Mephisto 3131 – Tim Moorey

Author   glhPosted on Categories Mephisto

I didn’t get to this until after I blogged Thursday’s daily puzzle, and it seems it was my week as there was quite a bit of chemistry spread between these two!  My particular expertise in chemistry is more along the lines of 20 across than 10 across.

This was not too difficult, and almost all of the down answers went in on a first reading and check of wordplay. There’s some fun words here, and I had no idea that 17 had a meaning besides being a character in the legend of the headless horseman.  My run of blogging puzzles with 90 degree symmetry continues!

In Mephisto puzzles the definition can be confirmed in Chambers, so I will be focusing on the wordplay here.

Away we go…

Across
1 Bishops after court pardoned thief (8)
BARABBAS – ABBAS(bishops) after BAR(court)
7 Name put forward in important part of Buddhist temple (4)
MANI – move the N(name) one position to the left in MAIN(important)
10 Out of date designation forming antibody stimulant (10)
ISOANTIGEN – remove D(date) from DESIGNATION and form an anagram
11 Member boring second house is one? (4)
SHMO – M(member) inside S(second) HO(house)
12 More than one goblet from Chinese resort sent back (6)
HANAPS – HAN(Chinese) then SPA(resort) reversed
14 Model embraces Madame returning in tartan undergarment (6)
SEMMIT – SIT(model) containing MME(madame) reversed
16 Joy has Knight in old card game (5)
GLEEK – GLEE(joy) and K(knight)
17 Bach I do fancy for “The glory is departed” (7)
ICHABOD – anagram of BACH,I,DO
18 Mistake with spades in long suit (9)
PINSTRIPE – TRIP(mistake) next to S(spades) inside PINE(long)
20 Salts provided by American navy repeatedly in eg Virginia and Florida (9)
STANNATES – A(American), and N(navy) twice inside STATES such as Virginia and Florida
23 Girl missing in action outside border (7)
MIRANDA – MIA(missing in action) surrounding RAND(border). Clued as a name but I guess most of us immediately thought of The Tempest (maybe more me – I was cast in a production of The Tempest that was canceled for the covid)
25 Months and months investing in advance (5)
MOONS – MOS(months) containing ON(in advance)
27 Press about on time for old-style spread (6)
SPERST – anagram of PRESS next to T(time)
29 Hardened and wronged, Jay’s for retirement (6)
INURED – INJURED(wronged) missing J(Jay)
30 Dormouse seen in river no end of trouble (4)
LOIR – the river LOIRE missing the last letter of troublE
31 Writers Bob, Ron and Eve somehow inspiring Elizabeth (10)
NOVELIZERS – anagram of S(Bob),RON and EVE containing LIZ(Elizabeth)
32 Strains apparent in society? Indeed (4)
SYES – S(society), YES(indeed)
33 At close quarters as one sleuth faces another (8, three words)
EYE TO EYE – sleuths are both EYEs so that would be EYE TO EYE
Down
1 Smack is a fishing vessel (4)
BUSS – double definition, the first being kiss
2 Joy’s bottom, any short hot pants would expose it (10)
ANHELATION – ELATION(joy) at the bottom of ANY missing the last letter and H(hot)
3 Opener out, cut with an edge (6)
RIMMED – remove the first letter of TRIMMED(cut)
4 One penetrating large needle in small chassis (7)
BODIKIN – I(one) inside BODKIN(large needle)
5 Brass work at sustaining tuning note following endless bass beat (9)
BASTINADO – I’m struggling with the wordplay elements here, I think it is TIN(brass). A(at) and DO(tuning note) after BASS missing the last letter, but I can’t quite see what function “work” plays in the clue.  As pointed out in comments, I was fixated on DO being the tonic, but an orchestra tunes to A so it is BAS, TIN and DO surrounding A
6 Walrus remains under stone (5)
STASH – ASH(remains) after ST(stone)
7 Term for tub in front of mosque Iran constructed? (6)
MINBAR – last letter of tuB inside the first letter of Mosque and an anagram of IRAN. Found in Chambers under MIMBAR
8 Waffle with what’s left of apples — cookers (4)
AGAS – GAS(waffle) and the first letter of Apples
9 Among alcoholic drinks mentioned, they have an edge (8)
INSIDERS – IN(among) then sounds like CIDERS(alcoholic drinks)
13 Nipper’s toy potty is bent (10)
PROPENSITY – anagram of NIPPER’S TOY
15 Mongrel seizes cat to get excited (9)
ECSTASIZE – anagram of SEIZES,CAT
16 In Aberdeen, small drilling benefits pipework (8, two words)
GAS MAINS – SMA(small) inside GAINS(benefits)
19 What ultimately supports French church is timber beam (7)
TEMPLET – last letter of whaT after TEMPLE(protestant church in France)
21 Shellfish coming from Cannes? Right for number out to lunch (6)
NACRES – anagram of CANNES with R(right) replacing an N(number)
22 Run into huge beast and you’ll get gloomy (6)
MOROSE – R(run) inside MOOSE(large beast)
24 Pointer once part of the One-Eleven (5)
NEELE – hidden inside oNE ELEven
26 No veteran leading Italian soccer team (4)
JUVE – the first four letters of JUVENTIS(Italian soccer team), for a theatrical youngster
28 Nice street below front on the right (4)
TRUE – RUE(street in French) after the first letter in The

9 comments on “Mephisto 3131 – Tim Moorey”

  1. I had it as BAS(S) followed by TIN = money = brass, and DO = work, sustaining A, the note an orchestra tunes to.

    In case that makes me look clever, I admit to entering NOVELISERS, even though LIZ was obvious, and I already had the Z from ECSTASIZE.

    1. This matches my understanding from Tim’s notes, with the mild variation that I think “work at” rather than just “work ” indicates “do”.
      1. I see that now. I’d thought work = suffice, as in ‘That would work/do,’ but it’s more ‘What do you do for a living?
        1. Thanks – couldn’t get my mind off the note having to be DO while there were other perfectly acceptable notes in the answer.
    2. Thanks – I couldn’t see how that worked, and just had to hope that it was BASTINADO rather than BASTINADE.

      Incidentally, 30a could just be ‘Dormouse seen in river’ – as many confused English visitors to Eure-et-Loir could confirm.

  2. ….as I failed to understand “term for tub” and biffed “mintar” for 7D. Fortunately, a trip to Google land yielded the required MINBAR, despite it not being in my Chambers, or in my other trusted source (Bradford’s).

    Edited at 2020-09-06 08:59 am (UTC)

  3. Just over 30 minutes, quick for Mephisto (at least for me). I struggled with BASTINADO more because I was trying to make the definition “brass” (which was incomprehensible) than because of the wordplay, and in the end left it as the only word to fit and with fingers crossed that the last unchecked letter was an O not and E.
    George being happy with the chemistry inclusion parallels me being happy with BARABBAS and ICHABOD.

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