I found this the most challenging of the Mephistos of the last month or two – and it was all in the wordplay, there are some seldom-seen letter indicators and anagrindicators. I talked myself into a few holes, particularly thinking that the second letter of 1-across had to be U, an initial very wrong answer at 11 (so wrong I’ve scribbled over it and can’t see what I had written), as well as a hopeful CANING (if there is such a thing) at 5 just to hold up proceedings. I also invented G,ALEING at 19 – occasionally these things are solved in spite of oneself.
| Across |
| 1 |
QALAMDAN: NADA,Q about (s)MAL(l) all reversed |
| 10 |
INVOCATION: IN, then V for L in LOCATION |
| 11 |
OROTUND: ROT in (s)OUND removing the last letter of dross |
| 13 |
PEG,H: I got this before 2 down, and tried unsuccessfully in chambers to find POT,H (thinking pool) or PIN,H (thinking golf). I should have been thinking croquet |
| 14 |
INC,LIP – LIP = “touch with the lips, to kiss” confirmed in Chambers |
| 15 |
SALIENT: ALIEN in ST |
| 16 |
SHOL,A: The first part is HOLS with the S moved to the front |
| 19 |
GR,EG,ALE: drinking as the inserticator makes a nice surface |
| 23 |
PIRAI: I,A,RIP(=disturbed sea, aka “where have all the beach umbrellas gone) – another name for the piranha |
| 24 |
MAN,RENT: a homage |
| 26 |
EOTHEN: THE in (ONE)* – “well away” as anagrindicator |
| 28 |
L,IDE(a): L coming from the West (left) end of London – March the month |
| 31 |
CAN,DESCENT: I love these things in Chambers: can – the buttocks (N Am sl) |
| 32 |
E,(h)UGE: a popular term with kids in Australia in the 80s, oddly enough |
| 33 |
DIHEDRAL: (DR,HAILED)* – the angle between two planes |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
QU,OP: wordplay pretty obvious, but had to take a trip to Chambers before writing it in |
| 2 |
ABRE,ACTION: first part is (BEAR)* with down as the indicator. I was looking for an anagram of (A,THERAPIST) for a long time |
| 3 |
A,N,TH(r)ILL: nice wordplay |
| 4 |
MVULE: V in MULE – big African mulberry |
| 5 |
DONING: definition is “giving”, it’s the term (last letter) in prisoN inside DOING |
| 6 |
NAINSEL: INS in NAE,L |
| 7 |
O,TIC(k) |
| 8 |
DISLOAD: (LOIS)* in DAD and “out of tune” is our indicator |
| 9 |
ANAPAEST: (A,PEASANT)* – a poetic foot |
| 12 |
TILLANDSIA: LAND in (IS ATIL)* “ground” |
| 15 |
SUS(discover),PENCE |
| 17 |
RORTING: ORT(leftover scrap from a meal) in RING |
| 20 |
GIRL,OND: another word for GARLAND, “roast” DON(e) under GIRL |
| 22 |
NAUTCH: one of us would be U or S |
| 25 |
NG,WEE: if you don’t pass wee you’re in trouble! |
| 27 |
HADE(s) |
| 29 |
E,T AL: hmmm, LAT(as in LATRINE) for LADIES may be a stretch |
I hadn’t understood the wordplay for ET AL (thank you George). It was one of those puzzles where even the easier clues become hard – at 4dn V was obviously “against” but I thought “ULE” was the tree and eventually need 1ac to finish it off.
RORT is common Australian for a “scam”, I am slightly suspicious about RORTING as a noun in the “party” sense – particularly since it seems to derive from the verb which doesn’t include the “party” meaning.
My son explained to me why aircraft wings have a DIHEDRAL (ie are both canted upwards a little). If the plane rolls, one wing is horizontal and the other canted higher – the horizontal wing gives more lift so the roll corrects itself. The best ideas are always simple!
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