Mephisto 2653 – Paul McKenna

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
I had a hard time with the last few here, and there are two where wordplay is still escaping me as I get set to write this. Bottom half of the grid considerably easier than the top half.

Not sure what is going on with the Mephisto on the Times Online end, but the spacing between the clues appears to be creeping a point or so larger each week, which meant that this week the last five clues didn’t fit on a sheet of US letter paper (it may have fit on A4).

Away we go…

Across
1 ANCHUSA: ANCH(o)(a chilli pepper) then ‘S in UA(Ukraine)
6 FOR NOW: Another one that went in without understanding wordplay, but I think I’ve got it now – it’s a reversal of WON(habit),R(rector),OF(aged)
11 LIT,OTES: the second part being (TOES)* a great word that always reminds me of Doug Dinsdale
14 IMP,IOU,SLY: started looking to see if EMPIOUSLY was a word, but IMP can mean Empress(Imperial)
15 IN,NED. By the way, hoodies over the last few years are very much in with the preppy crowd in the US, afraid to say I even own two
16 SPITTEN: PIT(hell) in STEN(bound)
17 SHOCHET: HOC(this),H in SET(coterie). I’m glad it’s in Bradfords under BUTCHER as this one got me started
19 PEPPER(pelt),AND(as if),SALT(wit)
21 REST DAY: ST(quiet) in (READY)*
23 NO,ON,DAY(shift most of us work)
24 OMASA: rather nifty clue here, M(monsieur) in OSA(Organisation de l’armee secrete), then A(accepted)
26 UNREADILY: (I,DELAY,RUN)*
28 PINNULE: PULE(whine) about IN,N(nationalist)
29 SANTIM: ANTI with S(society) at the front and M(member) at the back
30 ADV,1’S,ED: ADV is Latin, from ADVERSUS
 
Down
1 ALLIS?: ALL IN with the N going to the other end of the compass to make S. Is there a mistake here, an ALLIS is a fish, but the golder listed in Bradford’s is ALLISS
2 CTENOPHORAN: C,(NET)*,(HARPOON)* – the sea gooseberry. I wonder if there are any fruits for which there is not a sea equivalent? Sea butternut squash? Sea cumquat?
3 H,OKE: The OKE isa Turkish weight, and HOKE can mean to overact
4 SEMPER EADEM: M,P in SEE then (DEAR,ME)*
5 AS,P: a Joe Blake is a snake
6 FLIP,ONE’S-LID
7 RO(o),UTES
8 N,O,STRAD,A,MUS
9 OWL,EG,L,ASS: from wordplay, I hadn’t heard of the story
10 W,H,YNOT: the award being held up is the TONY
12 POINDS: I think this is I in POND,S
13 AN,HE,DON,1,A
18 H,EY,D,AY: I think the EY is YE reversed?
19 PIN-UPS: PUPS about IN
20 P,ONE,N.T.
22 Y,AWED
25 MANI(c)
27 IPA: hidden – a beer style

6 comments on “Mephisto 2653 – Paul McKenna”

  1. Peter Alliss
    Well spotted – apologies for not noticing this. Minor comfort drawn from his regular employers making the same slip.

    Peter Biddlecombe, Sunday Times Puzzles Editor

  2. Had a go at this because I couldn’t do the ‘Printer’s devilry’ puzzle that AZED offered last week. Got about 2/3 done before giving up. Found this week’s AZED plain easier than this puzzle. Maybe it’s getting used to a setter’s style? It’s the first of Paul’s that I have attempted.
    BW
    Andrew Kitching
    1. I struggled mightily with the Printer’s Devilry puzzle but managed to squeak through just in time (I hope) to get a clue in the mail. Since it appeared only about 17 people finished it, maybe I could get a second VHC in a row! I haven’t started this week’s Azed.

      There does appear to be a certain style to Azed’s crosswords that stay consistent every week. It took me a while to get used to having so many compound anagrams and &lit clues (I was doing Mephisto for a few years before I started doing Azed). Having three setters to me makes the Mephisto a much more moving target.

  3. Puzzled by the ALLISS bit but luckily it couldn’t be anything else.

    I’ve solved every AZED because I was doing Ximenes in the Observer before AZED took over. I think his style and difficulty level are extremely consistent but I do know them reasonably thoroughly!

    I prefer Mephisto because of the mix of setters except when they start dumbing it down – which they did a while back. I’m confident that the current editor will not allow such a thing!!

    1. As far as I know there hasn’t been any conscious decision to reduce Mephisto difficulty in the last few years – if there had been, I’m sure at least one of the 3 would have mentioned it.

      I regard the mix of setters as a selling point for Mephisto, but I worry about Mephisto difficulty only a bit – my own solving experience with the puzzles is an indication of difficulty, but not a terribly accurate one.

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