Mephisto 2606 by Tim Moorey

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Mephisto
From time to time the Times Crossword Club does its best to prevent us from doing and blogging its crosswords. This puzzle has still not appeared on the Club Site, but thanks to a strong team effort we can bring you the full solution. Peter obtained an electronic form of the puzzle and e-mailed it to me in time for me to solve the puzzle Friday morning and write the blog on Saturday, with time saving help from him on the word play for four answers that I had guessed from definitions and checkers (asterisked below). I’ve had to fit this blog in amongst other tasks so my apologies if it contains any errors or appears skimped.

It’s a good puzzle and one has to feel sorry for Tim Moorey who has been denied a slice of his audience after spending a good deal of time producing it. I was solving against the clock a bit (which I don’t really enjoy) and perhaps for that reason found it a little harder than average. Quite how the Times mis-manages this site in such spectacular fashion remains a mystery for, to quote Alice, curiouser and curiouser, 2607 is available on time!

Across
1 PHASMA – P(HAS-M)A; M=marks (old German currency); AP=apparently; the stick insect;
5 VOLERY – V(LO reversed)ERY; where they repair aircraft;
9 SALLOWER – SAL-LOWER;
11 * MAN,FRIDAYS – MAN(FRIDA)Y-S; a large number=MANY; Sweden=S; local female=FRIDA (according to Wiki a Nordic name);
12 LIME – two meanings 1=hang about in the Caribbean 2=cement;
13 ANAN – A-N-A-N; American=A; advance=A; new=N so two of them=news; old dialect for no-comprendo;
16 LERNE – LE(RN)E; nurse=RN; the Lee (or Lea) is a tributary of the Thames;
17 AYESHA – A-YES-HA(dj); the Child Wife of Muhammad;
19 ASSIGN – AS-SIGN; All sections (insurance)=AS; cross=SIGN;
20 SMALTI – S-MALT-I; second=S; whisky=MALT; in=I; coloured glasses;
22 MYSORE – MY-SORE; the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India;
25 VAREC – (RAV reversed)-E(at)-C(hinese); teacher=rabbi=RAV; kelp;
28 * LELY – L(on)ELY; Sir Peter Lely (1618 – 1680) was a Dutch painter;
29 ONST – many=tons then move T=tense to give ONST; dialect for “once”;
30 RAPPORTEUR – RAPPORT-EUR; a researcher;
31 DIARRHEA – (RAID reversed)-RHEA; US spelling of Montezuma’s revenge=the runs;
32 ARAYSE – A(RAYS)E; old form of araise;
33 ASTONY – AS-TONY; see “astonish” in C;
 
Down
1 PSYLLA – ALLYS-P all reversed; quiet=piano=P; the jumping plant lice;
2 HAZILY – young prince=HARRY (present UK royal family) then change RR=Rolls Royce to Zil=Russian manufacturer; for new solvers C does not support RR=Rolls Royce, giving only Rolls and Roller in addition to the full name but you will find it used reasonably often both here and in the daily cryptic;
3 SLAES – SEAL-S all reversed; SEAL=seel=season; is=S; sloes in Sutherland;
4 MONAL – M(ON)AL; about=ON; Malaysia=MAL; a brightly coloured pheasant;
5 VERAPAMIL – VE(R-A-PAM)IL; take=R; a pamphlet= A PAM; cover=VEIL; a drug;
6 LIDLESS – LIDL-ESS; chain=ESS; discount store=LIDL; a hat is a lid;
7 ETAERIOS – (eater is)* surrounds O=zero=duck (cricket); a fruit;
8 YES-MEN – YE(S)MEN; society=S;
10 * DYING – D(all)YING;
14 NIAISERIE – (IAIN reversed)-SERIE(s); Irish John=IAIN (see names section in C); foolishness;
15 HEARTPEA – (the area)* surrounds P=parking; not a mountaineer but a climbing plant;
18 SLEEPRY – (EELS reversed)-PRY; soporific in Sterling;
20 SVARGA – GRAV(e)S reversed-A; Indian heaven (see swarga in C);
21 MARAS – MAR-AS: the Patagonian hare;
23 * RUSHEN – (hundreds without d=day twice)*; to found is to melt=anagrind; of reeds is definition;
24 ESTRAY – EST-RAY; is French=EST; note (music)=RAY; a stray animal belonging to the Lord of the Manor;
26 OYERS – O-YE(R)S; nothing=O; R=Regina=queen; old assizes;
27 YOURT – (cry out without c=clubs)*; Siberian tent (see yurt in C);

24 comments on “Mephisto 2606 by Tim Moorey”

  1. Oh no it isn’t! The puzzle on the Crossword Club site is 2608 by Mike Laws (although the instructions are to send it to Mephisto 2607, and to email Paul McKenna with queries and comments). It’s a different puzzle from the real 2607 by Paul McKenna in the paper, so it must be next week’s.
    1. You couldn’t make this up!! Presumably you’re guessing when you say “It’s 2608”? I think George is scheduled to blog 2607, so good luck sorting that out, mate. Hopefully by next Sunday it will all be sorted out – or maybe not.
      1. No, I think it’s definitely 2608. It’s printed in the old style (small grid, thick bars, large numbers that use up half the cell, setter’s name in title). Unless it’s a reprint of a much earlier puzzle, of course…
        1. There may not be a Mephisto report next week – we can’t blog 2608 next Sunday because newsprint solvers won’t see it until then. Whether we blog 2607 that day depends on how long the Times club site take to put up a correct 2607 – we’ll keep you posted.
          2. Peter, I have extracted 2607 from the Times site – not a very difficult one for a Paul McKenna! I could post the clues on here if appropriate but I can’t include the grid. I could email the whole file to someone if you wish.

            John Young

            1. John,

              Please don’t post 2607 here – I’ve already decided on some previous occasion that it’s not our job to provide missing puzzles – people complaining to the Times about them need to be able to say that they were unabvle to get the puzzle.

              Peter

          3. In a further twist to this sorry tale the puzzle previously called 2607 has now been renumbered 2608 but is still dated 15th August. This means that 2606 is still missing as is 2607 now. However anybody going to the site today will still pick up 2608 as the current puzzle!
    1. No – too glad to just get the puzzle. If you spotted something, just claim the credit!
  4. I didn’t get to this until someone pointed me at the link on the Sunday Times site (I see there is a link for this week’s in an earlier comment). There was some nice wordplay here, particularly liked DYING.
  5. I can’t access the Times site without paying, which I am reluctant to do.. was there not talk of free access being available to crossword club members? Is there still a working link anywhere, does anyone know?
    1. I don’t think there was any talk of long-term free access for club members from the Times. I have free access at present but can’t remember exactly why, and I don’t expect it to last forever.
      1. I was sent an access code number, as a member of the crossword club, which when duly entered (well, on the second attempt; on the first try I couldn’t get past the prove you’re a human hurdle no matter how many times I tried) gave me free access to The Times and Sunday Times till 31st January 2011, on which date the crossword world as we know it may well end, although they are still selling year long subscriptions to the crossword club itself, so who knows.
  6. In the last hour or so, the Mephisto puzzles on the club site have been fixed – 2606 is now available, and 2607, the puzzle which should have appeared on Sunday 15 Aug, is now there. 2608 has been removed for the moment, which seems rather pointless, but as far as I can tell from a quick look, the recent puzzles that are displayed are now correct.

    The current silence of the bulletin board means that there’s no apology for the lateness of 2606 (nine days) or the wrong puzzle appearing on the 15th.

  7. Now that it’s finally appeared I thought I’d have a pop at this. Having nearly finished my first two attempts at the Mephisto, albeit over a very long period of time and with extensive use of aids, I was feeling quietly confident.
    After three separate attempts I have failed to get a SINGLE CLUE.
    Is this normal?
    Maybe my brain’s on the blink. In any event I’m going to go through the blog now and try and work out where it all went wrong. Or rather, where it failed even remotely to go right.
    Yours,
    Discouraged of West London
    1. Chin up K – there’s nothing unusual going on here. On reflection this was a difficult puzzle and I’m not surprised that you found it tough. My apprenticeship was served doing Ximenes and it was quite some time before I even came close to finishing one.

      Go through the blog in detail – I believe one learns more from difficult puzzles than from easier ones – and ask if you have any doubts or unresolved difficulties. Make sure you have read the solving tips in memories and understand the hypothesis approach to clue analysis.

      Make a note of the number of the puzzle and try to do it again in 6 months time.

      1. Thanks.
        I went through about a third of the blog yesterday evening – definitely a useful exercise.
        One thing that’s already clear is that I need to be much more on the lookout for abbreviations. They seem to be used a lot and the basis for them seems to be less “you may be familiar with this as an abbreviation” and more “this is in Chambers”. A = advance, for instance.
        Even with Chambers though I’m completely stumped by take=R in 5dn. Can you explain?

        1. Thank you for reminding me about abbreviations. The situation is as you suggest – if it’s in C then it’s fair game (hence my little diatribe about RR for Rolls Royce)

          In C go to the R section and you will find r=radius; recipe (Latin), take; right; rule (law).

          When I was learning I had a list of the abbreviations that I built up over time as crosswords came and went that I used to consult all the time.

          1. Thanks. Must have missed that when I looked yesterday evening. Any idea how this particular abbreviation might actually be used?!

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