I found this to be one of the more tricky offerings from the Mephisto series lately. Put a couple of incorrect answers in early (11 across went through several iterations). I didn’t think 3 (another clue where I went through several plausible looking answers only to see them fall foul of checking letters) was going to be in Chambers, but it’s in the most recent edition. I found it online first.
27 made me smile, though I think any clue with a reference to Hegel is going to tickle me.
Random musing – I’ve been reading “The Disappearing Spoon” by Sam Kean (it’s a rollicking read, though many of the stories don’t hold up to scrutiny of secondary literature). He talks about Gilbert N. Lewis living out his final days in his lab as a recluse, railing against the world and complaining about critics of his theories. Wonder if he did crosswords? Or stand-up. Or wrote blogs…
Across | |
---|---|
1 | ASTONE: LAST(final) ONE(unit) missing the L |
5 | AU,BADE |
9 | SKATING RINK: anagram of GRANIT |
11 | ODMOETRY: O(ring),DO(party),ME(yours truly),TRY(go) |
12 | PASH,M: haven’t heard PASH for feeling since primary school |
13 | RADIAL: RAC (Royal Atomobile Club, which is far more swanky than I thought), without the C(canine, think dental chart) then DIAL(face) |
14 | INTIMA: anagram of TIMPANI without P |
17 | PANTA RHEI: very nice clue – PAN(criticize), TAR(rating – sailor), HEI |
18 | SHOWPLACE: S, HOW(hill) and then A(one) leaving PALACE. If you’re a regular daily crossword fan checking out the Mephisto, it’s OK to use one for A |
22 | MIGNON: anagram of MOANING without A |
23 | GROG-UP: G in GROUP |
24 | WAEFU: AE,F in W,U |
26 | NEMATODA: A DON surrounding TAME, all reversed |
27 | HEGEMONICAL: MONICA in HEGEL |
28 | AURORA: OR in AURA |
29 | UNMIRY: anagram of MINI-RUGBY without 1,G,B |
Down | |
1 | AS,A,P |
2 | SKEAN-DHU: my first in (KHAN,USED)* |
3 | OTCHIPWE: (TWO)*,E surrounding CHIP(tease) |
4 | END MAN: ND(no date) in NAME reversed |
5 | AGO,ROT |
6 |
|
7 | ANTIPHONER: or ANTI PHONER(which would be anyone who owns an I”phone”) |
8 | EPYLLION: anagram of P |
10 |
|
14 | INSIGNIA: anagram of |
15 | GR(king),EG(say),A,TIM |
16 | MEN-OF-WAR: RAW ONE M all reversed containing F |
19 | LIPOMA: MOP(grimace) in AIL all reversed |
20 | AMADOU: hidden |
21 | LUTER: remove the H from Martin LUTHER |
25 | UGLY: SNUGLY without SN, and a use I wasn’t familiar of for that work to finish |
Your self-portrait ranting in your lab George is facinating stuff. If you’re like that now imagine what you’ll be like when you get to my age and know for sure that nobody understands you!!
I’m glad I don’t do Mephisto.
The pattern this week has been similar: I found Mephisto reasonably easy but am now struggling a bit with Azed. More often recently it’s been the opposite: swings and roundabouts I suppose.