I enjoyed this puzzle and there were quite a few wordplay elements that were new to me. Also a big fan of the grid, 180-degree symmetry and two enrties that span the entire puzzle. Kept me amused for a while on Sunday!
In Mephisto puzzles definitons can be verified in Chambers, so I will focus on the wordplay here.
I hope everyone is staying safe and sane! North Carolina is on Phase 1 of reopening, and I went for about a 5km walk this afternoon through an area that is usually brimming with tourists visiting breweries and galleries, it was an eerie feeling to be all alone in this area.
Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | Old doublet in home nibbled at edge by pet? (7) |
| PLACCAT – PLACE(home) missing the end with CAT(pet) | |
| 7 | Divine Scottish place deemed healthy by English (4) |
| SPAE – SPA(place deemed healthy), E(English) | |
| 12 | Plant with large sepal in very miserable state (7) |
| HEAL-ALL – ALA(large sepal) inside HELL(very miserable state) | |
| 13 | Awkward sister refuses to move up north? (6) |
| REISTS – anagram of SISTER | |
| 14 | Fish not initially seen in stream (4) |
| RILL – BRILL(fish) missing the first letter | |
| 15 | Sandy beach? Mum needs something to sit on (7) |
| MACHAIR – MA(mum), CHAIR(something to sit on) | |
| 16 | Island, first to serve stale meals (4) |
| KAIS – IS(Island) with KA(obsolete term for “to serve”) first | |
| 17 | Dishevelled woman to wander into valley (9) |
| DRATCHELL – RATCH(to wander) inside DELL(valley) | |
| 20 | Tree in that place to the west, one in America (6) |
| CLUSIA – LC(loco citatio, in that place) reversed, then I(one) in USA(America) | |
| 21 | Engineers facing tedious job, improvement to car engine (6) |
| REBORE – ER(engineers), BORE(tedious job) | |
| 25 | Somehow educate female about when ultimately to get pregnant (9) |
| FECUNDATE – anagram of EDUCATE,F(female),and the last letter of wheN | |
| 27 | Tree, a sure thing to be cut down (4) |
| ACER – A, CERT(sure thing) missing the last letter | |
| 28 | Place for chicks? Lustful king grabs one, expressing love (7) |
| HENNERY – King HENRY containing ONE missing the O(love), Herman’s Hermits wouldn’t need the second part of the wordplay. | |
| 30 | What you’d see in London street once, but not everywhere (4) |
| ONST – hidden in londON STreet | |
| 31 | Hysterical type, the first person to be heard repeatedly (6) |
| MEEMIE – sounds like ME(the first person) twice | |
| 32 | Bad man stopped working and went on a course to be helpful (7) |
| CADDIED – CAD(bad man), DIED(stopped) | |
| 33 | See about getting marks for supposedly original material (4) |
| YLEM – ELY(See) reversed then M(marks) | |
| 34 | Instrument made a sound, interrupting monkey (7) |
| SARANGI – RANG(made a sound) inside the SAI monkey | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Spy chief and agent turning up in Russian city (4) |
| PERM – M(spy chief in the James Bond novels and films), and REP(agent) all reversed | |
| 2 | A very good name, not quite at the top spot (6) |
| APICAL – A, PI(very good) then CALL(name) missing the last letter | |
| 3 | Excellent copper to dash round end of street (6) |
| CUSHTY – CU(copper), then SHY(dash) around the last letter of streeT | |
| 4 | Oaf’s inaccurate chatter could be of a ____ nature (12) |
| CATACHRESTIC – anagram of OAF’S,INACCURATE,CHATTER minus OF,A,NATURE | |
| 5 | Hedgehog-like animals in a number of sports grounds (7) |
| TENRECS – TEN(a number) RECS(sports grounds) | |
| 6 | Music-maker cast out in our cellar, keeping noise to minimum (12) |
| CARILLONNEUR – anagram of IN,OUR,CELLAR containing the first letter of Noise | |
| 8 | The old man is hanging around the Parisian dance-hall (6) |
| PALAIS – PA(the old man), IS surrounding LA(the in French) | |
| 9 | Doctor I call before getting much-used antibiotic (7) |
| ALLICIN – anagram of I,CALL then IN(much-used) | |
| 10 | Trade opportunity coming up to get neat new synthetic material (8) |
| ELASTANE – SALE(trade opportunity) reversed containing an anagram of NEAT | |
| 11 | Catch the utterance of a wise person (4) |
| SEAR – sounds like SEER(wise person) – the catch of a gun | |
| 17 | State of calm fellow about to enter boat (8) |
| DORMANCY – MAN(fellow), CA(about) inside DORY(boat) | |
| 18 | Look for ’ollow space reportedly to get fuel (7, two words) |
| SEA COAL – sounds like SEEK(look for), ‘OLE(‘ollow space) | |
| 19 | Antelopes and goats crossing wilderness initially (7) |
| LECHWES – LECHES(goats) containing the first letter of Wilderness | |
| 22 | Mineral no longer to pollute earth’s surface (6) |
| BLENDE – BLEND(pollute), then the first letter of Earth | |
| 23 | A biochemical substance that’s no longer in appendages to organs (6) |
| ADNEXA – A, DNA(biochemical substance) containing EX(no longer) | |
| 24 | No sweet drink served up — one wants spirit (6) |
| DAEMON – reversal of NO, MEAD(sweet drink) | |
| 26 | School expelling a triplet (4) |
| TRIN – TRAIN(school) missing A | |
| 29 | Mountain creature not seen — one that’s still on top? (4) |
| YETI – I (one) with YET(still) above | |
Thanks George for parsing HEAL-ALL and KAIS.
It was a pretty easy puzzle, and I can’t say I didn’t have a fair chance.
placcat: a leather doublet with strips of steel
machair: a low-lying sandy beach
Both were new words for me and the Chambers definition does not always match my understanding of a term, but that’s the reference in use here
4d is a compound anagram clue that you find most commonly in Azed puzzles and sometimes here. The surface of the clue indicates that the answer plus a component equals an anagram of the whole.