Greetings barred-grid fans!
If I have the dates and numbers correct this will be the final Don Manley Mephisto puzzle I will write up (vinyl1 will get the last puzzle at the end of the month). Don joined the Mephisto rotation in August 2011 (Mephisto 2658). I hope we will continue to see him as Izetti, Pasquale and others into the future.
And maybe Don will smile a little, as he had the last laugh here, and I had two very silly errors in the grid, both words I was convinced were correct and should have checked in Chambers.
Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | Tool — one’s kept in Jock’s shed (8, two words) |
| STONESAW – ONE’S inside STAW (stall, shed) | |
| 7 | Washed in moving water reportedly (4) |
| TYED – sounds like TIDE(moving water) | |
| 10 | Dish with a round shape given to soldier (6) |
| PEROGI – PER(a), O(round shape), GI(soldier) | |
| 11 | Artist wearing hat in tree (5) |
| CARAP – RA(artist) inside CAP(hat) | |
| 13 | A pair of similar characters at one time together — but not now (7) |
| ATTONCE – A, T and T(similar characters), ONCE(at one time) | |
| 14 | Singer missing introduction must go back (5) |
| RENIG -anagram of SINGER minus the first letter | |
| 17 | Buddhist community celebrated in this year (6) |
| SANGHA – SANG(celebrated), HA(hoc anno, in this year) | |
| 18 | Get rid of chief troublemaker in military district (6) |
| BANATE – BAN(get rid of), ATE(troublemaker) | |
| 19 | Certain lack of ability in adult, once little and spirited (9) |
| ALITERACY – A(adult), LITE(little), RACY(spirited) | |
| 21 | Surgeon cheeky going round hospital, mostly doing nothing (9) |
| TREPHINER – PERT(cheeky) reversed, H(hospital), and INERT(doing nothing) minus the last letter | |
| 23 | Tries to rival Eastern drug-carriers (6) |
| EMULES – E(eastern), MULES(drug-carriers) | |
| 25 | King with the best possible fanciful thought (6) |
| REVERY – R(king) and EVERY(the best possible) | |
| 29 | Old equipment rejected includes a drum (5) |
| TAIKO – O(old), KIT(equipment) reversed containing A | |
| 30 | Darlings with obligations to old simpleton (7) |
| DAWTIES – TIES(obligations) next to DAW(simpleton) | |
| 31 | Attention needed in the French lesson — not now (5) |
| LEARE – EAR(attention) in LE(“the” in French) | |
| 32 | Intersection made with one entering gap (6) |
| CHIASM – I(one) inside CHASM(gap) | |
| 33 | Expert police investigator keeping anything but quiet (4) |
| DEFT – DET(detective, police investigator) containing F(anything but quiet) | |
| 34 | Like old art — against including modern? (8) |
| TRECENTO – TO(against) containing RECENT(modern) | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Communications system used in remote travel (5) |
| TETRA – hidden in remoTE TRAvel | |
| 3 | Fruit — there’s nothing quainter somehow (9) |
| ORTANIQUE – O(nothing) and an anagram of QUAINTER | |
| 4 | Beginner? Nay — old boy! (4) |
| NOOB – NO(nay), OB(old boy) | |
| 5 | So vehicle is certainly old-fashioned (6) |
| SICCAR – SIC(so), CAR(vehicle) | |
| 6 | A European said to be bitter (5) |
| ACERB – A, then sounds like SERB(European) | |
| 7 | That referee shows what is forbidden (4) |
| TREF – hidden inside thaT REFeree | |
| 8 | Record valuable material in letter (7) |
| EPISTLE – EP(record), ISTLE(valuable material) | |
| 9 | Message to Verges maybe amounts to this: “Riders go by in order with little male behind” (11) |
| DOGBERRYISM – anagram of RIDERS,GO,BY then M(male). Reference to the two policemen in Much Ado About Nothing | |
| 10 | Permit the last word to be given to rebellious youth bedecked like a hippy? (11) |
| PASSAMENTED – PASS(permit), AMEN(the last word), TED(rebellious youth) | |
| 12 | South of region revolutionary had briefly seized once (8) |
| AREACHED – AREA(region) on top of CHE(revolutionary), ‘D(had, briefly) | |
| 15 | For that time cathedral city closed early (8) |
| THEREFOR – T(time), then HEREFORD(cathedral time) minus the last letter | |
| 16 | Gem that could be displayed by Claire and Ann (9) |
| CARNELIAN – anagram of CLAIRE and ANN | |
| 20 | Attack misery in farming festival (7) |
| LAMBALE -LAM(attack), BALE(misery) | |
| 22 | Part of book (not the middle) in old-fashioned print (6) |
| PREACE – PREFACE(part of book) minus the middle letter | |
| 24 | Welshman possibly upset when daughter interrupts formal meal (5) |
| SEDER – REES(Welshman) reversed containing D(daughter) | |
| 26 | Somehow cure tall plants, first to last (5) |
| REEST – TREES(tall plants) with the T moved to the end | |
| 27 | Go round on ice, not finishing game (4) |
| SKAT – SKATE(go round on ice) minus the last letter | |
| 28 | Good person that is given rise? Not these days! (4) |
| STIE – ST(good person), IE(that is) | |
I didn’t finish this one, by hook or by crook, largely because I had TREPANNER for the NHO TREPHINER… (seeing my mistake in your blog, I stopped right there to work on the grid a bit more before returning). Seemed to me that TIED fit perfectly well both definitions (thinking of “washed” as “tied” in the sports sense, since coming out even is a “wash”…? Oh, well…). I don’t have Chambers yet (online… it’s not that I’m cheap!) but I’ve found backup online for most everything I didn’t know (except LEAR with an E). I think REEST was in another Times puzzle not so long ago… I got CHIASM from knowing “chiasmus” as a rhetorical device, but there were a good number of words never before encountered, and always a pleasure.
I don’t see an anagrind for RENIG…? I was actually hallucinating (-w)REN, “singer” and something-Mephistoish-yet-to-be-explained about IG. Ha. The definition seemed clear, if the spelling “nonstandard.”
It’s “must”, used in the sense of fermentation.
TIED was one of my mistakes.
Ah, yes, I did get a whiff of that “must,” wasn’t sure. Thanks.
Well, I was all correct, but my solve extended over several sessions, unusual for a Don Manley. There was nothing wrong with the clues, I just kept getting the wrong end of the stick. Having Dogberryism was a major breakthrough.
The blogger didn’t indicate what his errors were – it is really very hard to mess up in a barred-grid puzzle with such clear cluing.
George did name one of his errors, in his reply to me, above.
Clearly, I don’t find it incredibly difficult to mess up. 😉
I had DAFTIES instead of DAWTIES. Was so convinced of it fitting I didn’t look up DAF to find it wasn’t a word and DAW was. D’OH
I had TIED too, and I’m claiming it as correct since TIE is an alternative spelling of TYE in the required sense. I looked it up in Chambers before submitting but I had already put in TIED. I’m not sure why I didn’t change it.
And I’m another with a pink square for TIED. I looked it up too, but used the first of the definitions in the dictionary. I think it’s a little unfair when there are two possible answers that fir the clue equally well.
Agreed. Chambers supports TIE as an alternative spelling of TYE, in the sense of washing. I chose the latter on the grounds that it was the primary reference, but would vociferously argue that TIED as equally correct.
I am not sure that attempting to solve Mephisto Crosswords is good for one’s mental health.