Mephisto 2592: Paul McKenna

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
Well last weekend was a little bit of a Paul McKenna overload, with a new Auctor Listener puzzle, he also sent me an upcoming Mephisto to test-solve and this one. Head-spinning time. I found this really really difficult, though most of it was over 26 down (which I had to get by fingering through the S section of Chambers painstakingly, it may be a common word to some of you and go straight in) which resulted in a head-smack when I saw what it was. There’s also an interesting dilemma at 22 across, and some wordplay I don’t quite get, which means there’s a chance I’ve got something wrong. Making mistakes is good for comments, so here we go…

Across
1 UPS,I’D,E: UPSes are the bane of my existence, they’re great when they work, but I’ve had two blow on me with “lifetime guarantees” and their definition of lifetime can’t be found in Chambers (I’m talking about you, TrippLite, grrr)
6 JOCOSE: ‘COS in JOE
12 OVERTHROWN: OVERT then ROW in HN
13 ALT,O: ALT for REST is apparently from Milton or French or Spanish or German, according to Chambers, the big red hedge-sitter
14 SAM,OYE,D: OE, OYE or OY for a grandchild should be burned in the brain of the barred-grid tackler
15 NEOLITH: anagram of UNHOLIEST – US
18 FISH: IF reversed (SUPPOSTION), then SHY
20 CUT,TY(E): Can’t find CUT in Chambers, but I don’t think this can be anything else
22 THRESHER: the bird version I think confirms it has to be THRESHER and not THRASHER
24 LEECH,IN,G: didn’t know LEECH was the side of a sail, this one from the definition
25 MOATS: A in MOTS (of which I have had many bon, n’est ce pas)
27 AS,CUS(s)
30 (f)EEL LIKE
32 DIORAMA: IO (cry) in DRAMA
33 ESAU: composite anagram of AT ISSUE less IT’S
34 INTER,N,MEN,T: this gave me all sorts of troubles because I couldn’t get out of my head IN, (four letter word for new), MEN,T to the point it ended up being my last entry
35 TENDER: double definition, one being a ship that tips… reminds me of an old U.S. joke – what’s the difference between a canoe and a Canadian? Canoes tip
36 SUNSET: US rev, then NEST with the insides mixed up. Oh, sorry Canadians, I really like Canada.
 
Down
2 PILEI: PILE(down), then 1 – fun definition in Chambers. I lived in Halifax for a year and it was really lovely.
3 SO,TOS(e),PEAK: TOZE/TOSE was a find from a Listener a while ago that stuck
4 DELI: DELIVERY minus VERY, easy enough from the definition
5 ERSTWHILE: anagram of IT’S WHERE around L
7 OH,MIC(k): V=IRtual giveaway
8 CROC,USES: didn’t know CROC(ODILE) for students walking in double file
9 SWEATER: WE,ATE inside SR – muggy day
10 ENDS: At least I think so – END for room is confirmed by Chambers, but I can’t see the wordplay
11 MA,N,F.U.L.: is the N for a contraction of AND?
16 HORNBEAMS: (MAN,HORSE)* around B
17 ETHICISTS: (CITE THIS)*,S
19 HECT(ic),O,RED
21 LEONINE: EON(Gnostic power) in LINE, a verse (thanks Bradfords)
23 RISE UP: PURE SIR reversed without the R (end of SPECTATOR) – easy definition, tricky wordplay,
26 SPARE: double definition that held me up forever! A pleat in trousers. All sorts of other appealing answers came to me first, such as SNAKE
28 UKASE: definition is ACT, so the wordplay is USE about a half of a unit of currency that I can’t find right now (KATS?)
29 ADIT: hidden reversed
31 LIEU: LEU about I

4 comments on “Mephisto 2592: Paul McKenna”

  1. 10D is (leg)-ENDS. You have a code error at 7D George. My C gives CUT=a working horse (archaic) about 4 sentences above “cutter”.

    I think 22A is very open to debate as between THRASHER and THRESHER. C says “thrasher or thresher” for the bird and defines “thrasher” under “thrash” as “a thresher”

    I enjoyed this puzzle which I found testing without being over the top

  2. Thanks for all of those – I was looking at the 8th edition of Chambers so I wonder if the last version of cut is a recent addition, it’s easy to spot in the 11th (when you tell me where it is).
    1. I had not met the term before, but assumed that a “cut” was a gelding used as a working horse, as opposed to an “entire” or stallion.
  3. After two weeks of not getting started this was back to finishable for me. I am still a novice at these, some weeks I wonder if I am losing my wits, others if the setters are deliberately giving us easier meat.
    I think using the current Chambers is an alternative to weight training.

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