistos, I was able to finish this one without much difficulty. I got a few almost immediately, and they opened up the grid for me. The hardest thing in a Mephisto is getting started, since a few crossing letters are amazingly helpful in parsing in the clues.
Times 28363 – Today’s man, in more ways than one
A rather typical Monday puzzle, with one or two surprise entries. But if you follow the cryptic, it all falls rather easily into place. The two larger answers were particularly easy, which really opened up the middle of puzzle.
Mephisto 3230 – Rosie the River!
This was a bit of a toughie – not a one-day solve. In fact, I picked at it for most of the week, and finally finished on Thursday. The setter seems to be rather fond of letter removal, and even multiple letter removal.
Times 28351 – The takeaway place
I did not find this one particularly difficult, despite numerous mis-biffs, and managed to trot home in a decent time for me. Lack of any attempt to conceal the literals was certainly helpful.
Mephisto 3228 – Born on the 4th of July!
I didn’t find this one too bad, and finished in a single sitting. Since the setter has used many common words as answers, he evidently felt the need to add some obscurity to the clues in order to come up to Mephisto standards.