If you started this by looking at the down clues you had an easier time than if you began with those across. I failed at first try to get 1A but then looked at the strategically placed 1D. I immediately solved that and went on to very quickly get the first ten down clues, which opened up the rest of the puzzle. One of the easier Mephistos that I finished in just under 40 minutes.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | EKLOGITE – E(K-LOG)(l)ITE; record=LOG; King=K; the best=elite then l=left removed; a fascinating type of rock found occasionally in N W Scotland that has connections to the movement of the tectonic plates; |
| 7 | LUCID – L(CU=copper reversed)ID; “left” is the reversal indicator; |
| 11 | PROPAROXYTONE – PRO-P(A)ROXY-TONE; inclined to accept=PRO; substitute=PROXY; American=A; a specific=TONE-2; accent is the definition; |
| 12 | WRESTLER – W-REST-(a)LER(t); with=W; what’s left=REST; Stacy Keibler with luck; |
| 14 | DEEM – (MEED reversed); |
| 15 | OAR – hidden (b)OAR(ders); |
| 16 | EGGHEAD – EG-G(HE)AD; say=EG; old spike=GAD; ambassador=His/Her Excellency=HE; Kevin Ashman no doubt; |
| 18 | RESORT – (“trousers” with “US=American” removed)*; “fancy” is anagrind; |
| 20 | EFFENDI – E-F-FEND-I; echo=E (phonetic alphabet); fellow=F; |
| 22 | ASMEAR – AS-M-EAR; when=AS; money=M; attention=EAR; once=old word for sticky situation; |
| 23 | BUILT-IN – BUIL-TIN; sounds like “bill” + money=TIN; |
| 26 | OPE – (m)OPE; maiden=M; poetic form of “open”=”have a passage”; |
| 29 | VELA – V(EL)A; railroad=EL; state=Virginia=VA; a constellation with two sisters, Carina and Puppis; |
| 30 | AFTER-TAX – AFT-(extra)*; this source of profit is strictly “after interest and tax” (the others are “gross” – sales income less direct costs; “net” – gross profit less other day to day expenses; and retained – what gets ploughed back into the business); |
| 31 | GERUND-GRINDER – (drudge + erring + n=noun)*; a grammar pedant, so the whole clue is the definition; |
| 32 | ALULA – A(L)ULA; hall=AULA; left=L; a bird’s feathered thumb used to increase the lift of the wing; |
| 33 | ARAMAEAN – A(RAM-A-EA)N; article=AN; sign=Aries=RAM; river=EA; |
| Down | |
| 1 | EPODE – (DOPE reversed)-E; my first in – an easy clue in a key grid position; |
| 2 | KRIEGSSPIEL – (keeps girls I)*; German for “war games” which I saw in the anagram material and my second in – a type of “blind” chess in which you can’t see your opponents pieces – fascinating stuff; |
| 3 | LOVE,GAME – LOV(MAGE reversed)E; “set” from tennis; my third in; |
| 4 | GARB – (BRAG reversed); my fourth in – no stopping me after that; |
| 5 | IRENA – IRE-NA; a body that promotes renewable energy but here (in the names section at the back of C), IRENA means peaceful; |
| 6 | EXTERN – EX-TERN; excursion=EX; TERN-2=a schooner; a non-resident physician, opposite of intern; |
| 7 | LYLY – hidden (persistent)LY LY(ing); John LYLY 1553-1606 who coined the phrase “all’s fair in love and war”; |
| 8 | UTENSIL – UT-(lines)*; as=UT; |
| 9 | INCARVILLEA – I-N-CARV(ILL)E-A(lien); directors second (letter)=I; new=N; cut=CARVE; poorly=ILL; Himalayan flowers; |
| 10 | DEARTH – DEAR-TH(e); the last of ten very easy sequential clues; |
| 13 | SIDEBAR – two meanings 1=short article 2 (hyphenated)=South African solicitors; |
| 15 | OOSTENDE – (tone does)*; the Dutch spelling of Ostend, which is a port and resort in Flanders; |
| 17 | HEEDFUL – H-(feed)*-UL(l); on board ship=within hull; |
| 19 | TAONGA – TA(O)NGA; bikini=TANGA (a bit like local buses, none for ages then two appearances in quick succession); |
| 21 | FRIEDA – FRIED-A(vocado); remembered as the curly haired Peanuts character; |
| 24 | ULTRA – ULT-RA; last month=ULT; artist=(member of) Royal Academy=RA; |
| 25 | NAIRN – (IAN reversed)-RN; Scot=IAN; Highland golfing centre not far from Culloden and Inverness; |
| 27 | ETNA – (E-ANT all reversed); a vessel for heating liquids named after Mount Etna; |
| 28 | KAIM – (U)MIAK reversed; a umiak is an Eskimo woman’s boat as distinct from a kayak, which is a man’s boat; KAIM is glacial deposits that form a bank; |
I tend to think of umiaks as just larger than kayaks, but Chambers does say “usu. crewed by women”