Mephisto 2693 – Paul McKenna

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
I got an email that something was amiss with 16 down, which turned out to be my last one in and even with the hint that there’s something wrong I can’t quite see what it was meant to be, though I can see the answer and most of the wordplay.

I found this a difficult one, and it came in a week where I could really only grab snatches of time to look at it. Not sure why I made such a meal of it.

Away we go!

Across
1 A,CORN(growth),C,UP
7 WEXE: (Gethsenam)E and X in WE
10 PLENOMORPHY: two anagrams and a definition
11 A,MA,ZON(a): ZONA for girdle was new here
12 PRIEFE: I in PRE,F,E
14 SP,QR
16 GOUGE: double definition – didn’t know GOUGE for cheat was specifically American but it is in common usage here, usually talking about used car salesmen
17 ETAERIO: REATE reversed, then I,O(duck)
18 ON-MESSAGE: MESS in (GENOA)*
20 SASSENACH: ASS in SENA, CH
23 SNUGGED: GUNS reversed then GED(pike)
25 AZOTE: A,Z(zero),OTE(or the equivalent – new abbreviation). The old name for nitrogen
27 ODDS: Is this OD(ordinance) beside DS(police sargeant)?
29 POP,ERA
30 A,FREE,T
31 REHEARSING: (SEA,HERRING)*
32 Y,ESK
33 LATEWAKE: L then (WEAK,TEA)*
 
Down
1 ALAS: hidden
2 CAM,PO,SAN,TO
3 OPAQUE: A,QU in (h)OPE
4 NEOGENE: (ONE)* and then GENE, French word for embarrassment
5 CONTEMNER: CONTE(story),M, then REN(slip) reversed
6 PORTA: AORTA with P for A
7 WRIT: I(ncipit) in WRT
8 EPEIRA: (appl)E then I in PER, A
9 EYE(brood of pheasants),TOE,YE(t)
13 FLIGHT DECK: LIGHT,D in FECK(meaning)
15 STEAD,FAST
16 GOSSIPRY: now I see it – it’s SIP in GO(be odd), SPRY(quick) – the wordplay leads to an extra P
19 SCAFF(food),I.E.
21 SUMPHS: middle of haPpy, then H(hour) in SUMS
22 BODEGA: B, O end of reD then AGE reversed
24 GORAL: R in GOAL
26 MEEK: MEE(t), then K – biblical inheritors
28 S,TYE

6 comments on “Mephisto 2693 – Paul McKenna”

  1. I found this pretty straightforward, and had it done by about lunchtime on Sunday (having had an initial stab on Saturday evening). This is very unusual for me. Similar experience this week, except that I am left with one letter I can’t work out. Still, a pair of confidence-boosters.
    27ac is OD for “Reichenbach’s arbitrary name for a force he supposed to manifest itself in light, magnetism, chemical action, hypnotism, etc” and DS for “document signed”. I knew all that without recourse to Chambers, of course.
    I didn’t even notice the extra P in 16dn.
    Last in: MEEK. One of the things I’m still grappling with in these puzzles is the way sometimes there isn’t anything you haven’t heard of in the clue. Sometimes.

    Edited at 2012-04-15 09:26 pm (UTC)

  2. What made the error at 16dn worse for me was that one solver and the editor were both claiming on the website that the clue was fine. I think it’s one thing not to notice an error in a clue, and quite another to insist that a clue is fine when people are telling you it isn’t.

    I agree with keriothe about 27ac. I’m not sure if keriothe is joking but I have seen OD enough in crosswords to at least know it is “Reichenbach’s arbitrary name for a force”.

    1. Here’s what I said yesterday about 16D on the club site:


      I should have spotted this in editing and asked for a change. I either independently made the same mistake as the setter or saw the answer from the definition and failed to notice that the setter’s explanation had this flaw. Subsequent over-confidence in our combined work is probably a greater editorial sin.

      Peter Biddlecombe, Sunday Times Crossword Editor

      Edited at 2012-04-16 07:27 am (UTC)

      1. Sorry, Peter. I had seen this message on the club site, and I can accept that this is a kind of error that is easy enough to make.

        I hope that you will be less confident in your work if there are complaints about a clue in another puzzle.

  3. Also found it straightforward without lots of workings out all over the paper. 16D couldn’t be anything else so it didn’t cause me any bother.

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