Mephisto 2999 – Tim Moorey

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto
I now know that there is something special for Mephisto 3000 – a themed puzzle created by all three setters, I guess similar to the one that recently appeared for 40 years of the Mephisto crossword. I still remember Mike Laws’ puzzle for Mephisto 2500 that used numbers in the cells to spell MEPHISTO 2500 in the top row.

I can rave about it now, since I write up the even-numbered one, Jim gets the significant ones! Speaking of Jim, I had a crazy weekend last weekend and didn’t get to comment but it was his 250th Mephisto blog! I think he has a few more than me, we started as a team of 4 that went through a few permutations until it ended up as the two of us, so I don’t know (and don’t want to figure out) when my 250th would be.  Nice work J!

I found this one mostly easy, but got a little bogged down in the lower right hand corner where the club and the cane made for a tricky crossing.

Away we go…definitions are underlined

Across
1 Tenor, surprisingly raucous you heard only once (6)
CARUSO – anagram of RAUCOUS missing one U
5 Christmas book returned as discredited (6, two words)
BLEW ON – reversal of NOWEL(Christmas), B
10 Trouble about one lecturer concerning death reports (7)
OBITUAL – anagram of ABOUT surrounding I(one), then L(lecturer)
11 Imbecile in a passageway reported (5)
ANILE – sounds like AN AISLE
12 Numerous bands sign on tenor, not lasting long historically (9)
MOMENTANY – I liked the use of “bands” as a containment indicator. MANY(numerous) containing SIGN(omen), T(tenor)
15 Practised around Mediterranean island (4)
ELBA – ABLE reversed
16 See beard not good for close-fitting garment (6)
COATEE – C(see), then GOATEE missing G
17 Tailor makes Eastern loose shirt (6)
KAMEES – anagram of MAKES,E
18 Troublesome women hide in town (10)
SHREWSBURY – SHREWS(troublesome women), BURY(hide)
21 Being out of form, short game on course is disconcerting (10)
OFFPUTTING – OFF(out of form), PUTTING
25 Not entirely excellent lady? (6)
STELLA – STELLA(r)
26 Cunning Charles, longing to get back (6)
CARNEY – CAR(Charles) then YEN reversed
28 Title used in Japan but not over in South Pacific state (4)
SAMA – remove O from SAMOA
30 Roman empress and old master on lake (9)
MESSALINA – MES(master), SALINA(salt lake)
31 Swiss bread organised in French canton, primarily (5)
FRANC – RAN in F (French) C(anton)
32 Hello bachelor in way-out display (7)
EXHIBIT – HI, B in EXIT
33 Unknown supporter first to quit Australian Labour (6)
YACKER – Y(unknown) then (b)ACKER
34 Cane or second WI food competition sample? (6)
JAMBEE – or JAM B

Down
1 One caught in underwear amusing people (6)
COMICS – I, C in COMS(combinations)
2 Almost over and over from the word go (5, two words)
AB OVO – ABOV(e), and O
3 Silent types avoiding motorway vehicles (4)
UTES – MUTES missing M
4 Once outstanding newspaper plant (6)
SUNDEW – SUN newspaper is DEW(due, outstanding)
5 Illicit money used to get antelopes from India (10)
BLACKBUCKS – BLACK(illicit), BUCKS
6 Secure gold carriage (6)
LANDAU – LAND(secure), AU
7 Game clothing you sent up for cleaning (9)
WILLEYING – WILLING(game, ready), containing YE reversed
8 Worn-out runner making friendly address (7, two words)
OLD BEAN – OLD(worn-out), BEAN(runner)
9 Certain upset in mid-winter very bad (6)
NEFAST – SAFE(certain) reversed in the middle letters of wiNTer
13 France’s very outdated on rule for intruder (10)
TRESPASSER – TRES(very), PASSE(outdated), R(rule)
14 One account supporting Arabic in verse about proverb (9)
PAROEMIAC – I AC under AR inside POEM
19 Beloved song taken up following straight guy (7)
HETAIRA – ARIA reversed after HET
20 East German fellow has year to stop development (6)
OSSIFY – OSSI(East German), F(fellow), Y(year)
22 Woollen coat to take to the cleaners (6)
FLEECE – double definition
23 Maori staff nurse joins hospital, cheers all round (6)
TAIAHA – AIA(nurse), H all inside TA
24 “Spin” is greatly embroidered line put out (6)
GYRATE – anagram of GREATLY missing L
27 Wise picker of bonds (5)
ERNIE – double definition for the comedian ERNIE Wise and the machine that picks lucky bond numbers
29 Light aircraft turned up around lake (4)
GLIM – MIG(aircraft) reversed containing L

16 comments on “Mephisto 2999 – Tim Moorey”

  1. Managed to get the whole thing, with one wrong letter: CANNEY. I thought there might be some Cagney I didn’t know of, but never thought of CAR for Charles. I also started 23d with ‘tamaha’, and had to go the dictionary for help; pity it was an unchecked letter.
  2. My first completed Mephisto! Needed some help for the last half-dozen, especially CARNEY (as with Kevin I didn’t know CAR for Charles) and MESSALINA, where I didn’t know either bit of the wordplay (and I still can’t figure out how MES means “old master”? Can’t see it in the OED…)

    But still, I count it as a win. No idea how long it took overall, but it was certainly a few sessions over a few days.

    I wonder if this is why some of the “normal” 15x15s I’ve done have felt a bit easier this week. Reminds me a bit of playing snooker and then going back to pool—I never felt I got any better at snooker, but gosh, the pockets on that pool table looked an awful lot closer when I went back to it!

    Thanks for all the explanations, and to the setter for providing a Mephisto just about accessible enough for me to keep grinding away!

    1. I don’t have OED to hand but Chambers has MASS, MAS, MESS and MES listed as obsolete forms of MASTER – remember that, it won’t be the last time it pops up here.
      1. Thanks! I’m sure by the third or fourth time I see it it won’t feel like I’ve never seen it before 😀
    2. Well done Matt. Keep going now and don’t hesitate to ask for help with anything you don’t understand
      1. Thanks! Not sure I’ll be able to attempt the Mephisto every week, but I will start gradually edging into the water, at least.
    3. Chambers is the reference (and as far as I’m concerned essential) for Mephisto: all the words are in it. I have the app on my phone, it’s very handy.
      1. So far I’ve only got the Collins app (it’s very good, and I love the way it has actual humans reading the words aloud so I can hear the pronunciation.)

        I’m not sure whether to go for the Chambers app or head for the full-nostaglia effect of buying the Big Red Book Like Wot My Dad Used To Have…

            1. Good decision. I travel with a plastic folder containing unsolved Azed puzzles so armed with the app on my phone I am never without something interesting to solve.
  3. There are completely different clues for 29a in the print and online versions. I think they lead to the same answer, but this does seem a bit sloppy.
  4. Thanks for the heads up George. I don’t often stray into Mephisto territory but I’ll have a bash at 3000.
  5. Late to this one: I was busy last week and then couldn’t resist doing 3000 first. A couple I didn’t understand, so thanks.
    I thought 4dn was odd: the wordplay leads to DEWSUN. To make sense of it you have to kind of read it as a whole sentence (outstanding newspaper = sun due) but the ‘once’ (designating an old usage) makes that rather awkward.

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