Mephisto 2524 Mike Laws

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Mephisto
I’m standing in for Robert.

I don’t time myself solving Mephisto. However, as luck would have it as I downloaded this puzzle the clock struck 9am. As I went to make myself a coffee after finishing the same clock struck 9.30am. That must be the fastest I have ever completed a Mephisto/AZED/Ximenes puzzle.

I read 1A and realised it was a double anagram so I went to the down clues to get some checking letters. I then solved 2D through 26D with no references to Chambers (I’ve seen both NOIL and ALAMEDA before). I tidied up the across clues and that was that! There is one query at 12A

Across
1 KATABOTHRON – (tank)* containing (bathroo)*; Mike=m (phonetic alphabet); an underground water channel (C);
10 PRUH – sounds like “Pru” short for Gordo’s jilted girlfriend Prudence; PRUH=proo=whoa in Aberdeen (C);
11 FEIJOA – (if joe a)*; an evergreen shrub (C);
12 SEA,URCHIN – probably SE(char + u)*IN(e) with no truncation indicator for SEINE or (less likely) SEA(URCHI)N with no explanation of “urchi” or I’m missing something;
13 INBOARD – IN-B(O)ARD; O=on; ignore the capital “H” of Hull;
15 VELDT – VE(LD)T;
16 INTRADA – INT-RADA; interest=INT; RADA=Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; musical term for a prelude;
18 NEEDLER – NEEDLE-R(emark); a sharp=a needle; a NEEDLER makes needles (C);
21 TABLEAU – T(ABLE)AU; cross=TAU;
23 EQUATOR – E-QUARTO then move “R” to the end;
25 IGLOO – I-G(L)OO;
27 GYTRASH – G(try)*ASH; gash-2= slang for extra; dialect (not signposted) for a ghost;
28 ARSENIATE – ARSE-N(I)ATE(s); tail=ARSE; docked tail=NATE(s); see “arsenic” in Chambers;
29 NANDOO – NAN-DO-O; DO=ditto; NANDOO=nandu=the rhea (C);
30 SKIP – two meanings; 1=skipper; 2=large container on your drive that your neighbours fill up with their rubbish;
31 QUARTERBACK – QUARTER-BACK; mercy=QUARTER; support=BACK; it’s American football not soccer;
 
Down
2 ARANEA – A(RAN)E-A: AE=one in Glasgow; the common garden spider(common in crosswords that is);
3 TUMBLEBUG – TUM-BLEB-U(nderdo)G; corporation=TUM; blister=BLEB and an irritating person; the dung beetle;
4 BREATHE – (bear)*-THE;
5 OCARINA – O-CARINA; O=of; CARINA=a constellation; an egg shaped wind instrument;
6 HERAT – H-ERA-T; very easy but nice clue;
7 RICARDO – RI(CARD)O; a caution=an amusing person=a CARD; reference David “Comparative Advantage” Ricardo 1772-1823;
8 NOIL – LION reversed; short pieces of wool combed from longer pieces;
9 KANGAROO-HOP – what can one say? ;
10 PRIVATE,BANK – PRIVATE=soldier; BANK=cover over (a fire); look under “bank” in Chambers;
14 BALALAIKA – BALA-LAIKA; beautiful lake BALA (Llyn Tegid) in Gwynedd; LAIKA=Finnish dog; a Russian guitar;
17 ALAMEDA – ALA(r)MED-A; Romeo=R=phonetic alphabet; a walk between poplar trees;
19 EURYALE – (rue reversed)-YALE; one of Medusa’s immortal sisters (inventor of the wifely stare with bellow);
20 EMITTER – E(MITT)ER; always=ever=EER; part of a transistor;
22 COSMIC – CO(S)MIC; S from (mis)S(ion); reference Action Comics 1938;
24 TENOR – TEN-OR;
26 IRAQ – I(RA)Q; IQ=Intelligence Quotient (a measure of how well you do intelligence tests); RA=Royal Academy;

13 comments on “Mephisto 2524 Mike Laws”

  1. I had the opposite experience with a skip recently. 3=large container on your drive that you fill with your rubbish, which the neighbours help themselves to. We were able to get twice as much in it than we thought we would!

    12A – I think you’re right with the first explanation. I didn’t check it at the time, just assuming it was an alternative spelling of SEINE.

    1. I love the story about the skip. I know times are hard but….

      12A concerns me because it looks like another clue mistake. I was hoping the third explanation would be the correct one!

  2. I agree regarding the error in 12a. However, if we extend the permitted range of dictionaries ….. 🙂

    “SEIN, n. [L. sagena.] A large net for catching fish. The seins used for taking shad in the Connecticut, sometimes sweep nearly the whole breadth of the river.”

    Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

    GRM

  4. I agree this one was on the easier side of barred-grid, but I enjoyed doing it. I got SEA URCHIN from the definition and didn’t think about the container word. In trying to finish this without aids I missed on the anagram at 1 and switched the unchecked O and A, I peeked at Chambers to check on some unfamiliar words and caught the error.
  5. Bottoms
    I don’t time Mephistos – for obvious reasons – but this was certainly quite approachable. Like linxit, I just assumed SEIN was a short form.

    The “double bottom” at 28 seems to have set a trend – there was a “backside” in a Times cryptic last week and (without giving too much away I hope) yet another different one in the current Mephisto. Where will it all end?

      1. But me no butts. Actually I think the clues are great, but then for some reason the British have always found bottoms funny – they are a staple of Brit popular humour.
  6. Jimbo, you have recently been speculating on whether the daily Times cryptic is being dumbed down. Do you think that this applies to the Mephisto as well?

    I ask because I have completed (using Chambers only)three of the past four in under one hour (best ever: 48 minutes). Unheard of!

    JamesM

    1. This one was I hope exceptional but I too have been regularly finishing them in fairly short order lately so I’m very interested in your similar experience. They only appear once a week so trends are harder to spot and I’m reserving judgement for the moment but let’s revisit this in say a month and see what we think.
    1. Interesting. I wouldn’t have thought of that I don’t think. I didn’t bother to look it up but have done now. As I guess you would expect Chambers only gives the breed.

      What’s your view on the “dumbing down” comment made above. I bet you finished this one in about 10 minutes!!

      1. I saw that you’d considered it very easy, so had a go. I didn’t set a stunning time and actually gave up on the ghost and one or two others. I guess I might have finished it in 40 or so with some help from Chambers at the end (most was done without). I think easiness on barred-grid puzzles depends hugely on what you spot quickly early on and where the stuff you do spot fits in the grid. I have finished a Mephisto inside 10 – one of the early ones in the last book of Mephistos – but usually try for a Chambers-free solution rather than the quickest possible.

        I’m not yet convinced that the daily or Mephisto is being dumbed down.

        Edited at 2009-01-19 05:48 pm (UTC)

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