Greetings, barred-grid fans!
Yes, this puzzle will be among the last by this setter, and George and I will have to cope with two new setters in the coming year. I greatly enjoy the clarity and simplicity of Don Manley’s Mephistos, and this one was no exception. I was almost able to finish without consulting Chambers, but I needed a little help at the end, and had to put one clue off until the next day. But a night’s sleep caused cress to magically creep into my brain as a possible vegetable, and I triumphantly entered the answer and finished the puzzle.
| Across | |
| 4 | Rebel fighter, not the first old person likely to go wrong (8) |
| ERRORIST – [t]ERRORIST, old in the sense the word is obsolete. | |
| 11 | Protest or act in unruly manner — waves being used to convey message (12) |
| TROPOSCATTER – Anagram of PROTEST OR ACT. | |
| 12 | Bull, thankless animal (4) |
| URUS – [ta]URUS. | |
| 13 | Dry bit of roof that can be cut without damage (7) |
| SECTILE – SEC + TILE. | |
| 15 | Latin poet a ceremonial officer listened to (7) |
| MARTIAL – Sounds like MARSHALL. | |
| 16 | Fuel providing elevated level of force, we hear (6) |
| HYDYNE – Sounds like HIGH + DYNE. | |
| 17 | A fictional work’s being seen as dead? (5) |
| ASHES – A SHE’S – the setter’s favorite work. | |
| 18 | Victorian scientist revealing crop’s quality (10) |
| WHEATSTONE – WHEAT’S TONE. Never heard of him, but obvious. | |
| 20 | Needs spies to be deployed in haste (10) |
| SPEEDINESS – Anagram of NEEDS SPIES. | |
| 25 | Antelope in India featured in long tale (5) |
| SAIGA – SA(I)GA. | |
| 26 | Fish sale on island (6) |
| VENDIS – VEND ++ IS, where the trick is knowing the fish, an alternate spelling of vendace. | |
| 29 | Dishevelled male, not restricted going about (7) |
| UNKEMPT – UNKE(M)PT. Why am I thinking of the Buffalo Bills? | |
| 31 | Dad spending time to cross lake to get unknown mineral (7) |
| FAHLERZ – FA[t]HER + Z. The Z is the most likely unknown in a German word like this. | |
| 32 | Food giving bad taste, mostly egg (4) |
| TACO – TAC[k] + O. | |
| 33 | One manual editor dismally lacking a simple form of language (12, two words) |
| IDIOM NEUTRAL – Anagram of I MANUAL EDITOR – A. | |
| 34 | Rock in ground left abandoned — last bit in the specified area (8) |
| ANDESITE – [l]AND + [th]E + SITE. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | “Must” could clue it! (4) |
| STUM – Anagram of MUST, an &lit: “To renew (wine etc.) by mixing must with it and raising a new fermentation.” | |
| 2 | Arranges a hoist in the auditorium (6) |
| ARRAYS – Sounds like A RAISE. | |
| 3 | Fruit from old city fed to divine being (5) |
| GOURD – GO(UR)D. | |
| 5 | Got waxy in mathematical function in bar (7) |
| ROSINED – RO(SINE)D. I nearly biffed resined until I looked at the cryptic. | |
| 6 | Sadly lacking essence, the cool cat (6) |
| OCELOT – Anagram of T[h]E COOL. | |
| 7 | Instrument of torture and destruction (4) |
| RACK – Double definition. | |
| 8 | Verse with urgent message little person brought in (7) |
| STICHOS – S(TICH)OS. They conveniently have stichomythia in Greek drama. | |
| 9 | One of the bivalve molluscs to count and measure (6) |
| TELLEN – TELL + EN. | |
| 10 | Plant seen in vegetable baskets on poles (8) |
| CRESSETS – CRES(SET)S. My LOI. | |
| 14 | Cast rarely given a celebratory message — heartless! (4) |
| TOST – TO[a]ST. It would have been pretty common in 18th-century verse. | |
| 16 | Criminal is shifty, showing display of petulance (8, two words) |
| HISSY FIT – Anagram of IS SHIFTY. | |
| 18 | Requirement after horse race entry is announced (7) |
| WEIGH-IN – Sounds like WAY IN. | |
| 19 | Look for decisive victory, do, when faced with judge (7, two words) |
| SEEK OUT – SEE + K.O. + UT, where the do we sing in the scale was once ut. | |
| 21 | Criticise Byron’s daughter for being a saucy dish (6) |
| PANADA – PAN ADA, a write-in for those up on the history of computers. | |
| 22 | English girl is equal to Bard (4) |
| EGAL – E + GAL. | |
| 23 | Pub makes money, it’s said, and puts in storage jars (6) |
| INURNS – Sounds like INN EARNS, and in most accents, too. | |
| 24 | Hint chap’s given in game (6) |
| TIPCAT – TIP + CAT. | |
| 27 | Maiden in state of ignorance gets money no more (5) |
| D-MARK – D(M)ARK. | |
| 28 | Local population is crazy, not half! (4) |
| DEME – DEME[nted]. | |
| 30 | Sound of bell in bar (4) |
| TOLL – Double definition, the second one from French toller, and rather obscure. | |
I found this quite tricky and got completely stuck at the end because my D-MARK had somehow become E-MARK, making 26ac difficult. I spotted the error eventually but it took me far too long.
I have heard of Wheatstone and have used his bridge in measuring conductivity of solutions, so I enjoyed that clue very much. Finished in one pretty brisk sitting.