Mephisto 2651 – Paul McKenna

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
I found this one very tricky, and it took a while to convince myself of several of the answers before putting them in, which very well means I could be wrong! Oh well, I’m sure it will all get fixed in the comments. I wondered if there was going to be some sort of theme with 25 across and 24 down, but didn’t see anything else that was five letter words made by a 1 letter + 4 letter combination. That might be a fun theme for an upcoming Mephisto. I really liked the surfaces for a few clues – 1 down especially is a highlight.

Away we go

Across
1 ASSES,S
6 GITANA: (AGAIN)* about T
10 JOCULATOR: JO(beloved, from JOY) then L in (A,COURT)*
11 RAIT: RAITA without the A – there’s your hidden device for A (before) making an appearance, often my downfall in a Paul McKenna crossword
12 AEROGEL: A(academician),ER, then LEGO reversed – yay LEGO!
13 KERNELLY: KER(n) then NELLY
15 IAMBS?: at least I think so, from FEET. I originally had EAGER from the last letters of words in the middle of the clue
17 KSARS: SR, ASK reversed – Milton’s term for TSARS
19 SAINTDOM: I tried forever to work this as a compound anagram, particularly with here italicised, but it’s just an anagram of AMIDST,NO
22 SLAP(definition 2 in Chambers),JACK
23 RE,STY
25 F,CLEF(t)
26 COAL HOLE: HO(prostitute, TOM) in (LOCALE)*
28 HO,USING: two clues, two HO’s this one in the stop sense
29 BUAT: hidden, alternating in BlUe ArT
30 A,LIEN,IS,M,S
31 BON,DUC(k): BON being Frenchy for good
32 IMMANE: nice little twist on the device I’ve seen often in Azed and Araucaria puzzles of stuttering letters. I from incredibly, then a M-MANE
 
Down
1 AIR KISS: IRK,I in ASS. Mwah. Exceptional clue!
2 SEA EAGLES: (SEA,ALGAE)* then S (the westernmost letter in SARGASSO)
3 SMIR: RIMS(skirts) reversed
4 SONES: ONE in S,S – not sure if the S’s are meant to be senses, Chambers doesn’t seem to have an equivalent
5 SCALE: S(howers), C(old) and an October Ale (not my favorite form of beerage)
6 GUELFIC: E in GULF, I.C.
7 TA,O,1,STIC(h)
8 AT GRADE: G in A,TRADE
9 ARLES: R in ALES(feasts) – a preliminary payment
14 BROMELAIN: (NO,BALMIER)*
16 B,APT,ISED: the last part is DESI (authentically Asian) reversed
18 PA,SQUIN(t)
20 AARONIC: A.A.R. (didn’t know that was an actual abreviation) ON,IC
21 MOFETTE: MO, then T in FETE
23 RE(d),HAB: the last bit is BAH in reverse

8 comments on “Mephisto 2651 – Paul McKenna”

  1. I’m relieved to hear you found this tricky, George, because I finished it, so I had assumed it must be an easy one. I’m going to take that as evidence of progress, and if anyone from Dorset or elsewhere says it was dead easy I’m going to put my hands over my ears and shout LAH LAH LAH LAH very loudly. It took me all week mind you, but I finished it.
    I find I have one wrong, however. I put in IAMBI for some reason, and then thought SONEI might be the plural for SONE. No support for either in Chambers of course. It must have been the subconscious influence of IAMBIC. Combined with a fairly comprehensive ignorance of whichever ancient language is the root. Doesn’t matter which.
    The more I do these things the more I like them. Sadly I don’t often get the time, but I hope that will change as I get better. Give me a decade or three…
    1. Hmmm, that’s interesting – my online version only has SONES and has IAMBI and IAMBS.

      I write the blog from my notes, so there’s every chance I have a mistake in there.

      1. You’re right – my Chambers has IAMBI too, as the plural of IAMBUS. Not sure how I missed that last night – perhaps I saw it when solving. It is silent on the plural of IAMB and SONE so I think we can safely say that an S is required in both cases.
    2. Congratulations on finishing and thanks for leaving a comment.George and I do worry at times at how few comments we get on these blogs. And I thought it was a reasonable puzzle that took a bit of working out – so you are improving!
      1. Thanks, that’s very encouraging to hear!
        I suspect, like the other prize puzzles, you are suffering from the fact that people have forgotten whatever talking points occurred to them when they were solving by the time the blogs appear.
  2. Oh… just in case anyone was wondering – the last few clues spilled over on to a second sheet of paper and that’s why I forgot them.

    24 down: BAGS I – which I think is A(I),G in some school called BSI?
    25 down: FLAM,M
    27 down: OUMA – hidden

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