Mephisto 2996 – Tim Moorey

11 comments on “Mephisto 2996 – Tim Moorey”

1. I did this while waiting to see the doctor, which may say more about Japanese hospitals (and I had an appointment) than about my solving skills; something under 2 hours, although with one letter wrong. I was clueless about _KAT, and threw in an E (Oriental) in desperation. I also didn’t know ‘fogle’ and biffed, wondering if there were such a word as ‘gole’. That’s two Mephistos in a row where I’ve completed the grid, a streak that bids fair to end today.
   1. I’ve no idea how you can solve these things without a dictionary. Without Chambers, to be precise. When I get something like _KAT in the grid, I just look up all the possibilities until I find the right one, but even when I can work them out from wordplay I check a lot of answers to be sure.
      I found this one pretty gentle. I was pleased to recognise ANAPAEST and STOTINKA from previous puzzles: the new knowledge does seep in, albeit very gradually. Certainly more slowly than the old stuff leaks out.
      1. I’ve reached a point–reached it some time ago, I think–where I’ve determined never to look at a Chambers. I look up things like STOTINKA (where I thought I had STOT and couldn’t go on), and I check my guesses–like SALOOP, where I first had SASSUP–but often enough I give up. But where I check is first, my ODE, then my SOED, and then I give up.
         1. That’s a bit of an odd choice for these puzzles since they explicitly use Chambers as a reference! In some cases even if you get the answer you’re unlikely to understand it without reference to Chambers: see merc = free companion from a week or two ago.
         2. The other good thing about Chambers by the way is that it comes in app form so you don’t need a paper dictionary or the internet.

            Edited at 2018-02-04 10:34 am (UTC)

            1. 1) Not a choice, really: I have ODE as one of 30 or so dictionaries in my electronic dictionary thingy, and I have a 2-volume print SOED in my office. I don’t have a Chambers, and I don’t want one.
               2) I don’t have a smartphone, so I can’t avail myself of any apps.
               1. Fascinated to read this exchange and to think back to my early days doing barred crosswords – which included those set by Ximenes of course

                  He loved Chambers and used it actively in his puzzles. I recall one that was based on words that appeared out of sequence in the dictionary!

      2. I have so far solved about 3 out 30 without using any reference books.

         You have to admit, it makes solving Mephisto a lot more challenging!

         1. In most cases (as you’re discovering!) it makes it impossible.
            Part of the point of these things is the inclusion of funny words that you have to work out from wordplay and/or guess and then look up in Chambers. To me trying to do them without that support seems a bit masochistic, but whatever floats your boat!
2. ….but, alas, ‘skat’ at 25 turned out to be incorrect.

   The toughest clue was ‘stotinka’, as there is a natural tendency among solvers to automatically assume ‘small’ = ‘S’, which makes the rest of the cryptic very difficult to parse. But I saw how it worked after biffing the answer.

3. I have rarely finished a Mephisto without a dictionary, I usually check up on words I get from wordplay pretty regularly. Most of this went in from wordplay.

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