In a week where I completely failed to solve the Listener (the one for which the solution came out on Friday), read about the impending demise of the Crossword Club (umming and aahing – if the price is the same in a year from now when I have to “make the choice” maybe I’ll be able to go back to doing the killer sudokus), had my passport application rejected (for the second time), and England thumped Australia in the first game of the Champions trophy… I just can’t remember much about this Mephisto.
I don’t think it was that difficult, since I remember having it finished on Sunday in time to spend a few moments working on a clue for the Azed competition that came out the same day. I didn’t see the wordplay for 7 until doing a dictionary search for “programme”, but the definition is pretty clear.
Away we go…
Across | |
---|---|
1 | SCRAWMED: S, then WM(William) in (CEDAR)* |
7 | ADDS: A for Adult, DD is “Dono Dedit”, then first letter of Silver |
10 | BIOLOGIST: GIST after (B,OIL)* then O(over – cricket) |
12 | BIG,BLUE: nickname for IBM |
13 | NEAFE: hidden |
14 | A,LG,A |
16 | BLONDE: L,ON in BED – a bright stage light |
17 | TOROID: TO(of), then house of DIOR reversed |
18 | A,CROP,E,TALLY |
20 | EDULCORATOR: (OLD,EUROCRAT)* |
23 | C, |
24 | SLOGAN: G(Government) in SLOAN(snub) |
27 | LEVE |
29 | I’M,A,GO |
30 | TAENIAS: anagram of (SEA CAPTAIN) without CAP |
31 | AUTOSOMES: AUTOS(US cars) around SOME(as in “you’ve got some cows there, kemosabe”) |
32 | STEN: NETS reversed |
33 | HYPNOTEE: NOTE(consequence) in HYPE |
Down | |
1 | SOB,A: yummy noodles |
2 | CHILLADAS: CHILL(relax) followed by SAD(stiff),A(adult) reversed – two A=adult in the same puzzle. I’ve often complained that the Mephisto contains a lot of unappetising foods, but with CHILLADA and SOBA, things are looking up |
3 | REGGO: EGG(mine) in RO |
4 | WILL(desire), DO(ditto) |
5 | MOUSE POTATO: haven’t heard this term before, but I need to use it more often – MO(second) then (EATS,UP,TOO)* |
6 | DON(fellow),NOT(polled) |
7 | AGEN: took forever to see this is AGENDA without the DA |
8 | DIABOLO: a top – BO(US guy) in DIALO |
9 | STEAD(help),YON(that) |
11 | LETTERS,TAMP(pack) |
15 | GILRAVAGE: the abrupt WPC is GILL shortened, then RAVAGE |
16 | BRECCIAS: anagram of CABIN CRUISER without RUIN |
19 | CUR,TATE(small portion) |
21 | COHOSH: O,H in COSH |
22 | AL(aluminum),PEEN(end of hammer) |
25 | GEIST: G for H in HEIST – didn’t know HEIST could also refer to the one holding up |
26 | A,GON |
28 | ESNE: alternating letters in mEsSeNgEr |
Thanks for putting me out of my misery on 11dn. I got the answer OK but misread the wordplay and was wondering how “stamp” could mean “pack”. Duh.