Mephisto 2923 – Tim Moorey

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
My main source of difficulty in this one was the proper nouns both in the answers and in the wordplay. This is the first time I think I’ve done the Mephisto paperless, by making a copy of the grid in Crossword Compiler and having it sitting on top of the web page with the puzzle open. I think it took me about as long to solve as the paper version, but will probably take me longer to blog, since I have to deal with three windows to write it up.

Away we go…

Across
1 EPOCHA: P(ensioner) in EO(old game), then CHA(r)
5 BANDAS: SAD,NAB(head as in a promontory) all reversed
9 EUROSCEPTIC: anagram of SECURE,TOPICS less (Brussel)S
11 WOMANISER: WISER surrounding OMAN
12 SPOHR: Not a composer I’m familiar with – OPS reversed, then HR(IVR code for Croatia)
13 TESTAE: A(are) inside TESTE(d)
14 BIHAR: BID HARD with both D’s removed
18 GRIMOIRE: GRI(p),MOIRE
19 GENERANT: ERA(important date),N(ovember) inside GENT
21 STINT: T replacing PR in STINT
22 REAGAN: REGAN(daughter of Lear) with A inside
24 ORNIS: OS(large) containing an anagram of IN,R(ed)
26 ACROTERIA: anagram of CROATIA containing RE reversed
27 PETER GRIMES: anagram of TRIPS,EMERGE for the fisherman and title character of the Britten opera
28 ELOINS: anagram of ON ISLE, and a definition kind of combining the two given in Chambers
29 OGRESS: PROGRESS less PR
 
Down
1 EELS: REELS missing R
2 PULPITER: PER containing an anagram of LIT,UP
3 COWHAGES: anagram of WHO in CAGES(mews, chicken coops)
4 ACME: ACE containing M(ountain’s)
5 BEATHING: BREATHING(longing) missing (summe)R
6 APNEA: A(sphyxi)A containing P,NE(Nebraska) – I have this and it is not fun sleeping on a ventilator
7 DISTAINING: anagram of ASTI inside DINING
8 STREPENT: REP inside STENT(assessment)
10 KOHANGA REO: anagram of KANGAROO,EH for a Maori class
14 BIGARADE: P removed from BIG PARADE
15 TRAINERS: ER inside TRAINS. I can’t say I’ve seen the Queen’s feet for a long time, but at 90, maybe she should wear some comfortable shoes
16 CONTRAIR: CONTRA and AIR merged together, sharing an A
17 CRINITES: tricky wordplay – SET, IN, I RC(Taiwan, Republic of China) all reversed
20 PA,TEN
23 ARGO: I think this is ARGOS without the S – ARGOS appears to be an online UK retailer? Hopefully there are no other ?RGO constellations
25 SUSS: remove EX from SUSSEX

4 comments on “Mephisto 2923 – Tim Moorey”

  1. He is the one composer whose name is still regularly mentioned literally in the same breath as Beethoven ! (In Mikado the Lord High Executioner punishes the music-hall singer with “ops by Bach, interwoven with Spohr and Beethoven”, so no need to inhale between the names.)
  2. Crikey, only just finished this. I found it HARD! not really sure why: I seemed to struggle immensely with what turned out to be quite simple clues: 22 REAGAN for example. And to remember words that ought to be familiar from doing these things by now, like GRIMOIRE. On other hand I do find IVR codes difficult: Croatia = HR, for Pete’s sake!
    Update: I couldn’t sleep last night so moved on to this week’s puzzle immediately after finishing this one, and finished it in what must be close to record time. Was it much, much easier or was my brain just in gear?

    Edited at 2016-09-13 08:21 am (UTC)

    1. I’ve just done both and found them about the same level of difficulty – strange how sometimes you just can’t quite tune in whereas other times you just sing along
      1. Indeed. In this case struggling during normal hours but singing along at 1.30am suffering from insomnia!

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