I thought this was a step up in difficulty from the last few Don Manley Mephisto puzzles, and found the top half of the grid came together far more slowly than the bottom half.
Botany appears to get a good workout in the grid. There’s a lot of unfamiliar words so I was relying on wordplay and regular trips to the Big Red Dictionary to get to the end.
Away we go…
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ABATOR: OR after A, BAT |
| 6 | MAGNES: M, AGNES |
| 11 | KIESERITE: (roc)K,IE, then SITE containing ER – there’s a plant about half an hour away from me that processes this, among other rocks, into Epsom salts |
| 12 | GRUE: sounds like GREW |
| 13 |
ADIPIC: A, DIP(food mixture), I,C |
| 14 | SKILLET: SET(arrange) with KILL(ice) inside |
| 16 | TILDE: ED,LIT all reversed |
| 17 | ASCIAN: ASCI are the large cells, then AN |
| 19 |
TILLERED: RED after TILL(work), |
| 20 |
CAILLACH: CA(about),ILL,ACH |
| 24 | OB,TEST |
| 26 | ELI,AN |
| 28 | BEDWARD: B and then one of the eight king EDWARDs |
| 29 | RHETOR: R,HE(high explosive) then ROT reversed |
| 30 | AMIE: AMICE(furred hood) missing the C |
| 31 | BONE-WEARY: anagram of NOW,A,BEERY |
| 32 |
SCARTH: SCAR then TH |
| 33 | SAVATE: anagram of ADVOCATES minus DOC. I will hand it to Don Manley here – the letters DOC do appear in order in ADVOCATES |
| Down | |
| 1 | ANGSTY: A STY containing NG |
| 2 | BURKINABE: UR,KIN in BABE |
| 3 |
AQUILA: QUIL |
| 4 | OILLET: old term for EYELET – LET(obstructed) with OIL above |
| 5 | REMEDIAT: anagram of RED,MEAT,I |
| 7 | AEDES: anagram of DISEASE less IS |
| 8 | GRIECED: E,CE in GRID |
| 9 | NIPA: A,PIN(4.5 gallon cask) all reversed |
| 10 | SECUND: SEND containing CU |
| 15 | CAESARIST: A then SIR reversed in an anagram of A,SECT |
| 17 | ALCHERAS: anagram of AS,REAL containing CH – Dreamtime here meaning the creation stories of indigenous Australians |
| 18 | FLEETER: FLEE(escape from), TER(Terrace) |
| 20 | COARBS: OAR(pole) in CBS(long-running US television network) |
| 21 | HEDERA: A after HEDER(cheder) |
| 22 | MIA-MIA: AIM reversed containing I AM |
| 23 | INDENE: clever clue – if S was IN DENE it would become DENSE |
| 25 | SMOWT: MOW in ST |
| 27 | SENA: half of SENATORS |
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