Mephisto 2820 by Don Manley

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Mephisto
A pleasing puzzle that required a concentrated effort without ever being really tough

Across
1 PADANG – GAP reversed surrounds DAN; a Malayan field;
6 SODAIC – SO-(acid)*;
10 RUINER – RU-INER(t);
11 KREWE – ERK reversed – WE; ERK=airforce slang for aircraftsman; US organisers at Mardi Gras;
13 MARAVEDI – MA-RAVE-DI; an old coin;
14 SAPIUM – S(A-PI)UM(mer); family of trees;
15 ISATIN – I-SATIN;
16 EROSE- E-ROSE;
19 ESPOUSES – (pose)*-USES;
22 YATAGHAN – N-TAY reversed surrounds AGHA; a knife;
26 CRAIG – C(RA)IG; artist=RA; smoke=cigarette=CIG;
28 IBIBIO – IB-IB-IO; a Nigerian;
29 DOO-DOO – sounds like DO-DO;
30 SLOE-EYED – S(LO)EE-YE’D; meet=SEE; look=LO;
31 JUNTA – excursion=jaunt then move “a” to the end to give JUNTA;
32 ANANAS – ANAN(i)AS; character from Christian mythology; the pineapple;
33 DISEUR – (rude)* surrounds IS; an entertainer;
34 NIGGLE – two meanings;
 
Down
1 PROSELYTISED – (old priest yes)*;
2 AULARIAN – A-U-L-ARIAN; at Oxford a member of a hall rather than a college;
3 DISPORT – DIS-PORT;
4 ANTIS – hidden (import)ANT-IS(sue);
5 GRAMASH – GASH surrounds (arm)*; a leg guard;
6 SKRIK – KIRKS reversed;
7 DEVALUE – LAVED reversed – (yo)U-(smil)E;
8 AWETO – A(WET)O; strange caterpillar;
9 CHINESE,GOOSE – CHOOSE surrounds I-NES(t)-EG;
12 RAST – rodents=rats then swap “t” and “s” to five RAST;
17 REGIONAL – LAGER reversed surrounds I-ON; getting tipsy=ON;
18 CARBENE – CAR(BEN)E;
20 PANDEAN – PAN-DEAN;
21 SLADANG – S(LAD)ANG; Malayan creature;
23 PIOUS – P(I-O)US;
24 DIET – two meanings;
25 BOYAR – BOY-AR; autonomous region=AR; old Russian aristocrat;
27 ROLAG – GALOR(e) reversed; combed wool;

4 comments on “Mephisto 2820 by Don Manley”

  1. No major problems with this. I was left wondering what a sladang in a padang would look like.
    I spent some time rooting around in Chambers trying to find some indication of alkalinity for SODAIC: it doesn’t appear to be there. Not that this is a criticism but I did think I’d find something.
    I’m sure I’ve seen the ANANAS/Ananias thing before, because it went straight in.
    1. The soda question didn’t occur to me because I knew soda in its various forms to be alkaline – indeed I think it forms the basis of antacid preparations. It must surely be on the borders of general knowledge?

      The Ananias construction is almost a chestnut

      1. I’m not complaining: I think I did sort of know that soda was alkaline. Often though you would see something like that reflected in the Chambers definitions if it’s used in the clue, and its absence made me worry a bit that I might have missed something. It didn’t really cause me a problem though.
  2. Thank you all for the feedback. Without the additional knowledge of SODA being alkaline, the clue would have been duller. It’s perfectly OK to enhance the definition with common knowledge, especially when the subsidiary indication is so helpful — and hey you just might take the chance for revision of GCSE Chemistry! I find it strange too that my colleague JP was chastised on an adjacent blog for an anagrammatic clue to TALIPOT. It looks by far the most convincing possibility, and every now and then there’s no harm in using a dictionary to verify the answer to an unknown word, is there? We aim to be helpful but not always to spoon-feed!

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