Geetings barred-grid fans!
Paul McKenna has taken us to some of the deep cuts in Chambers this week for a puzzle I found particularly challenging, but a lot of fun reading up on the components. I got a giggle out of the pun in the top row because it is a favorite of a friend of mine who announces it every time there are baked goods at breakfast.
Since definitions in Mephisto puzzles can be confrmed in Chambers, I will focus on wordplay here.
Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | With this dough is stretched, as previously during depression (6) |
| GLUTEN – UT(as) inside GLEN(depression). My first job in the chemisty field was a quality control chemist at a four mill, so I got to know gluten pretty well. | |
| 5 | Trotter, sometime leader of private enterprise? (6) |
| MORGAN – I think the second definition is referencing J.P. Morgan | |
| 10 | Plainsong for female featuring in Byzantine romance (10, two words) |
| CANTO FERMO – TO(for), F(female) inside an anagram of ROMANCE | |
| 11 | Leading German in very good economic policy (6) |
| STOP-GO – TOP(leading), G(german) inside SO(very good) | |
| 13 | Local governor’s abuse I take (5) |
| MUDIR – MUD(abuse), I, R(recipe, take) | |
| 14 | Pass round cracking restored rose alloys (7) |
| OREIDES – DIE(pass) reversed inside an anagram of ROSE | |
| 15 | Posture when Rajput royal runs away (5) |
| ASANA – AS(when) and then RANA(Rajput royal) missing R(runs) | |
| 16 | Face French unease for supposed inheritance unit? (7) |
| PANGENE – PAN(face) then GENE(embarrassment in Frence, unease) | |
| 17 | Pulling in clear barrier for birds? (7) |
| NETTING – double definition | |
| 23 | Exciting device put in pond stirred up area close to hill (7) |
| AERATOR – anagram of AREA, then TOR(hill) | |
| 25 | A tense region’s allure (7) |
| ATTRACT – A, T(tense), TRACT(region). Didn’t think of allure as a verb, but Chambers confirms | |
| 28 | Wind up that is behind reduced power shifting to the centre (5) |
| UPTIE – IE(that is) after PUT(reduce) with P(power in the middle) | |
| 29 | Mark that approves paunch’s glandular secretion (7) |
| CERUMEN – CE(communaute europeene, mark to approve EU safety standards), then RUMEN(paunch) | |
| 30 | Drummer, one proverbially industrious, to thrum for some (5) |
| DRANT – DR(drummer), ANT(one proverbially industrious) | |
| 31 | Irritable Duke must admit eccentricity (end of story) (6) |
| FEISTY – FIST(duke) containing E(eccentricity) then the last letter of storY | |
| 32 | One is equal, Pike, wait for amicable outcome (10) |
| IMPARLANCE – I’M(one is), PAR(equal), LANCE(pike) | |
| 33 | Restrained when being sought, we hear (6) |
| CHASTE – sounds like CHASED(being sought) | |
| 34 | La Légion’s on the ground in Eritrea, injured one’s withdrawn (6, two words) |
| A TERRE – anagram of ERITREA minus I(one) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | A meter-reader that makes hug human? (6) |
| GASMAN – to make HUG into HUMAN you must read G AS MAN. Of course I thought of the Flanders and Swann song as I entered this | |
| 2 | Wonderfully astute role for hedonistic do-naught (10) |
| LOTUS EATER – anagram of ASTUTE ROLE | |
| 3 | Hack horse pressed by terriers as a whole? (7, two words) |
| TAP INTO – PINTO(horse), after TA(terriers). The computer meaning of hack | |
| 4 | English bouncer returned to border (7) |
| ENGRAIL – ENG(English) then LIAR(bouncer) reversed | |
| 5 | Low ramp in place of refuge? (7) |
| MOORAGE – MOO(low), RAMP(to rage) | |
| 6 | In the manner that characterises X frequently (5) |
| OFTEN – OF(in the manner that characterises), TEN(X) | |
| 7 | Irish publicly reject part of Bonfire Night (5) |
| RENIG – hidden inside bonfiRE NIGht | |
| 8 | Ruddy ship rolled up without old machine (6) |
| GRADER – RED(ruddy) and ARGO(ship) reversed missing O(old) | |
| 9 | Rare short bit of line Beat poet left (6) |
| NORSEL – Harold NORSE(Beat poet), L(left). I’m not a man, I don’t want to destroy you. | |
| 12 | Inept tenor could make this riotous stag (10) |
| TEN-POINTER – anagram of INEPT TENOR | |
| 18 | At Le Mans she is able to go round car (7) |
| NACELLE – ELLE(she in French), CAN(is able to) all reversed. The car of an airship | |
| 19 | Wise Prince who reads up on shedding stone (7) |
| PRUDENT – PR(prince) then STUDENT(who reads up on) missing ST(stone) | |
| 20 | About to fix the value of humour (7) |
| CAPRICE – CA(about), PRICE(fix the value of) | |
| 21 | It covers function I see of taxis (6) |
| TACTIC – ‘T, ACT(function), I, C(see) | |
| 22 | Amateur left looking up about pernicious plant (6) |
| ATROPA – A(amateur) then PORT(left) reversed, then A(about) | |
| 24 | Do text again from avant-garde poetry when zilch is electronic (6) |
| RETYPE – anagram of POETRY with O(zilch) replaced by E(electronic) | |
| 26 | Eg, Buchan’s coarse complexion, a term for gross (5) |
| RUDAS – RUD(complexion), A, and the last letter of grosS | |
| 27 | A hustler’s down in the dumps no more (5) |
| AMORT – A, MORT(loose woman, hustler) | |
Edited at 2021-11-28 09:50 am (UTC)
I can’t really measure the difficulty of these puzzles by how much I use Chambers because I look almost everything up, even when I’m sure of the answer.
I don’t know why, but I didn’t find this too tough, though I also chewed my way through a lot of Chambers.
I thought in CANTO FERMO the use of “for” to clue TO was a bit mean, but not impossible in a Mephisto!