It may be because I printed it close to the deadline, but the online Mephisto didn’t have the usual competition details. On the other hand, this meant it printed on one page. This is Don Manley’s second Mephisto and I found it to be a pretty steep ratcheting up of the difficuly compared to the first one. I found it hard to get a start and ended up finishing most of the right hand side before moving over to the left.
Analysis to follow, I just had a surprise visitor come to take me out to brunch. Woohoo!
Back from a delicious brunch, and let’s have a look at these clues – away we go!
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SPALL,E: SPALL for chip was a new one for me |
| 5 | TALMUD: L,MU in TAD |
| 10 | ALE,MAINE: I’ve had a few ales in Maine |
| 11 | BAR,CAS |
| 12 | RANCID: ANC in RID |
| 14 | KA(serve),I.E.: old spelling of KEY |
| 16 | RA,MAL: at least I think so – a RAMAL is a branch, which I guess can be a nerve |
| 17 | AG,OR,A |
| 19 | STELLION: TELL in SION |
| 22 | WILINESS: LINES in W,IS |
| 24 | DRUSE: double definition |
| 26 | MUSET: US in MET |
| 29 | AS IS: BASIS without the B at the start |
| 30 | SABEAN: Honest ABE in SAN |
| 31 | W,A,HABI |
| 32 | BLENHEIM: HE in (NIMBLE)* |
| 33 | BORDAR: RD in BOAR – got this from wordplay |
| 34 | MUSK,E.G. |
| Down | |
| 1 | SOBERS,IDES: Sir Garfield Sobers is the cricketer – I met him at a charity game when I was about 13, seemed like a great guy, he signed a cap that I promptly lost |
| 2 | PIA METER: I,AM in PATER |
| 3 | LACK-ALL: take if FALL were to LACK ALL it would be F |
| 4 | ELS,IN: the ELS coming from taking the outside off of WELSH |
| 5 | TEREDO: (TREE)* then DO(treat) – a mollusc that bores into ships |
| 6 | LANX: N(any number) in LAX – I was a little surprised to see this but LAX and LOX(of which I’m far more familiar) are interchabgeable, just not at a New York Deli |
| 7 | MICRONESIA: (IS,AN,INCOMER)* |
| 8 | UNIS: U(nob) then SIN reversed |
| 9 | PRIM,E-NUMBER: the E-number additive code came up somewhere else recently, maybe a Listener? |
| 13 | DRAWSTRING: by far my favorite clue with some nifty wordplay – SWARD reversed followed by TR |
| 15 | MAN,I: another word that is popping up regularly |
| 18 | RESEMBLE: REASSEMBLE without A,S |
| 20 | LWEI: hidden |
| 21 | SNUSHES: SUN reversed inside SHE’S. I hadn’t heard of SHE magazine (quelle surprise) but it appears I don’t need to worry for much longer |
| 23 | INANER: A in INNER |
| 25 | ASWIM: W.I. (where Garfield Sobers is from) in MASS without the M jumbled up |
| 27 | CALO: short for CALANDO, and half of CALORIES |
| 28 | ZEND: Z is the last thing and here we END |
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