Mephisto 3250 – Coming down to the final Manleys

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Mephisto

II found this puzzle pretty easy and finished in one sitting.   The obscure words were not that obscure, and seemed highly likely    What else could a lurdon be?   Well, krytrons sound like subatomic particles and not measuring devices, but the cryptic hands it to you.

I finished this at a jogtrot in an easy 50 minutes

1 Originally Hebrew heaps could be worked out in these measures (6)
EPHAHS – Anagram of H[ebrew] HEAPS, an easy one for OT readers.
6 City den providing something to eat (6)
ECLAIR – E.C.  + LAIR.
10 Pa’s neurotic about safeguards (11)
PRECAUTIONS – Anagram of PA’S NEUROTIC.
11 Timing devices whine audibly and make a rough noise when knocked over (8)
KRYTRONS – Sounds like cry + SNORT backwards.
12 I adore travelling around? (6)
ROADIE – Anagram of I ADORE.
13 Old man, one joining political party — so this? (6)
PAIDUP – PA + I + DUP – Democratic Union Party.
16 Instrument to jam endlessly on “middle” note, leading to fuss (8)
STICCADO – STIC[k] + C + ADO.
18 Song from non-Christian having a change of heart (5)
PAEAN – PA(-g,+E)AN, a simple letter-substitution clue.
19 To look happy maiden’s not showing strain (4)
SILE – S[m]ILE.   Strain in the sense of run through a sieve, one of the more obscure meanings of sile.
20 “Cheers!” and “Shame!” said to be unacceptable (4)
TABU – TA + sounds like BOO.
24 Put forward allegation, quietly take initiative (5)
PLEAD – P + LEAD.
26 Refute old Socialist with terrible rage outside university (8)
REDARGUE – RED + anagram of RAGE around U.
27 Word to describe friars in capital city (6)
AUSTIN –  Double definition, Austin Friars is in London, but Austin the capital is in Texas.
28 Heavy person with trumpet at entrance to thieves’ hideout (6)
LURDEN – LUR + DEN, where lur is a Scandinavian S-shaped trumpet.
30 Ill-gotten gains brought back — lots — in workers’ containers (8)
TOOLBAGS – LOOT backwards + BATS.
32 Writs for accused people up in arms ere being released (11)
PRAEMUNIRES – Anagram of UP IN ARMS ERE.
33 Master treasurer’s message to member who owes him money (6)
SUBDUE – SUB DUE – please pay up!
34 Bosses in terrible flurries if wrongly ignored (6)
RULERS – Anagram of FLURRIES – IF.
Down
2 Talk drinking port in religious office (8)
PRIORATE – P(RIO)RATE.
3 English queen maybe the fellow’s held to be goddess (6)
HECATE – H(E,CAT)E.
4 A hero becoming bitter (4)
ACID – A CID, a hero who usually takes the definite article, and in another language.
5 Criminal investigators certain to nab little monster (6)
SURETE – SUR(E.T.)E, who for once is not a film.
6 Anomalous yet properly organised mini-illustration (6)
ETYPIC – Anagram of YET + PIC.
7 My soldiers line up at the front (3)
LOR – L + O.R.
8 Pole’s boy on a rise (6)
ANODAL –  LAD ON A upside-down.
9 More than one in family case pretends son is terrible (11)
RESPONDENTS – Anagram of PRETENDS SON.
10 A privateer aboard ship rarely sweats (11)
PERSPIRATES – PER + S(PIRATE)S.
14 Island dismissing leader in very unfriendly manner (5)
ICILY -[s]ICILY.
15 City sailor up to hug his mate? (5)
RABAT –  AB inside TAR upside-down.
17 What knocks out wild animal — a terrible end in store (8)
DEADENER – DE(A + anagram of END)ER.
21 Broads — fantastic to get on surface (6)
ADSORB – Anagram of BROADS, which we hope refers to Norfolk.
22 Any number in a sport provided with special tag (6)
AGNAME –  A G(N)AME.
23 Ultimately you kill grub that’s destroyed cereal (6)
BULGUR –  Anagram of [yo]U [kil]L GRUB.
25 Go on river? Stop going on it (6)
ENDURE –  END + URE.
29 Gush as before in the bar (4)
RAIL –  Double definition.
31 Youngster’s pulse when upset (3)
LAD – DAL upside-down.

6 comments on “Mephisto 3250 – Coming down to the final Manleys”

  1. Guess so, V. I still haven’t gotten around to purchasing the Chambers app (is it only for phones, and is it as complete as the printed monster?), and there are plenty words here I’d never encountered before, but I still managed to find them all, and their definitions.

    The word LUR survives, I read, as a root in the Swedish language, and a Swede might even call a telephone a lur, as it is a shortened form of telefonlur, telephone handset. And so on.

    KRYTONS are scary: nuclear-weapons triggers!

    You’ve omitted the gloss on DEADENER. A +(end)* inserted in DEER. Goes without saying, eh?

    1. “lur” is alive and well in one form – Lurpak butter, made in Denmark but mostly sold in the UK, has a logo with two of the ancient instruments. One of those outfits with some pleasingly clever YV advertising, in this case involving some relatively early work for Aardman Animations, and in the later ones, a trombone hinting at the lur – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jdkEcw2jn8

  2. Was this really DM’s last Mephisto? I thought his farewell puzzle was going to be in January.
    I don’t recall seeing any announcement last week in the paper, or online, but perhaps I missed it.

  3. Chambers app:
    * works on iPad and iPhone
    * is complete for the main dictionary content, barring a tiny number of missing definitions, presumably from some formatting oddity which affects a process of identifying all the headwords. If there’s a way to display other content like the introduction and lists like first names, elements and the Beaufort scale, I’ve forgotten it.
    * may be offered in a bundle with the Chambers Thesaurus. They’re combined pretty well as apps, but the thesaurus vocabulary is not the full Chambers content.

    Don Manley puzzles: the last two are 1 Jan and 22 Jan, so my guess is that vinyl1 will be writing the report for the last one.

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