There is very little to say about this puzzle. It is the easiest Mephisto for weeks and I suspect one of the easiest ever published. Many of the clues would be regarded as simple in the daily cryptic. I wonder if it was meant to coincide with AZED 2,000 but appeared a week late? (AZED actually gets a passing mention). About 35 minutes to complete, less time than the prize Saturday puzzle that appeared the previous day.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CHAIR – CHAI(n)-R; the office of say a bishop; I detest the modern politically correct use of “chair”; |
| 5 | THISTLE – THIS-(let)*; a kilt tickler; |
| 10 | HANGER-ON – H(ANGER)ON; |
| 11 | OPAL – O-PAL; PAL=phase alternation line, European TV system; |
| 12 | RHAPSODIC – (hoard pics)*; |
| 14 | LEEK – KEEL reversed; |
| 16 | LISSES – (pe)-LISSES; PE=Peru; the fleur-de-lis (see “lis” in C); |
| 18 | JUDOGI – in “Judges” replace “ges” by I GO reversed; judo gear; |
| 19 | TELEOLOGIC – (logo I elect)*; |
| 21 | SCREW,PRESS – SCREW-PRESS; take advantage of=SCREW (slang); a press for punching holes; |
| 24 | THANET – THA-NE(t)-T; which=THAT; fishing gear=net; Thanet hasn’t been a true island for years. It’s now an administrative district of SE Kent on the Thames estuary which includes the old Isle of Thanet; |
| 25 | ARCANE – AR(CA)NE; about=CA; |
| 27 | FLAX – F-LAX; |
| 29 | BROOKLIME – BROOK-LIME; suffer=BROOK; hang about in the West Indies (WI) = LIME; a plant of the Veronica family; |
| 30 | OINT – hidden (zer)O INT(erest); see “ointment” in C; |
| 31 | ENVIRONS – (n + version)*; |
| 32 | OAK,TREE – O(A)K-TREE; agree=OK; to corner=to TREE; reference King Charles 11 escaping the Battle of Worcester 1651; |
| 33 | CANST – CAN-ST; preserve = CAN; silence=ST; “art able” is the definition, indicating an obsolescent word; |
| Down | |
| 1 | CHALLIS – C(H)ALL-I’S; Henry=H (physics); |
| 2 | HAZE – H-AZE(d); reference Jonathan Crowther, AZED of the Observer, who celebrated 2,000 puzzles the previous week; |
| 3 | ANCESTRAL – AN-CE(ARTS reversed)L; skills=ARTS; one=AN; celebrated=CEL; source of death duties; |
| 4 | REHEEL – LEE(HE)R all reversed; |
| 5 | TRANSEPTAL – (start plane)*; |
| 6 | INSOUL – IN-SOUL; see “ensoul” in C; |
| 7 | SOON – (and) SO ON; willingly=SOON; |
| 8 | LAINGIAN – NAI-(gain)*-L reversed; fix=NAIL; the theories of psychiatrist R D Laing that mental illness is a response to family or other social pressure; |
| 9 | ELCHI – hidden (exp)EL CHI(nese); a Turkish Ambassador; |
| 13 | PEJORATIVE – (“JP overeating” without “ng”=no good)*; “training” is anagram indicator; |
| 15 | DOGSALMON – DOGS-ALMON(d); worries=DOGS; had=’d; |
| 17 | ISCHURIA – IS-CH-URIA(l); is=IS; children=CH; sheep=urial; urine retention; |
| 20 | COEXIST – CO-EXI(t)-ST; |
| 22 | WESKER – W-ESKER; |
| 23 | EREMIC – hidden (wh)ERE MIC(e); “of a desert” is definition; |
| 24 | TABOO – T(AB)OO; (Jewish) month=AB; |
| 26 | NOTT – NO-TT; TT=reference Isle of Man motorcycle racing; see not-2 in C – close cut; |
| 28 | AWNS – cut = sawn then move s=son to give AWNS; |
st or ‘st=hush! (see “st” in C)