Today I am thinking back to about five years ago – I was in London after visiting friends in Leeds, and managed to snare Mephisto setters Paul McKenna and Tim Moorey and the Sunday Times puzzle editor (and founder of this blog), Peter Biddecombe for lunch. We went to a little Indian place in Covent Garden and ate and drank and I didn’t need to eat again for a day. This morning a friend called me and said we should go have Indian lunch, so we went to a place near my apartment, and eight hours later I’m still stuffed.
Anyhoo, Paul and I have talked, and I think he’s gone too far with this week’s pun in the top row. I’m pretty sure it is meant to be FAIR DINKUM, but as a proud expatriate Australian, I don’t think I say it as FURRED INCOME, even after a curry and three pints of Kingfisher.
The rest of the puzzle was fun, and as a little bonus there’s a row of four O’s near the bottom left. Definitions are underlined in clues. Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | Feud brewing about bishop’s tag, viz ermined? (6) |
| FURRED – anagram of FEUD surrounding RR(bishop) | |
| 6 | Returns home — cold ’ouse (6) |
| INCOME – IN(home), C(cold), ‘OME(‘ouse) | |
| 10 | Roman again housing sib with awesome love (11, two words) |
| THESIS NOVEL – THEN(again) containing SIS(sib) and an anagram of LOVE | |
| 12 | Superhuman woman? She sings and flies with a cape (8) |
| TITANESS – a TIT sings and flies, then A NESS(cape) – fun clue | |
| 13 | Wrinklies won over, moving back what’s left (4) |
| OLDS – SOLD(won over) with the S moced to the end | |
| 14 | She’s greedily grasping hound, one runs to be quiet (5) |
| HARPY – HARRY(hound) with one of the R’s changed to a P | |
| 16 | True struggles at the back of nice tight girdle (8) |
| CEINTURE – anagram of TRUE after an anagram of NICE | |
| 18 | Slow ram in view mostly (6) |
|
STUPID – TUP(ram) in SID |
|
| 19 | Dallas, say, could be another form of duress (6) |
| SUDSER – anagram of DURESS – term for a soap opera | |
| 20 | Where eagles lair? Port that is west of Scotland (6) |
| AYRIES – AYR(poet), IE and then the letter on the left side of Scotland | |
| 22 | In an ideal world sailor and river will engage with one another (6, two words) |
| AT BEST – The letters of AB(sailor) and the river TEST interspersed | |
| 24 | Non-smoker, I’ll be seated in little Italian’s passages (8) |
| TRANSITS – NS(non-smoker), I inside TRAT’S (little Italian restaurants) | |
| 26 | Drink in an old-fashioned way more tea (5) |
| MOCHA – MO(more), CHA(tea) | |
| 28 | Be worthy of reproof (4) |
| RATE – double definition | |
| 29 | Fine passion I had heard like Romeo’s fury? (8) |
| FIRE-EYED – F, IRE(passion) then sounds like I’D | |
| 30 | Trump’s slow burn about every hot campesino (11) |
| SMALLHOLDER – SMOLDER(American form of smoulder – though whether the current dumbander in chief has used that particular term, I have no idea) containing ALL(every), H | |
| 31 | Hack in US struggle is stripped of Le Pen’s article (6) |
| TUSSIS – TUSSLE IS with LE removed | |
| 32 | Out in reserve lassoing menace (6) |
| BLOOMY – BY(in reserve) containing LOOM(menace) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Endless furore about fashion for beds (6) |
|
FUTONS – FUS |
|
| 2 | Vanity school (following good going) is the place of tumblers, eg (11, two words) |
| UTILITY ROOM – FUTILITY(vanity) and GROOM(school) missing F(following) and G(good) | |
| 3 | In Kirkcudbright cure idleness before being inspired (5) |
| REAST – RET(idleness) containing AS(before) | |
| 4 | Get back boxes since breaking up: daughters’ rights (8) |
| ESNECIES – SEE(get) reversed containing an anagram of SINCE | |
| 5 | Collapse in hysterics? Father Crilly, for one, went on fast (6) |
| DIETED – something I need to do after today’s lunch, DIE(collapse in hysterics) and then father TED | |
| 6 | Those migrating whales close to International waters at last (6) |
|
ISSEIS – SEIS(whales) by I(international), |
|
| 7 | Colorado cases where to get snow (4) |
| COCA – CO(Colorado), CA(cases) | |
| 8 | Short spin up in River Dee could find you tired (8) |
| OVERUSED – REV(short spin) reversed in OUSE(river), D(dee) | |
| 9 | Song always going round is an atmospheric thing (6) |
| E-LAYER – LAY(song) with EER(always) surrounding it | |
| 11 | Undertakers all agree this in swift style (11, two words) |
| EXPRESS TERM – EXPRESS(swift) TERM(style) | |
| 15 | Scally with a somewhat deficient humour is serving drinks (8) |
|
CURACOAS – CUR(scally), A, then COA |
|
| 17 | In the Netherlands sleuth cocked up a hard case (8) |
| NUTSHELL – NL(the Netherlands) containing an anagram of SLEUTH | |
| 20 | No more than merest jot of Marmite with hot toast (6, two words) |
|
AT MOST – anagram of M |
|
| 21 | Gentleman, one in this sense leaves to get you going (6) |
| SIRIHS – SIR(gentleman), I, HS(Hoc sensu, in this sense) | |
| 22 | What fills towelling gown is pounding (6) |
| ATHROB – the middle letters of BATHROBE | |
| 23 | Sturgeon’s present tense — yeah, confused with Dutch (6, two words) |
| THE DAY – T(tense) then an anagram of YEAH containing D | |
| 25 | Teaching about GOP-style love (5) |
| CREDO – C(about), RED(GOP is the republican party in the US), O(love) | |
| 27 | Mean to go missing in The Ritz or Raffles for ____ (4) |
| HOLS – remove the middle(mean) of HOTELS | |
New week, new Mephisto!