Mephisto 2977 – Don Manley

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
I had some troubles with my LiveJournal account and was frozen out yesterday so didn’t manage to get this typed up. I’m going to have to work on it during quick breaks today, but it will be up soon. Feel free to comment and if there are questions I’m sure the hive mind will be able to help.

Interesting puzzle – if I have my wordplay figured out we have a two-step anagram, which we very rarely see.

Away we go…

Across
1 CURAT: CURAT(e)
5 PLACEBO: PLACE(site) and OB reversed – didn’t know this meaning of the word as the first part of vespers for the dead
10 ALITERACY: anagram of ARTY,ALICE
11 E-WASTE: this is the one that I think is a two step anagram – the letters are hidden in gadgET WAS Elected, then jumble them. You could get it by reversing just the SAW part, but I don’t see how that would be indicated
12 QUARTO: QU(queen), ART(pictures, say), O
14 LATVIAN: LAND(country) missing the letter on the end (eastern border), then insert (ge)T, and VIA(way)
15 TACAN: A CAT(chap) reversed, then N
17 YEDE: YE’D, E
18 AD PATRES: A(adult) then an anagram of DEPARTS
21 SORE,DIAL
24 SMOG: SOG(soft, wet place) containing M(millions)
26 UNBAR: DUNBAR missing D(day)
27 WOURALI: IOW(isle of wight) reversed containing URAL
29 ARNICA: at the back of the wardrobe you’d find NARNIA, remove the front and insert C(cloudy)
30 LIGATE: anagram of AGLET containing I
31 MALLORCAN: ALL(everyone),ORC(whale – varation on orca) inside MAN
32 THE ROPE: TROPE(figure of speech) containing HE(the chap)
33 SAYNE: sounds like SANE
 
Down
1 CAESTUS: anagram of CASUALTIES less ALI
2 RIANCY: RI(Royal Institution), ANC(SA political party), Y(yen)
3 AT STAKE: double definition
4 TETE: STATE missing SAT twice
5 PRELUDIO: P(piano) then an anagram of LOUDER containing I
6 ACUTE: wordplay is A, CUTE(darling) – definition is that the accent is left off the word in the printed version of cafe
7 E,TRIER
8 BETA DECAY: anagram of DEBATE, then CAY(key, island)
9 OZONE: ONE(individual) with ZO(hybrid animal) inside
13 LAGOMORPH: LAG(delay) at 0 MPH with O,R inside
16 SPADILLE: DILL(herb) inside SPAE(divine, fortune-teller) – the acs of spades
19 TANAGRA: NAG(horse) in TARA(bracken) – in checking these, I was using Collins Dictionary at first, which has TARA as a white-fronted tern. Chambers has it as NZ bracken. I don’t think I’ve seen each dictionary have a single differing definition like that before
20 SCRIENE: anagram of CENSER containing I
22 ROUNCE: (pape)R, OUNCE(something tiny) – the handle on a printing press
23 ABBACY: A, B(bishop), BAY(barking) with C(cold) inside
24 SWART: WAR in ST
25 CACAO: O(old) then AC(bill) twice, all reversed
28 BIOS: double definition

5 comments on “Mephisto 2977 – Don Manley”

  1. My parsing of 11A was the same as yours George – an unusual construction

    I wonder if Collins at 19D is a typo “tern” for “fern”?

  2. All the top guys apart from you give the clue followed by the answer to allow us who are learning to get the opportunity to see the whole thing. This is particularly important when the solution is not on the same day as the crossword e.g. the Mephisto.
    1. I’d recommend you tackle the Mephisto with a hard copy. I don’t agree with posting the entire clue into a blog, to me the complete clue is the intellectual property of the Sunday Times (or the Times when I do the Thursday blog) and the setter, and not me.
  3. The whole thing is intellectual property of the Times, but not a substantial part – interesting!
  4. i’d go further. Every day I pay for my Times as part of my ritual of going to work. I rather imagine that incedibly few people are diddling the Times to achieve a cheap peaky at the Crossword.. We all want to get better and what you, Verlaine and the other guys do is absolutely brilliant and I can’t imagine that Rupert M has a sleepless moment when the others give us the full picture. The education that I have received has been brilliant!

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