Mephisto 2785 – Tim Moorey

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
This was a rather odd solve for me – I was held up a lot in the top left by thinking of an answer early on that fit one half of the definition just fine, but the other half wasn’t in Chambers (it’s a brand name). Couple that with an incredibly wrong first guess at 22 down and I was starting to get frustrated at this one. So I’d hazard a guess it’s a bit more tricky than the last few have been.

Higher number of unusual words, looking back at them, though not many of the definitions are concealed.

Away we go…

Across
1 SMOWT: T, WOMAN’S reversed with AN removed
6 TSOTSI: SOTS in IT(Information Technology) reversed
11 TAHSILDARS: AH,SILD(herring) in TARS
12 MILLETS: double definition, though I had never heard of the outdoor store
14 IDYL: anagram of DIMLY without M
15 STOPED: DEPOTS reversed
16 MAULVI: (VALIUM)*
17 MOOLI: LOO reversed in MI
18 LAC: Remove PE(Peru) from PLACE for the vast number
20 ACAPNIA: AA(barred crossworddom’s favorite rock) surrounding (PANIC)*
22 BR,ANGLE
24 STA: take the end of journeY from STAY
26 OIDIA: 1 twice in ODA
27 ASHURA: (AARHUS)*
28 DAMSASK: half of eD, A, MASK
30 LETT: sounds like LET
31 CONCHIE: H,1 in C(ombat),ONCE – all-in-one clue where the entire clue is the definition
32 CHA(r),VENDERS
33 HO(t),NORS(e)
34 SAWNY: change the T in TAWNY to an S
 
Down
1 SAMIEL: LES reversed (up) around AMI
2 MAID MARIAN: (A,DARN,MIAMI)* – reference Robin Hood
3 W(riters), ALL UP
4 THEOLOGASTER: (ALTOGETHER,SO)*
5 (f)ESTIVAL: American spelling of AESTIVAL
7 SLOT MACHINES: anagram of ALEC MACINTOSH minus S
8 ODSO: 0(love),DSO(Distinguished Service Order)(
9 TARPONS: PR(price),A(accepted) reversed in TONS
10 ISODIA: AIDS,1 reversed around 0
13 VELITATION: replace the S in STATION with (EVIL)*
19 CAD(rogue),MEAN(excellent): as in “she makes a mean plate of deviled eggs”
21 CESTODIA: anagram(impossible) of I(in),D(Germany),E,COAST. Edit: for some reason an I snuck into my notes mysteriously, of course it’s CESTODA
22 BOD,A,CH
23 FUL(l),CR,A
25 ARTERY: (TEAR)*, RY
29 ARVO: V in A,R.O.

5 comments on “Mephisto 2785 – Tim Moorey”

  1. I have to agree with George on 12A. I have never heard of this business and stuck in MILLETS based on checkers and “grains”. Poor clue really.

    I found the rest of it fair and reasonable but requiring some devilling out in places. Liked 31A CONCHIE – an excellent clue.

  2. Made a right mess of this one – I had written in ALLIES for 1dn for some reason, which made 1ac and 12ac impossible. I kept coming back to it but never thought to question the answer to 1dn until this morning, when it suddenly seemed nonsense. So, a week to solve, although it generally felt easier than the previous week’s.
  3. CESTODIA really would be impossible – there are only 7 letters. CESTODA, with “in” as part of the “found in” def/wordplay link rather than anagram content.
  4. Had much more success with this one than no. 2784, getting 27/36 with most of the ones I couldn’t get all in the SE corner. Was chuffed to solve so many and enjoyed ferreting around in Chambers discovering new words and abbreviations.

    George thanks for explaining the ones I didn’t get (Acapnia, Ashura, Lett, Conchie, Chavenders, Sawny, Vetilation, Cestoda and Fulcra) (the latter being the only word of this set that I’ve heard of) and also Lac which I didn’t understand.

    I know of Millets (they’re a chain of outdoor clothing/gear stores in NW England), but it took an age for me to realise the clue must be referring to them.

    Edited at 2014-01-21 04:27 pm (UTC)

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