Solving time: 4 hours?
I found this the toughest Mephisto for a long while and took three sessions to solve it, with a bit of mild cheating at the end, using a Chambers CD-Rom wildcard search to save time identifying possible A??E words at 31 before finding the answer to 28 to finish the puzzle. Very few clues solved before I started using Chambers.
Solving order: 6D (so no acrosses solved on first look), 5A as ???ABLE, 11, 9 (uncertain), 17, 25, 5A completed, 9 (confirmed), 7, 15, 8, 33, 16, 10, 5D, 24A, 22, 21, 20, 1D (uncertain), 12, 13, 30, 26, 24, 32, 23, 27, 18, 14, 29, 19, 3, 1A, 4, 1D confirmed, 2, 31, 28
Meanwhile, the cock-up with yesterdays’s online Times puzzle has been topped by today’s Mephisto – you can see a grid, but there’s not a clue in sight.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | DUMAS = DUMA(i)S(t) (the Duma is the Russian parliament) – should have been quite easy, but Albert CAMUS got in first as an idea, and wouldn’t go away |
| 5 | PAC = rec. of cap=head,ABLE=rev. of Elba |
| 10 | EVA = girl,N = name – another relatively easy wordplay, but I was distracted for a while by wondering about boys called (DI,OR) or something similar |
| 11 | HEIRSHIP = “airship” = dirigible |
| 12 | B.(UTTER)P.,A(ffect),T(rading) |
| 15 | AREA – ch. = child removed from areach, a Spenserian or “lost” word for seize |
| 16 | SENITI = 1/100 of a Tongan paranga – TIN rev. in S.E., I – &lit. |
| 17 | A.B.(DAB=expert)’S |
| 18 | RAMFEEZLES – Z = Zambia, in (free meals)* |
| 20 | DI'(SHALLOW)S |
| 24 | ANCONA = an Italian port – CON=knock, in ANA=gossip |
| 25 | ON = close to,AGRA |
| 26 | TARP = rev. of prat as in pratfall |
| 29 | PLEIOMERY = surplus (possibly of parts – the C. def isn’t very clear) – I in employer* |
| 30 | LET,BLOOD=claret – to cup is to let blood in a particular way |
| 31 | (b)ARLE(y) |
| 32 | T(SAB=cry (Scots),I)AN |
| 33 | ALL,E=earth,(poo)L |
| Down | |
| 1 | DEBASED – BASE = HQ, in D Ed. = Doctor of Education |
| 2 | MAT(in)S – to mat = to frost when you’re talking about treatment of glass surfaces |
| 3 | AN,TLIA=tail* |
| 4 | S,(w)HET – the “appetizer” meaning of whet was new to me |
| 5 | PERSIFLAGE – “per, side” = “a, party in opposition”, with FLAG replacing D |
| 6 | CRABB(y),E – George Crabbe wrote “The Borough”, on which the libretto for Britten’s Peter Grimes was based |
| 7 | BHARAL – rev. of (RAH in LAB) – the bharal is the blue-faced sheep of the Himalayas |
| 8 | LIVE=last,BEARER=runner – a molly is a fish that bears live young |
| 9 | EPHAS = shape* – ephas and homers are both Hebrew measures of capacity |
| 13 | UREDINALES = rust-fungi, which are plant parasites – unrealised* – |
| 14 | PHAEL = ((c)haple(t))*,ONION=head |
| 19 | STAN(d),YEL(l) |
| 21 | SC(R)OT,A=acting – I though of scrotum for “wrinkled retainer” but not the right plural |
| 22 | ANELLI = rev. of (ill,Ena) |
| 23 | WAD,MAL(e) |
| 24 | ATILT – rev. of T=time,(LIT)A |
| 27 | COD=fellow,A |
| 28 | HERL = a fishing fly – HERD=harbour, with L replacing D |
Off to a flying rather lucky start. I’ve just written a piece for our Residents Association website in which I referred to Dorset Council as the Dorchester Duma and I’ve nearly finished reading a biography of Napoleon so 1A and 5A went straight in. In Mephisto terms that is hitting the ground running and whilst I thought it a good hard puzzle I was never struggling.
Today I’ve had to go and buy the paper. Missing out one clue I can at least understand but how can you put up a puzzle without a single clue? It completely defeats me.