Mephisto 2947 – Don Manley

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
I finished this with some very large question marks, four of which required some online research to sort out. Fortunately the definition was unambiguous in each case.

90-degree and 180-degree symmetry in the grid this week. I do like symmetrical grids.

What else can I say to make sure the text gets justified under the picture of my ugly mug to the left? Australia beat India this morning, woohoo!

Away we go…

Across
3 FLABELLATE: F, with LABEL(tag) and then ET AL reversed
11 YAMEN: YEN containing AM
12 ROUGH,T
13 KAISERIN: RAISE(advance) with the R moved to the back, inside KIN
15 ELISA: one of my question marks – apparently there was a prophet ELISHA who was made fun of for being bald? Remove the first letter in Hair to get the biochemical lab technique
16 ANELACE: AN ACE(one greater than a king, in cards) containing EL
18 O,SCAN
19 AMORCE: A, MOR(girl), CE – percussion cap
20 SAVAGE: my second question mark – apparently the poet Richard Savage was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but got a royal pardon. Lucky him.
22 MIASMA: the letters of IS separately inisde MAMA
24 OTITIS: O(old, little), TITIS(monkeys)
26 IMMEW: I’M, MEW
30 SIEVERT: EVER inside SIT
31 HILAR: remove the end of the HILARY term
32 CALATHEA: anagram of A,CHALET with A
33 LABRID: DIAL(face) reversed around BR(bridge)
34 REAST: hidden in aREA STrolling
35 WEATHERMEN: EA, and THERM inside WEN – I googled “Great city of Wen” before noticing that it is in Chambers. This was my third question mark.
 
Down
1 WYKEHAMIST: anagram of WHY,MISTAKE
2 BAALIM: anagram of AMIABL(e)
4 LESSONS: property letters – LESSONS with R replacing (christia)N
5 AN,EAR
6 BORATE: BOR(neighbour), ATE – a salt of boron
7 ERINYS: ERIN(Ireland), then YES missing the E
8 LULLS: L(learner), then (p)ULLS
9 AGUACATE: a fruit (avocado pear) – AGATE(stone) containing CAU(sed) reversed
10 THECA: anagram of CHEAT
14 FENESTRATE: FEN(bog) then R in ESTATE
17 DO A MELBA: last question mark here – the DOM is apparently another name for the Koln cathedral – put an A in it and add the island ELBA
21 VISITEE: VIE containing SITE
23 ABRADE: anagram of DAY BREAKS minus SKY
24 OSTLER: anagram of HORSE LET minus HE
25 ITA EST: I then A in TEST
27 MINAE: A(are, measurement),in MINE
28 EVERT: EVERTON missing ON
29 CH,ARM

6 comments on “Mephisto 2947 – Don Manley”

  2. Couldn’t figure out 23d–never thought of an anagram. I also had doubts, or worries, about ELISA, SIEVERT (press=sit?), and AMORCE (mor?), but these, and all the other scads of DNKs, were settled in one way or another by checkers.
  3. Agreed – one or two real obscurities here what with bald prophets and lucky poets I knew nothing of. Wen for London very Prince Charles like and another new discovery. Knew of Dame Nellie and her comebacks.

    Interesting puzzle

  4. A lack of Bible knowledge is, I fear, a sign of modern times. That said, it is a pity that the blogger has to use the word ‘apparently’ to refer to something of which he is ignorant! Many thanks though to him and the others for the feedback. DM
    1. We’ve been down that road before, DM, and we will probably traverse it again. My knowledge of “The Bible” is pretty much furnished by what pops up in crosswords. Meaning 5 of “apparent” in Chambers is what was meant in this instance.
  5. Thanks GH. I don’t dispute your meaning — just that the tone in which the (superfluous) word was used came across (to me, anyway)as a bit sniffy, but you obviously aren’t like that! Keep up the good work!

Comments are closed.