Mephisto 2776 by old thingummyjig – Tim Moorey

Posted on Categories Mephisto
Another on the easy side with almost no need to consult Chambers. Mephisto 2777 is missing from the Club Site this morning.

Across
1 THINGUMMYBOB – THIN-GUMMY-BOB;
10 AIZOON – (iona)* surrounds ZO; hybrid=ZO; a plant;
11 IMARI – hidden (pr)IMARI(ly); Japenese porcelain;
12 WANTHILL – WAN-TH(r)ILL: chez mole;
14 HOOTANANNY – HOOT-A-NANNY; show support for OAP picket line?;
15 STARK – S(T)ARK;
18 TINY – TIN(n)Y; shed=get rid of;
19 CORNI – sounds like “corny”; brass musical instruments;
20 REN – (bar)REN; old word for hurry;
21 ART – A-RT; ART is an abbreviation for “article”;
23 CANON – two meanings;
24 MERI – MERI(t); a club;
26 JATOS – JA(TO)S; quick upward movements;
28 APTERYGOTA – A-(r type)*-GOT-A; rock=AA; insects;
31 FAIRINGS – F(AIR)INGS; things in Tooting=FINGS;
32 MY,EYE – MY-EYE; detective=(private) EYE;
33 STATIM – personnel=staff then change “ff” to “tim”;
34 ASTROPHYSICS – (cosy starship)*;
 
Down
1 TAWS – two meanings;
2 HIANT – H(ole)-I(A)NT; gaping;
3 NOTORYCTES – (notes tory c)*; another mole;
4 UNITIONS – (m)UNITIONS;
5 MOLA – MO-LA; sunfish;
6 MILNE – MI(L)NE; author;
7 BANNERET – B(A-N-N)ERET; knight=N (chess);
8 ORANGE – O-RANGE; brand name of mobile phone network;
9 BIRYANIS – (is by rani)*; beginner’s curry;
13 GALIMATIAS – GAL(IT-AMI all reversed)AS; havers;
15 STALAGMA – STALAG-MA; product of dripping;
16 ANTITHET – AN(TITHE)T;
17 DROOGISH – (ba)D-(ogrish + o)*; term=end of; “o” from (y)O(b); nice clue;
22 REPAYS – REP-(say)*;
25 ORFEO – (goes for – g-s)*; opera character;
27 ORGIC – C-I-GRO(w) all reversed; become=grow (into);
29 YAWP – P-WAY all reversed;
30 ISMS – I-SMS;

13 comments on “Mephisto 2776 by old thingummyjig – Tim Moorey”

  1. The M is available on the ST, News Review, Brain Power (tab down a bit). I asked them why it’s not in the usual spot but no answer yet).
    1. Simple explanation: The ST Crossword Setter messed up the release date when putting it up, and failed to notice a missing puzzle when he looked at the club site. Now fixed.

      On a purely practical basis, an e-mail to puzzle.feedback@sunday-times.co.uk is probably a quicker route than going through other channels, if there’s a problem like this.

  2. I’m not sure I understand 21ac. I can see “article, in short” gives ART, and “right” gives “RT”, but where does the A come from in the wordplay?
      1. Surely double duty like that would be a Ximenean no-no, and so off-limits for one of these puzzles?
        1. Well, I’m not really very knowledgeable about Ximenean rules, but does not the question mark after ARTICLE indicate some deviation from square-dealing? I can’t think of any other source for the A.
          1. Not sure. I can’t see where the A comes from either. I expect we’re both missing something.
            1. I read it as an &lit.
              Article=a + short right=rt and definition =whole sentence rather
              than just ‘article’. So not really double duty but certainly punching above its weight 🙂
              Rgds
              Paul
            2. I didn’t solve 21A whilst doing the puzzle! Because I got the down clues the word just filled itself in and so I didn’t read the clue until I came to write the blog. I saw A=article and RT=right and thought no explanation needed here! Wrong!

              I think ART is an accepted abbreviation for “article” and that is what the “and lit” refers to

  3. Getting to this late – did this on a plane on the way back home and could solve it with everything I had on the plane, so no big problems. And now we have 12 comments, whee!
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