Mephisto 2664 by Don Manley

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Mephisto
Another very straightforward puzzle of average level of difficulty

Across
1 KAME – KA(M)E; jackdaw in Jedburg=KAE; a bank of sand;
5 LASAGNA – LA(SAG)NA; wood=LANA;
11 ELEPHANTS,EAR – (see a plant her(e))*;
12 MUDIRIA – MUD-I-RIA;
13 ACERB – A-sounds like SERB;
14 PALLAS – PALL-AS; cloak=PALL; As=Norse God; PALLAS is alternative name for Athene;
17 VOIDANCE – VOI(DAN)CE;
18 RATTEN – RAT-TEN; strike breaker=RAT; sustained=tenuto=TEN;
20 ARGOL – ARGO-L;
21 BRAID – two meanings 1=old word for reroach 2=jerk;
24 STOWRE – STOW-RE; STOWRE=stour=battle;
27 PAROEMIA – P(AR)OEM(IA); song=ARIA so first half=AR, second half=IA; a proverb;
30 STIRES – SETS reversed around IR=Ireland;
31 ABAYA – A-BAY-A; ABAYA=aba=camel’s hair cloth;
32 SEA,DOVE – SE(ADO)VE(r);
33 SENSITOMETER – (some interest)*;
34 PEARLER – sounds like “purler”;
35 SHET – “set” as spoken by a toper;
 
Down
1 KEMPER – hidden (wea)K EMPER(or);
2 MEDLE – MEDLE(y);
3 EPILATION – E(PI)LATION;
4 THRAVE – do well = thrive then “with a different one” gives THRAVE;
6 ANANIAS – AN-ANI-AS; black cuckoo=ANI;
7 STADDA – ST(ADD)A; a handsaw;
8 GEEING – GEE-ING; GEE=the letter “g” at head of “good”; (Dutch) financial group=ING
9 NARICORN – IRAN reversed – CORN; the hard end of a bird’s nostril (see nare in C);
10 ARBA – A-BRA all reversed;
15 PAROTIDES – PA-ROT-IDES;
16 HARAMBEE – HARAM-BEE; HAREM=harem; BEE=social gathering (as in spelling bee);
19 NAMASTE – NAM(AST)E; AST from AST(i); Indian greeting;
22 ARCANA – A(R)CANA; rector=R; CANA=biblical reference to mythical wedding;
23 DETAIL – (idle)* surrounds TA=Territorial Army;
25 TATAMI – TA-TA-MI; a type of mat;
26 EXSERT – EX(p)-S-ERT; power=p; society=S; to protrude;
28 WROTH – W-ROTH; reference Philip Roth, American novelist;
29 WASP – two meanings 1=W(hite) A(nglo) S(axon) P(rotestant) 2=spiteful person; ;

3 comments on “Mephisto 2664 by Don Manley”

  1. Since no-one else has done so, thank you for the blog jimbo.There were a few I had not completely parsed.

    I thought this was medium difficulty; it seemed a little harder than Don Manley’s first two puzzles – perhaps he’s stepping up the pace.

    1. Thank you kind sir. George and I do worry about the very small number of comments that we get on these blogs.

      I agree this was harder than either of Don’s previous two attempts – I guess it takes time to adjust to the normal level of difficulty.

  2. I got myself bogged down in the bottom left with a few incorrect guesses at first (I can’t see what I originally had for HARAMBEE but I was convinced of it enough to write it in twice it looks like).

    Oh the wasted opportunity at 35 across…

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