Mephisto 2498 – Tim Moorey

Author   petebiddlecombePosted on Categories Mephisto
Solving time: hours!

This was one of the hardest Mephistos I can remember. A session of about 43 minutes without Chambers got about two-thirds of it done, but the rest was really tough and Chambers was heavily used from this point. The only clues I marked as “starters” were 5A, 2, 23. The order for the last batch was 17, 9, 5D, 13, 16, 18, 12, 3, 6, 11, 4, 1A – 17 and 12 were the big breakthroughs. Completed yesterday while watching the golfers struggle round Royal Birkdale and only just realised the resemblance between their situation and mine.

Across
1 L-DOPA = LD=lethal dose,O’,PA=protactinium
5 F(ANT)ADS
10 DAL,I=aye=indeed
11 MAN.U.,BRIA=(air,B) rev – much time wasted trying to reverse things like air re B. They’re biological structures like handles.
12 (Paula) RAD(CLIFF)E – looked at least twice through the RAD??I??? words in Chambers before realising that it had to be a proper noun. Very annoying when I’m a big fan of distance running.
15 ZINE – letter swap in zone
16 V,ALLEY
17 L,(m)ISTER = an American word for a type of plough
18 BER(k)(GANDER)S – took ages to find the right county. What a berk.
20 RA(INFO)REST
24 (d)EN,(d)ROLL
25 NOOK,i.e.
26 AD(i)OS
29 CORYPHAEI = (hoary epic)* – leaders of Gk. choruses
30 LOO,KSEES=seeks*
31 IKON = (N,OK,I) rev.
32 ENNUEYD = ((R)unny(me)de)*
33 YE(U.K.)S – same as yuke, many other wacky spellings
 
Down
1 L-DRIVER = LD.,RIVER=Darling perhaps. Two L-… words in the same corner was rather sneaky.
2 SOLD – letter move in ‘sold’
3 P,(t)ICKLE
4 AMLA = rev. of alma, an Egyptian dancing girl
5 FAIRY GOLD = (O,fir(in)g lady)*
6 N,(m)UFFIN
7 A,R(KIT)E
8 DINNERTIME = (determinin(g))*
9 SAWER = chips = carpenter – (are,S,W)*
13 AN,AX,AN(DR.)ON – anax andron = Lord of men., often applied to Agamemnon
14 BLARNEYED – nearly* in bed
19 STEP-INS – (r)est*,PINS
21 IRON,ON
22 F,LOO,’S,Y
23 SOPHIE – I in hopes*
24 EASLE = hot ashes – hidden word
27 UP,S(a)Y – a “carousal”
28 BA(c)K,U – city near the Caspian Sea if I remember right from Jonathan Dimbleby’s Russia series.

4 comments on “Mephisto 2498 – Tim Moorey”

  1. I unconsciously wrote in MERGANSERS for the ducks being lost on finding a county with a K in it that isn’t Kerry or —kshire. LDOPA and RAINFOREST got me started, but i needed Chambers to (almost) finish.
  2. I gave up on this one. I struggled to get about two thirds of the answers but lost interest – it was just too hard for me.
    This Sunday’s, however, is an altogether different story.
    1. I’m just catching up on Mephisto after my holiday and wanted to say don’t kick yourself over this puzzle. It’s a very difficult one.

      So far as I can see the next week’s hasn’t been blogged but from your comment I’m guessing you finished it in style. So well done. If you do have any questions on it let me know and I’ll try to help. Jimbo.

  3. I caught up with this one on my return from holiday. What an excellent puzzle! I managed to find an alternative answer to 4D “arar” the sandarac tree (ar=arab; ra=artist) which held me up until 11A had to be “man u”. When will I learn to be cautious with these tricky four letter words!

    This is not a puzzle for new solvers with, as Peter says, very few starter clues, a difficult anagram at 29A and some fiendish constructions. Thanks to Tim Moorey for a lot of fun. Jimbo.

Comments are closed.