Mephisto 2613 – Paul McKenna

Author   petebiddlecombePosted on Categories Mephisto
Solving time: Not recorded but I seem to remember feeling relieved that I could get straight on with Azed 2000 after solving this one – the various blogging schedules and one swap left me with 5 to blog from the same weekend. When I get to the end of this report, I’ll only have the Inquisitor left, which fortunately has a longer time lag than the Sunday barred puzzles. Anyway, I’m going to guess that this took 90 minutes or so. It got a bit x-certificate at times but was fun to solve and review.

Across
1 U,P(G)USHES
7 A,C=colt,PU=pulled up (horse racing) – an ACPU is an “auxiliary computer power unit” – abbreviations are fairly rare as answers, but I can’t see any really logical objection to them when everything else in Chambers is fair game
10 NORTHERN = N, F = France, ERN = “processed, what’s central to Furness” (my comma)
11 HIP = joint, PAR = standard, I, ON – there isn’t a word for a “petrified horse” – this is a type of horse known only from fossils
13 ULNA – reverse hidden in “German Lufthansa” – pretty easy as “German” must be there for a reason
15 S.E. DATE = “escort from Florida region”
16 TH(R,O)AT – throat = the end of a gaff next to the mast
17 AVER = “declare” and “old cattle” – (w)AVER
18 H = husband, EARTH = body
19 O(DD = Doctor of Divinity = religious specialist)MAN – an oddman is a person with a casting vote
22 EKES = supplements (Scots) – (p)EKES – for those puzzled by a new alternative to Jock or Mac, here’s Rab C Nesbitt
24 WED = take the plunge, GIE = “in Perth to show (= give)” – see Youtube for a better desription of “wedgie” than I can manage in words (possibly not for office viewing)
25 XEBECS – BEC(k) in SEX = “it”
27 GSOH = “found in personal ads” – SO replaces OS=opening, in GOSH=Wow!
29 LUDERICKS = Aussie fish – (cruel kids)*
30 EXTREME SPORT – (pretexts Rome)*
31 G((bronz)E)AT – an &Lit – GEAT=an opening through which metal (such as broze) is poured into a mould, and GAT = an opening between sandbanks
32 TITYRE-TU = “a member of a 17c fraternity of aristocratic hooligans” – (courtesty title – lose, C(red))*
 
Down
1 UNAU – UNA = Irish Lass (C says this is “Anglicized as Oona or Oonagh”, but Una looks more English from here!), U(nwelcome)
2 POULES = “Chicken S-“, DE LUXE = “supreme” – the answer means a lady of the night, for whom mutton, stew and tart are all synonyms
3 GRAND = G, ADD=annex, Y
4 SHIITE = Ali’s believer (see the C def. for why) – I = in, “boxed” in SHITE = “rubbish, offensive” (my comma)
5 HE(P.P.E.)R – hep = “jazz wise” goes back at least 50 years. Don’t get me started on why Oxford University still don’t let people read Economics as a Bachelor’s degree. My excuse for going to LSE instead.
6 S(NAT. = nationalist = one favouring unity – as long as the size of the unit is right!)HE
7 A = “they” (dialect),FR.,O = ring
8 PROBATE COURT – (P=soft, curator to be)*
9 UNNETHES = with difficulty – hidden word
12 PA(T(heir)H – here’s the Maori version of Maiden Castle
14 HORS=outside,E=Eagle’s Head,SHOE = Oxford – sadly there’s no such pub for PPE scholars to drink at
15 SHOW,AL.,e.g.
20 AIGRET = (great, I(nteresting)* – another all-in-one/&lit
21 NEVI = American spots (var. of naevi) – “fine vino” without the fino=dry sherry
22 EX = from (not ex- = old), O = old, C.E.,T=time
23 KECKSY – a false singular of kex=umbelliferous stalk – (C,KY.) in KEY=chief
26 PER(sis)T – a pert is someone cheeky
28 HUT=banda,U=it’s for all to see – whole clue presumably true for a Hutu, so another all-in-one

5 comments on “Mephisto 2613 – Paul McKenna”

  1. I did them the other way around completing this after AZED 2000 (an excellent puzzle)

    I thought it was well up to standard and did wonder quite how I might have blogged WEDGIE (not a phrase I’d come across before). I think your solution is a good one!! I don’t have any problem with abbreviations and we have two here (GSOH as well as ACPU). Did just ponder the fairness of SE=Florida region but I guess it’s obvious enough.

    Fascinated by the Oxford/LSE remark – do tell!!

    1. Not that much to tell – just the difference between a set of courses mixing Economics with something else, and ones that don’t force you to do that. I’d already been put off the mixing idea by moving schools and having to switch from an Economics A-level to one mixing it with that old-fashioned school subject “British Constitution”.

      I’m sure you can study 100% Economics at Cambridge so it’s not the whole story, but the extra time and work involved in Oxbridge applications back then (and some preference for London rather than a “university city”) meant that LSE was my target.

  2. I’ve been calling the bottom right corner of crosswords Florida for some time. It’s a nice change from Home Counties or whatever else is used to indicate SE.

    Thanks for the explanation of HEPPER – wrote it straight in from the definition. At least that was right, I saw “horse” and rather happily wrote in CAPARISON at 11 and wondered why it didn’t work.

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