This was a very straightforward Mephisto, and for once nearly all the answers were words I had heard of, in two cases from puzzles within the past two weeks. When Homer introduces an unusual word in the Odyssey, he frequently repeats it a couple of hundred lines later, and the Times setters seem to have adopted a similar mode of operation. And, as usual, Manley’s cryptics are very logical and straightforward, so if you didn’t know something, you have a very good chance of getting it. Rostrate, ocreate, and scorse, the only three words that I did not know, were practically handed to the solver on a platter, making the solving process relatively simple.
I hoped everyone enjoyed this excursion into the easier side of Mephisto, because it never stays easy for long!
Across | |
1 | Publisher is certainly half confused (6) |
ISSUER – IS + SURE with the last two letters reversed. | |
6 | Put foot down at home, confronting relation without hesitation (6) |
INSIST – IN + SIST[er] | |
12 | Peer at a dog spraying big erect plant (10) |
PAGODATREE – Anagram of PEER AT A DOG. | |
13 | Horse and duck in Cornish river (4) |
FOAL – F(O)AL. | |
14 | Observation of failure retrospectively limiting one (6) |
ESPIAL – LAPSE backwards around I. | |
15 | Most indecent female has sudden fit of stubbornness (6) |
FREEST – F + REEST, with a rather archaic meaning of free. | |
16 | Maybe misrepresent the French, following fashion (6) |
GARBLE – GARB + LE. | |
20 | Lots of pieces of paper are put in order — handwritten stuff (5) |
REAMS – Anagram of ARE + MS. | |
22 | A sort of ridge for mites (7) |
ACARINA – A + CARINA, where it is helpful to know the constellation. These mites have gotten quite popular lately. | |
23 | Sheath-like form with ring at front (7) |
OCREATE – O + CREATE. | |
25 | Presses down to make an impression, first to last (5) |
TAMPS – STAMP with the S moved to the back. | |
30 | Pet bird given restraint (6) |
DAWTIE – DAW + TIE, more Scots. | |
31 | Sugar in lemonade’s bad, putting off men somehow (6) |
ALDOSE – Anagram of LEMONADE with MEN removed. | |
32 | Term of office — time to practise once (6) |
TENURE – T + ENURE. | |
33 | Chemical spray on the wing (4) |
ALAR – A simple double definition, and one that does not lean either way. | |
34 | Sedan chair broken, no longer in good order? (10) |
ANARCHISED – Anagram of SEDAN CHAIR. | |
35 | Turbulent couple of years involving China etc? (6) |
YEASTY – Y(EAST)Y | |
36 | Legendary Gaelic poet or knight (6) |
OSSIAN – I’m not really sure what is going on here, as I just biffed the obvious answer. Discussion invited. |
Down | |
2 | Grievance involving head of shop offering exchange, as before (6) |
SCORSE – SCOR(S[hop])E, | |
3 | Predicted what gardener would need picked up? (5) |
SPAED – Sounds like SPADE. | |
4 | Get rid of nuisance finally with old-fashioned V-sign? (5) |
EGEST – [nuisanc]E + GEST, with DBE indicated by the question mark. | |
5 | Like a bird lying down but not quietly (8) |
ROSTRATE – [p]ROSTRATE. | |
7 | Knight needing help hugging a female in the water? (5) |
NAIAD – N + AI(A)D, a starter clue. | |
8 | Top actor has reversal of role as a theatrical device (8, two words) |
STAR TRAP – STAR + PART backwards, a bit of stage equipment. | |
9 | Fifty lines laid out for trade event (6, two words) |
SELL IN – Anagram of L LINES. | |
10 | More than one person on the box lets a secret out (11) |
TELECASTERS – Anagram of LETS A SECRET. | |
11 | Bawdy oaf for playing in an experimental theatre? (11) |
OFF-BROADWAY – Anagram of BAWDY OAF FOR. Actually, the real experimental stuff was off-off-Broadway. | |
17 | Watery edge that would have stone for butterfly (4) |
BRIM – BRIM[stone], a kind of butterfly. | |
18 | Industrial processors in plant had nasty pong to start with (8) |
SMELTERS – SMELT + ERS, that famous bitter vetch found chiefly in crosswords. | |
19 | Plot needs arsenic dissolved — nothing more (8) |
SCENARIO – Anagram of ARSENIC + 0. | |
21 | One of the old-style war missiles heartlessly lined up (4) |
AROW – AR[r]OW. | |
24 | Theatrical turns restricted, cut short (6) |
CHAINE – CHAINE[d], which only works because accent marks are not used in these puzzles. | |
26 | OAPs regathered outside commercial hotel abroad (6) |
POSADA – Anagram of OAPS around AD. | |
27 | Old-fashioned colour not entirely distinctive (5) |
TINCT – hidden in [dis]TINCT[ive], where colour is a verb. | |
28 | Pronounce holy bishop “inferior” (5) |
BLESS – B + LESS. | |
29 | Tricked one with old coins (5) |
SOLDI – SOLD + I. |
Edited at 2022-01-16 03:54 pm (UTC)
Repetition in The Odyssey is often the product of the oral tradition from which it emerged. I wonder if something similar is happening with the Times setters discussing their clues in the pub.