Mephisto 2687 – Paul McKenna

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
I have a usual Sunday routine which is to stagger to the nearest coffee place with the Mephisto and Azed and try to get as much solved while caffeinating. There’s a few outside tables, which is my usual perch, but last Sunday was wet and a little snowy, so I was driven inside.

It was pretty packed inside, but I managed to snag a perch at the bar. A moment or two after I sat down and started doodling, a very new-agey type and what I later found was her grandson grabbed the two seats next to me. So what I remember the most about this crossword was being exhibit A, as this very chatty four-year-old was asking me what I was doing, and his grandmother was telling him to mind the silly man – look, he’s not even writing real words into his puzzle.

I smiled, nodded like a deranged lunatic (I can pull this off quite well) and went about my business. I can only hope there was caffeine in what she was giving that four-year-old.

Away we go…

Across
1 A,B,A,FT(Financial Times)
5 R.I., BLESS(how sweet): odd little clue, I guess a bachelor doesn’t have his rib back?
10 PAX-BREDE: BRED(caused) inside P,AXE(cut). The definition given in Chambers is “peace, the kiss of peace, an osculatory”. The heathen in me doesn’t quite understand the definition, but I don’t think it can be anything else
11 EKKA: K(Kelvin) in AKE(pain) reversed
12 MAFFICKER: MAKER(archaic for poet) with FF(following lines), IC(middle of nICe) inside
14 NAIL: A in NIL
16 AUNT(i)E,R
18 BEL,TED: BEL being one of the French terms for pretty
19 SUR(e),MULLETS: Loved this clue. Anything with a mullet in it can’t be bad.
21 ENTHRALDOM: (HELD,MATRON)*
24 MAELID: ELI in MAD
25 (s)OARING
27 OSSI: IS(lives) SO(well) reversed
29 CLY(rip off), DESI(authentically Asian), D,E(end of onE)
30 HERO: Double definition, but I only knew the second one – it’s Hero who would light a lamp to guide his way to Leander
31 RATLINGS: L in RATINGS – very nice clue
32 ODYSSEY: anagram of ABYDOS without AB, then YES reversed
33 E,R,GOT: the second R coming from the end of copperR – my last in, convinced there was a CU or a type of policeman in there
 
Down
1 A,PAN(clock=face),AGE
2 B,ABA
3 AXMINSTER: A before X(times), then MIN(i)STER
4 TRACER: not sure I get the wordplay – is it ‘T, RACER?
5 RE(on),FORM(ceremony),A,DOS(Denial of Service – computing term)
6 BEIGE,L
7 LECH: H,CEL all reversed
8 SKE(w),LET ON: SKEW as a coping stone was new to me
9 SARED: hidden
13 FABULOSITY: (OF,SUITABLY)*
15 ITEMISING: I SING after (TIME)*
17 UN,N,AILED
20 SAGIEST: GAS reversed, 1, EST(is, French)
22 RID,(p)ERS: I made this one out to be a lot more difficult than it was, convinced it was an anagram of (ERSIAN)
23 DAIDLE: I’D inside D, ALE
24 M.A., CHO(p)
26 ADOS: SODA reversed
28 ‘S,UG,O: UG is “to arouse loathing in” which makes the charade brilliant!

8 comments on “Mephisto 2687 – Paul McKenna”

  1. While I hope to have some solvers this week, I’d like to draw attention to Azed’s 40th anniversry puzzle in The Observer today. Maybe even our redoubtable friend in Dorset might give that one a go as well. DFM
    1. Don, I’ve completed every AZED published from number one onwards. Cut my teeth on Ximenes and of course AZED took over when the great man passed away.
  2. If you look up osculatory in Chambers you will find it is “a carved tablet kissed by the priest and (now rarely) by the people at mass”.

    I think TRACER is just a double definition. tracer can mean “a trace-horse” under trace2 in Chambers.

  3. I found this quite straightforward, and finished it bit by bit over the course of Sunday while cooking for extended family. I didn’t manage to parse SKELETON or SUGO so thanks for that.
    I was also puzzled by “left to” in 23ac. Just there for the surface I suppose.
  4. Straightforward enough puzzle. Love the story George. Was once watched by a very curious fellow when I was sitting looking out across the Moray. When he was joined by his companion he “whispered” to her so that I could hear – “that man is quite mad, he’s writing complete jibberish into a crossword”

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