Greetings, barred-grid fans.
Let’s start with the news – it was announced with the publication of this puzzle that when Don Manley steps down from Mephisto early next year that there will be two new setters, both familiar names.
John Grimshaw has been a setter and editor and I believe is behind the Joker puzzles in the Quick Cryptic series that have always been fun. I’m looking forward to his contributions very much. I don’t think I’ve ever solved a complete puzzle by Robert Teuton, but he has been active in the online solving community for several years, and is a regular winner of the Azed clue-writing competition (I used to enter it regularly, but only got as high as a VHC).
For a few more months we can enjoy puzzles like this one, with Don Manley’s precise wordplay rendering the most unusual words as eminently solvable.
In Mephisto puzzles, definitions (the most direct of which is underlined) can be confirmed in Chambers, so I will focus on wordplay here.
Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | Scheme to have a hundred poles around agricultural territory (9) |
| CROPLANDS – PLAN(scheme) inside C(a hundred) RODS(poles) | |
| 10 | Attack short road, given external cover (6, two words) |
| HAVE AT – AVE(short for avenue, road) inside HAT(cover) | |
| 11 | Old companion’s terror being heard (4) |
| FEER – sounds like FEAR(terror) | |
| 12 | Somehow carried, being favoured by members (6, two words) |
| IN ARMS – IN(favoured) ARMS(members) | |
| 13 | Friend’s quietly taken aback by this insect (6) |
| PSYLLA – ALLY’S(friend’s) and P(quietly) all reversed | |
| 14 | Draw out as train that’s lost a little time (5) |
| EDUCE – EDUCATE(train) minus A and T(time) | |
| 15 | It’s easy to get two lines crossing in a mathematical figure (7) |
| SIMPLEX – SIMPLE(easy) and X(two lines crossing) | |
| 17 | Worker in bar is one guilty of financial misconduct (8) |
| LEVANTER – worker ANT inside LEVER(bar) | |
| 19 | Suffers again in respect of rented flats? (6) |
| RELETS – RE(in respect of), and LETS(rented flats) | |
| 20 | Government that’s bad for emigre (6) |
| REGIME – anagram of EMIGRE | |
| 25 | Female, ineffective hindrance, not much of an old lover? (8) |
| FLAMELET – F(female), LAME(ineffective), LET(hindrance) | |
| 26 | Monkey with home county boundary (7) |
| TAMARIN – IN(home) and the TAMAR river is the boundary between Devon and Cornwall | |
| 27 | Old city’s heavenly circle exuding power (5) |
| TROIC – TROPIC(heavenly circle) minus P(power) | |
| 28 | The man elected that is “duff” (6) |
| HEINIE – HE(the men), IN(elected), IE(that is) | |
| 30 | Dirty second child kept outside old peasant commune (6) |
| SMIRCH – S(second), CH(child) outside of MIR(peasant commune) | |
| 31 | Demigod, excellent when leading union (4) |
| AITU – A1(excellent) in front of TU(union) | |
| 32 | Sleeve of hair for children to wear (6) |
| MANCHE – MANE(hair) with CH(children) inside | |
| 33 | Let garden go wild? One sorts out knotty problem (9) |
| DETANGLER – anagram of LET,GARDEN | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Wild ceilidh expelling one Scottish fellow (6) |
| CHIELD – anagram of CEILIDH minus I(one) | |
| 2 | Some grand employer — one has three horses (6) |
| RANDEM – hidden inside gRAND EMployer | |
| 3 | A head extraordinarily appreciative when dismissing 4E (9, two words) |
| PER CAPITA – anagram of APPRECIATIVE minus IV(four),E | |
| 4 | Regret chaps being trapped in lavatory (6) |
| LAMENT – MEN(chaps) inside LAT(lavatory) | |
| 5 | Like some logs inane pair chopped up (9) |
| NAPIERIAN – anagram of INANE,PAIR for the mathematical logs | |
| 6 | Insult inadequate team turning up (3) |
| DIS – SIDE(team), minus the last letter, reversed | |
| 7 | Occupant of No 10 has measure introduced, that measure bringing confusion (8) |
| PELL-MELL – PM(occupant of No 10), containing ELL(measure) then another ELL | |
| 8 | Rising hesitation over time of spiritual discipline? Give in! (6) |
| RELENT – ER(hesitation) reversed over LENT(time of spiritual discipline) | |
| 9 | Custom of pair sitting on deer (6) |
| PRAXIS – PR(pair) on an AXIS deer | |
| 15 | Elite sets, somehow most resolute (9) |
| STEELIEST – anagram of ELITE,SETS | |
| 16 | Trifling in talk, with change in sound (9) |
| PALTERING – ALTER(change) in PING(sound) | |
| 18 | Food spread very minimally, say — last thing for the little kid? (8) |
| VEGEMITE – V(very), EG(say), the last letter in thE and MITE(little kid). Never liked the stuff though I was force fed a fair chunk of it as a little kid | |
| 20 | Despicable person possesses horse-drawn carriages (6) |
| RATHAS – RAT(despicable person), HAS(possesses) | |
| 21 | Around a lake to the north I see strange trees (6) |
| ELAEIS – A, L(lake) reversed inside an anagram of I,SEE | |
| 22 | Magistrate’s essential self as money-grabber (6) |
| AMTMAN – ATMAN(essential self) containing M(money) | |
| 23 | Whale getting about — explosive disturbance in water (6) |
| SEICHE – SEI whale, then C(circa, about) and HE(explosive) | |
| 24 | Little monster meeting dear Parisian is one to make an impression (6) |
| ETCHER – ET(little monster) and CHER(dear in French) | |
| 29 | Fish making journey, heading off (3) |
| IDE – RIDE(journey) minus the first letter | |
Pretty gentle, this one.
We were near the source of the Tamar recently and one of my kids commented that it’s a very silly river. It starts about three miles from the north Cornish coast but then decides to go 60 miles in the opposite direction.
First time I’ve ever done one of these without opening Chambers, so definitely gentle!