Hmmm, the interface for LiveJournal appears to have changed (I’ve just updated Firefox so that might be it too), so I hope this will work without too many headaches. Well after a run of a few easier Mephistos this one was a sudden re-entry to the word of difficulty. Without a dictionary I got less than half of this out, and I am still struggling with 6 down which I think can only be one thing, but I’ll be happy to be corrected.
Fortunately my problem came clear in the writing of the blog and I think we’re good to go, still got a minor quibble about 1 across and maybe a little cheeky stretching of the rules of an &lit in 9 across.
Away we go…
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | DESMAN: Now I think this is meant to be SM(small) in DEAN(cave, or valley). It might be ‘E,SM in DAN but not sure if Chambers supports E for “that’s” Edit: Of course – thanks to an email commenter who pointed out I missed the obvious – SMA in DEN |
| 5 | STYMES: wondered over this one for a long time, but it appears to be three definitions. Edit: see comments – I’m wrong here, it’s STUMPS, though I rather like my answer |
| 9 | STEATOPYGIA: T(end of FAT) in SEAT, then I in (P,YOGA)*, a polite term for junk in the trunk |
| 11 | CHEONGSAM: anagram of (SOME CHANGE) without an E |
| 12 | SEARS: SHEAR without the H, then S(end of SCOTS) |
| 13 | REVERB: reversal of BREVE,R |
| 14 |
|
| 18 | FREDAINE: (AD,IN)* in FREE |
| 19 | TANADARS: ADAR in TANS – if you’re new to barred grids, make a note of ADAR, you’ll see it again |
| 21 | PRO(tart, prostitute),SO |
| 22 | C,AMPLE |
| 24 | MOROS |
| 26 | LABOURITE: (BLAIR,OUT)* then E |
| 27 | BEWICK’S SWAN: WICK(farm, third def in Chambers) in BESS, then WAN. Got the SWAN part well before the rest |
| 28 | FERITY: F for V in VERITY |
| 29 | STEALE: a handle, A(active) in (STEEL)* |
| Down | |
| 1 | DSOS: DOSS with an S moved up slightly – alternate spelling of ZHOS |
| 2 |
|
| 3 | M,A,C,RURAL: think teeth for C as an abbreviation for CANINE |
| 4 | NOES: NONES with one of the N’s gone |
| 5 | S |
| 6 | TYNED: I was lost for an explanation, but as I get to it in the blog, I see it now – the definition is lost, and it’s DEN,YT(that) reversed |
| 7 | MISERICORD: (IS,CRIME)* then ORD |
| 8 | SOMBRERO: OR reversed after SOMBRE |
| 10 | BACK,NUMBER |
| 14 | ALTO CLEF: (CELLO,T)* in A,F |
| 15 | GRAMERCY: MERC in GRAY |
| 16 | FAEROESE: (FORESEE,A)* |
| 17 | UNI,SON,A,L |
| 20 | SLUIT: L in SUIT – think cards for the link to series |
| 23 | OIKS: SKIO reversed |
| 25 | SINE: DENIS(our French saint, and a street with lots of nice cafes in Montreal) beheaded and turned upside down – quelle horreur! |
Agreed, this was more difficult than the week before and required a considered effort to solve it
I thought the clue to 9A was excellent
I got the “opygia” bit of 9ac from the wordplay by analogy with the Aphrodite Kallipygos, and then the whole from recalling Stephen Jay Gould’s essay “The Hottentot Venus”, but couldn’t see the clueing of “steat”, for which thanks George.
At 19ac, T(H)ANA has also cropped up more than once.
Having got the _L_F of 14dn I got fixated on KING OLAF which held me up for a while as did the possibility of JANIZARY at 19ac. A good lesson that if you can’t see the wordplay, it’s probably wrong!