Mephisto 3152 – A George Martin Production!

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Mephisto

This one seemed only moderately difficult, but there was a bit of a sting in in tail.   The cryptics were pretty clear, but some of the literals made no sense – until I looked in Chambers.    Since many of the words here are pretty common, the only way to make a real Mephisto was to use obscure meanings for both the cryptics and the literals, and that’s what Tim Moorey has done here.   So while I finished, I still had a lot of questions.   Fortunately, the dictionary was able to resolve most of them.   Any remaining questions are indicated in the parsings.

Across
1 Long for British car that’s small (6)
LEETLE –  (-b,+L)eetle.    The 1964 Beetle had 35 HP, which was quite small,  but it did allow teenage boys to drive to school.
7 Lacking respect, Independent MP sacked leaving obligations (4)
IOUS – [I,MP]IOUS.   The I is probably the paper.
10 Religious mystery showing in state capital, nothing less (9)
SACRAMENT – SACRAMENT[o], in California.
11 Rather engaging term used in Queensland (4)
G’DAY – G([queenslan]D)AY, I think….or maybe not.  At least the answer was obvious.
13 Face model after work (6)
OPPOSE –  OP + POSE, one from the Quickie.
14 Tinder provided by one crazy man in Durban (6)
AMADOU – A MAD OU, a bit of Afrikaans at the end.
16 Bridge system in place not entirely backed (4)
ACOL – LOCA[le] backwards, a bidding system in the card game.
18 Cattle pens time after time overturned? Almost (6, two words)
NEXT TO – O(T,T)XEN backwards.
20 Jag seals about right for saloon worker? (9)
BARTENDER – B(A,RT)ENDER.
21 Marshal reloading number of linked mines (9)
GIRANDOLE – Anagram of RELOADING + N, more often a chandelier.
24 No Scottish banks make a loud noise for lady (6)
NADINE – NA(DIN)E, today’s random woman.
25 Insect up sticks caught (4)
FLEA – Sounds like FLEE.
28 Free men close ranks originally to be different (6)
CEORLS – Anagram of CLOSE + R[anks].  “Ceorlas ond eorlas” is a common half-line in Anglo-Saxon poetry, indicating men of all ranks.
30 Narrow-minded on large island (6)
BORNEO – BORNE + O, which most solvers will just biff.
31 Opening item in programme not started (4)
VENT – [e]VENT, another starter clue.
32 Work out too much in public, then shower (9)
OVERTRAIN – OVERT + RAIN.
33 Heard order for starter is sweet (4)
SAGO – Sounds like SAY GO.
34 Prearranged call top agent put out for spy (6)
SETTER – SET + TER[m].   Can setter really mean spy?   Yes, it can!
Down
1 Enter vehicle to get home, a rudimentary one (8, two words)
LOG CABIN – LOG + CAB + IN.
2 New ideas leader put out for forensic test (4)
ESDA – anagram of [i]DEAS, electrostatic document analysis, that is.
3 Romeo and a smitten former lover (9)
ENAMORADO – Anagram of ROMEO AND A, with former meaning that the word is not longer used – not surprising.
4 Nearly all having gone north lied about Murrayfield beating (6)
LALDIE – AL[l] upside down + anagram of LIED.
5 Justification for absorbing mature port charges (10)
GROUNDAGES –  GROUND(AGE)S.
6 Coarse snuff apparently in traditional Angus enclosure (6)
RAPPEE – R(APP)EE.   I didn’t know ree, but I had heard of the snuff, so in it went.
7 Armed warriors clear, marches banned (4)
IMPI – [l]IMPI[d], marches in the sense of borders, giving us some Zulus beloved of crossword setters.
8 Upset one on bench (8)
UNSETTLE – UN + SETTLE.
9 Troublesome situation in fish pond (4)
STEW – Double definition – you could look it up.
12 Sellers perhaps fastest to make a public statement (10, three words)
GO ON RECORD – GOON + RECORD, as in a record time. 
15 Raising a tax shelter externally (9)
ATTOLLENT –  A T(TOLL)ENT, where those who follow the cryptic get rewarded.
17 Rake over very small area below Italian mansion, bottom of garden (8)
CASANOVA –  CASA + [garde]N + O + V + A.   Those who see where this is going will just biff.
19 Play at once excited? I’m not sure (8)
ONE-ACTER – Anagram of AT ONCE + ER.
22 Witness leaving with oddly small maps in the corner (6)
INSETS – Anagram of [w]ITNESS.
23 Note on raw recruit Republican sent out for Congress (6)
NOOKIE – N + [r]OOKIE.   Possible political jokes abound, but restraint is probably appropriate.
26 Greek money as before left out for bulk carriers (4)
OBOS – OBO[l]S.
27 What’s turned up in morning-after pill box? (4)
INRO – Backwards hidden in [m]ORNI[g-after], a word popular in US puzzles.
29 Judge accommodates number previously cut (4)
SNEE – S(N)EE.

8 comments on “Mephisto 3152 – A George Martin Production!”

  1. Didn’t know (or had forgotten) that gay can mean rather, but Chambers confirmed, and I agree with the parsing in the blog. Superb clue. – Blorenge
  2. ….biff BORNEO, and also G’DAY and RAPPEE (I knew the snuff however, as my late father worked for Gallaher Tobacco for 30 plus years, and I used to practice my maths on the sales figures for cut plug and various other arcane items).

    I had to enlist a fellow solver’s advice before SETTER went in at the end of my 3rd session after 50 minutes.

  3. After a bit of a lean spell it’s been very satisfying to be able to solve the last couple of Mephisto puzzles ok and largely in one session (apart from this one’s LOI setter which I had to come back to later in the week). Chambers not needed too much for this one either. I believe ESDA tests were used to show that the confessions of the Birmingham 6 had been fabricated by the police and ultimately led to their convictions being overturned and to the disbanding of the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad.
  5. Definitely harder for me than the previous week’s puzzle. Very much a puzzle of two halves: the left half went in relatively easily, but then I had to get a little assistance from wildcard search to get the right half going. Also, Vinyl helped me prioritize my solving order, which helped a great deal.
  6. Trickyish, I thought.
    I in 7ac is just an abbreviation. The i newspaper has been completely separate from the Independent for some time.
    I had to cheat to get SETTER: I looked up ‘spy’ in the Chambers Thesaurus and there it was.

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