Mephisto 3166 – Oh, what a feeling!

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Mephisto

You can’t really say that a Mephisto is easy, or that the answers should be obvious, but of the three setters I find that it is the puzzles of Don Manley where many answers do come fairly quickly.   This enables me to get the hard bits without too much trouble.   In this particular puzzle, I went along pretty nicely, and had most of it in about an hour or so.   I was going to go to bed, but after brushing my teeth and turning off nearly all the lights, I decided to have another go and finished just at midnight here in the US.    Yes, there were a few words I didn’t know, but not many. 

I don’t expect that any of the experienced Mephisto solvers will have much difficulty, unless you carelessly biffed the unchecked mauve for 25 down.   That was the clue that I had to think the hardest about. 

Across
1 Bird having minimal time in water, getting cold — perch found outside (10)
PRATINCOLE – P(RA(T)IN)(C)OLE.   Once you see the rain and C part, not difficult, and you may even know the bird.
11 Drive back and look on return journey to secure parking (5)
REPEL – LE(P)ER backwards.
12 What’s freaky has some of you trembling (5)
OUTRE – hidden in [y]OU TRE[mbling].
13 Cronies upset about old city, rarely going back (9)
RECURSION –  Anagram of CRONIES around UR – I’m not sure about the rarely, this seems like a rather usual meaning.
14 Healthy town surrounded by muck? It makes a sort of difference (7)
DISPART –  DI(SPA)RT. 
17 Hawk three lines, wasting time with additional line (6)
TERCEL – TERCE[t] + L.  
18 Tool to set component of roof in stone (6)
STILET –  S(TILE)T. 
19 Female to advance, creating commotion (6)
FRAISE – F + RAISE.
20 Old material, very English, something attractive (6)
VELURE – V + E + LURE.
21 Silly attendees turned out to be sad and so opinionated? (6)
ENTETE – Compound anagram of ATTENDEES, which = ENTETE + SAD.
23 Shining silver lead for hound (6)
AGLEAM – AG + LEAM, more usuallty LYAM, a leash, or a leash-hound.
26 Sacred text has to be absorbed by holy person attached to academy (7)
SHASTRA –  S(HAS)T + R.A.
27 Runner gets summer tan when running (9)
SARMENTUM – Anagram of SUMMER TAN,
28 Soul of personal assistant bishop’s ignored (5)
ATMAN – [b]ATMAN, very easy if you know atman,
29 Location of son hiding in woody plant
VISNE – VI(S)NE.
30 Like some students smartened up when going to university (10)
UNSTREAMED – U + anagram of SMARTENED.
Down
1 Groups of wild animals spider troubled (6)
PRIDES – anagram of SPIDER, my FOI.
2 Bashed rear end — get it restored (12)
REDINTEGRATE –  Anagram of REAR END — GET IT.
3 Marginal note of disciple penning article in Italian (9)
APOSTILLE – APOST(IL)LE.
4 Some vile activity in part of the gut (5)
ILEAC – Hidden in [v]ILE AC[tivity].
5 Mineral certain to crumble (7)
NACRITE – Anagram of CERTAIN.
6 Passage blocked off at far end? I’m annoyed! (4)
CHUT – CHUT[e], a word often identified with shoot here in the US.
7 In Scotland dreary old men start to irritate English (5)
OORIE –  O + OR + I[rriate] E[nglish]. 
8 Walk around as before with passionate desire to gain speed (8)
LUSTRATE –  LUST + RATE, as a noun, with gain used a connecting word.
9 Something that aids female health — what could make GP restore individual (12)
PROGESTERONE – Anagram of GP RESTORE + ONE.
10 Like some old folk from home counties on foreign river (6)
SENILE – SE + NILE – but not, presumably, those of us who solve Mephisto every week!
15 I’m involved with insects, treating biology etc, as all-important (9)
SCIENTISM – Anagram of I’M + INSECTS.
16 Samuel played in band regularly — such a musician? (8)
BLUESMAN – B[a](anagram of SAMUEL)N[d].
19 Scottish boxer maybe genuinely gripped by anxiety, one having been knocked out (7)
FECHTER – F(ECHT)[a]ER. 
20 Very stupid person, a learner who must submit to his master? (6)
VASSAL – V + ASS + A + L. 
22 Very excited editor as last-minute news is being gathered (6)
ELATED – E(LATE)D.
24 Plant getting shelter in East End and minimal sun (5)
AVENS – ‘AVEN + S[un]
25 Artist using colour that’s “female” rather than “male” (5)
FAUVE –  (-m,+F)AUVE, a rather tricky letter-substitution clue.   The artists were usually called Fauvists.
26 Pet’s food containers turned upside down (4)
SNIT – TINS upside-down – the trick here is getting the correct meaning of pet.

6 comments on “Mephisto 3166 – Oh, what a feeling!”

  1. ….and I cleared it in 22:12 online in three passes through the clues, and no need for my Chambers.
  2. 19:03 on the timer. It doesn’t get much easier than this in Mephisto-land. Where the answers were obscure the wordplay was usually not and vice versa.
  3. Glad for an easier one, but a bit of a first for me – I finished all but 27 across (couldn’t decide betwen SARMENTUM or SAMMENTUR) and 26 down (couldn’t decide between SNIT and SNUT) during down time in a dress rehearsal for an outdoor production of The Comedy of Errors. I’m playing Duke Solinus and a policeman, so I’m not in act 2 or 3 at all.

    In other news, Shakespeare in the park is back!

  4. I delayed myself briefly by entering reintegrated but the crossers soon made me rethink. Not a lot else to hold me up. Just to chime with the introduction to the blog, my first attempted parsing of each clue very often seemed to be correct. A phenomenon more commonly found with this Mephisto setter than with the others.
  5. Couple of guid Scots words. As my Auntie Kate was wont to say, ‘Ye hink coz ah cum fae Ca’shore ah canna fecht?’

    Translated as:

    ‘Is it your considered opinion that my residency in Carronshore implies that I lack pugilistic skill?’

  6. Well, yes, whizzed through in less than 30 minutes (just) but though I managed to avoid MAUVE I didn’t manage to avoid inventing the curious plant ANENS. Must get my eyesight checked urgently if, as it appears I mistake an N for a V on presubmission check.

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