Mephisto 2576 Tim Moorey

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Mephisto
When the first three across clues went straight in I thought we were in for another 35 minute jog but it was not to be. For the first time in quite a while this puzzle took me 20 minutes longer to complete than the AZED puzzle published on the same day. After my first pass through the clues I had a lot of the NW corner and quite a bit of the SE corner but the rest was looking a bit blank. From there it took some hard work to finish in just over the hour. There are a smattering of very good clues and one excellent one at 11A which I enjoyed deriving from wordplay and checking letters.

For new solvers (C) = Chambers used to verify part of a clue (S) = starter clue (see memories/solving tips at the top of the page)

Across
1 GRANDPA – GRAND-P-A; (large) piano=(concert) GRAND; (small) piano=P; first-class=A; what Julian called Thomas Huxley; not wholly convinced by “veteran”,during my fostering days I met too many under the age of 40. However it’s a difficult word to find a synonym for; S;
6 GNASH – G(N)ASH; N=ending in “exhaustion”; GASH=slang for surplus to requirement; S;
10 OLGA – (AGLO(w) reversed); Ms Corbitt, no doubt; S;
11 HAEREMAI – (nort)H-A-ERE-M(aori)-A-I; term=the end (from north)=H; one=A; before=ERE; area=A; island=I; the whole word is a Maori greeting; gave a cheer when I looked it up and there it was; brilliant clue; C;
12 CHIVALRIC – CH-(rival)*-IC; (to play a) game is the anagrind. I took far too long to spot that;
15 FRIS – FRIS(k); how those with a delicate indigestion move soon after eating goulash perhaps? ; C;
16 RASHER – RAS-HER; Ethiopian prince=RAS; heres=HER=heir; C;
17 BREECH – B(R)EECH; prat=arse=BREECH;
18 FOREBITTER – FORE-BITTER; previously=FORE; sharp=BITTER; an American sea shanty; C;
20 SANDINISTA – (is a=one in stand)*; the socialist revolutionaries of Nicaragua;
24 SCYPHI – (physic)*; large drinking cups favoured by Alexander the Great but not by Aristotle?; C;
25 TOOL,UP – PU(LOO)T all reversed; placed=PUT; head=toilet=LOO; kit is the definition;
26 PHAT – P-HAT(red); fine, sexy; one wonders what might happen if you used the chat up line “you’re looking particularly phat tonight”; C;
29 PARISHENS – PARIS-HENS; Baldernock etc or les poules de Pigalle? Souvenirs mes amis; C;
30 INFAMIES – (fine aims)*; S;
31 ERSE – hidden reversed (toubl)ES RE(turning); S;
32 MASUS – MAS-US; une ferme en Provence=MAS; me=US; Tokyo salmon; C;
33 OSIERED – DERE-IS-O all reversed; injury=DERE (obsolete=as before); willow used to make a basket; C;
 
Down
1 GO-CARTS – STRA(CO)G all reversed; vagrant=STRAG; more usually “go-karts”; a far cry from the box cart that my father made so that I could go out before school and collect manure from the milk round horse for his roses; C;
2 AGIN – gain=benefit and move “a” to form AGIN; S;
3 NAVAHO – (A VAN all reversed)-HO; ancient Dine people now settled in SW USA; S;
4 DHAL – (LAH-D all reversed); a tasty purée of beans and/or peas; S;
5 PALFRENIER – (FLAP reversed)-REN(t)IER; a horse’s groom (stable business!); nice clue for a word which was the subject of AZED’s clue writing competition in A1949 circa September-October 2009;
6 GRIGRI – G(RIG)RI(p); fit=RIG; travel bag=grip; originally an African Voodoo charm but supposedly carried by policemen in New Orleans!!; C;
7 AMORET – AMOR(E)T; dejected=AMORT; old word (hence former) for a sweetheart; C;
8 SALICETUM – (is clue tam)*; remove “e”=a shred of evidence from “tame”; the willow tree from which (cricket) bats are made;
9 HIPS – two meanings 1=cheers (hip! hip!), 2=fruit of the dog rose used to make a syrup; S;
13 RABBITRIES – RABBI-TRIES; does=female rabbits; rabbit hutches; excellent clue;
14 MATACHINA – MAT-A-CHINA; pal=mate=CHINA (plate); female version of a Mexican masked sword dance; C;
19 REPOSED – RE-POS-ED; about=RE; chamber(pot)s=POS; edition=ED; nice misleading construction;
21 NYAFFS – S(FF)AY-(Aberdee)N all reversed; very loud=FF; for example=SAY; Scottish terrier talk; C;
22 IHRAMS – (Shia + m=millions + r=take)*; the garment worn by pilgrims to Mecca; excellent clue;
23 TOWHEE – TO-WHEE(l); a bunting; C;S;
26 PLIM – P-LIM(bs); BS=Bachelor of Surgery; to swell; C;
27 OSSI – OSSI(a); “or” in Italian music=ossia; opposite of Wessi, somebody from East Germany before reunification; there are many famous Ossi-Wessi jokes. Wessi: why is a banana curved? Ossi: what’s a banana?; How do you double the value of a Trabant? Put fuel in it; usw; S;
28 SERR – S-ERR; S=Sun; to commute on the Serrcle Line, presumably;

20 comments on “Mephisto 2576 Tim Moorey”

  1. This one took me a few sittings but I got there in the end! Mind you I think I made it harder than it was – there were plenty of Doh! moments where I had failed to see the obvious (for example I thought of TOOL UP early on but failed to connect LOO and head despite having done some sailing!)

    I spent ages trying to work “marae” into 11ac as the Maori area (“marae” “hangi” “ngaio” and “kia ora” are about my entire Maori vocabulary, the last learned from soft drink bottles as a kid!)

    I am sure PALFRENIER has appeared in Mephisto within the last year with similar wordplay (ie FLAP < + REN(t)IER) but with slightly different wording.

    I had similar thoughts on PHAT and asked my daughter if she would take it as a compliment, and got words which had the general meaning of an emphatic “No”. (Not that she could ever think I was serious – she has to walk round in the shower to get wet.)

  2. This was harder than usual and took me about 1½ hours. I missed out on Jimbo’s first three starters and, surprisingly, got started with the straight anagram Scyphi and then Matachina, but only because I had just been listening to Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite with its Mattachins (sic) movement. Thereafter it was a slog. Whenever I got a longish word, such as Rabbitries, I found that the checking letters were mainly unhelpful. Thanks to Jimbo for explaining the wordplay to Salicetum, Osiered and Haeremai. I was happy just to get the answers.
  3. I found the bottom half of this a real struggle, but crawled home in the end. Loved the clue for SANDANISTA
  4. I recently downloaded the Chambers app for my iPod when the price dropped to £4.99 and Santa kindly left Bradford’s in my stocking so, suitably armed, I’ve resolved to tackle Mephisto this year.

    I finished this in dribs and drabs between jobs on the Sunday so have no idea how long it took but I never got really stuck and enjoyed the challenge greatly.

    I had queries against 6 clues, 5 of which Jimbo’s blog has cleraed up (thanks Jimbo) but the 6th remains a mystery: where does the R in ihrams come from? Even the blog points to just an anagram of shia + m.

    3. I forgot to warn you that 2577 contains a plural form that I can’t find in C. You’ll find the singular and if you Google what you derive from wordplay you can verify the plural.

      I didn’t want you going bananas trying to find something which, so far as I can see, unusually isn’t present.

      1. Thanks, Jimbo. Talking of plurals of foreign words, I had a question mark against MASUS which sounded odd to me. I couldn’t find anything authoritative on the subject (OED doesn’t even have MASU) but found this discussion:

        http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-8058.html

        I tend towards AWH’s view, that if a word (such as kimono or tsunami) has been sufficiently absorbed into English it’s OK to add “s”, but not where it it still distinctly Japanese. I would put MASU in the latter category, but like AWH that’s just a personal view.

        1. Thanks for the link Kurihan – a really interesting discussion. In the spirit of what is said there I think MASUS sounded OK to me and even though C is silent on the plural form I never thought that it would cause a problem in the context of this crossword.

          As far as 2577 is concerned I suspect somebody just starting out like Penfold could be thrown by what for me is a C oversight – the plural is not obvious and should be in the dictionary.

          1. A quick check indicates that C does give the plural form for some Japanese words – “samurai” “kimonos” “daimios” “tabi” “geta or getas” – but not others “netsuke” “obi” “tsunami” “daikon”.

            I can’t derive any rule from that, but to my ears (as a Japanese speaker) “kimonos” sounds OK but “getas” and “masus” don’t.

            It didn’t cause a problem as the wordplay was straightforward. I just find it a matter of curiosity – my son was recently told he was obsessive which he blamed on me!

            I agree on 2577. Some time ago I emailed Chambers to point out the inconsistent definitions of “cereal” and “sago” – they were appreciative and said they would correct it in the next edition (if they do I wonder how long the Mephisto setters will take to catch up!).

            I’m sure they would appreciate a comment on this.

              1. I’ve sent an e-mail to C about the missing plural

                Being tagged as obsessive is a cross those with our love of words have to bear. However, they always want us in their team when the family decides to indulge itself in Trivial Pursuits!

          2. If it’s the answer I think it is (without being too specific, a word from the Southern hemisphere?) I got there with a combination of the wordplay components and checked final letter. I have to say I’m not sure I noticed that the plural was missing from C.
  5. Enjoyed this one. Forgot how long it took, but I would say it was on the hard side of average.

    I did get ihrams, but r = recipe = take is a bit too much of a stretch for me. Even Chambers only has “r = recipe (lat)” in italics.

    1. To be fair, Chambers has “recipe (L), take;”. Anyway it does come up from time to time and is worth remembering.
  6. R= recipe=take featured on Don Manley’s BBC4 program on crosswords. I think when Colin Dexter was doing his bit about Morse and crosswords.
    Regards
    Andrew Kitching
    PS Jimbo, I thought latest AZED has some particularly good clues this week.
    1. Such as 26D for example? What I like about AZED is not just the seemingly endless supply of good clues but also the high and consistent overall standard. Always good value!

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