While for the previous Mephisto I barely needed to touch Chambers, this John Grimshaw production will require considerable checking for most solvers. Even those who can biff ophiolatrous will still end up having to look up something. I had to make a number of guesses, most of which turned out to be correct; for example, is there an actor named Sean Bean? Probably. Is a luce a fish? Yep. Is the Itala a version of the Bible. Apparently so.
Getting all those crossing letters from ophiolatrous right at the beginning was most helpful – I only wish I could have seen monadelphous just as quickly Both words are properly formed from good Greek roots. And halse, of course, is good Old English. So in the end, I only had to struggle with a few strange ones, ending up with sea bean.
| Across | |
| 1 | Jewish leader, a divine involved in returning ark from the north (7) |
| TSADDIK – A DD in KIST backwards, some Scots for you. | |
| 6 | Scruffy Australian beginning on grade A hemp (5) |
| DAGGA – DAG + G[rade] + A. Australian slang is not my strong point, but the answer word seemed vaguely familiar. | |
| 11 | Pastor in US state, our last freely worshipping snakes (12) |
| OPHIOLATROUS – O(P)HIO + anagram of OUR LAST. | |
| 12 | Brittle star they found swimming (8) |
| SHATTERY – Anagram of STAR THEY. | |
| 14 | Greet old artist before exhibition’s opening (5) |
| HALSE – HALS + E[xhibition]. | |
| 15 | With borders guarded, hard to leave (5) |
| EDGED – [h]EDGED. | |
| 17 | Shoemaker’s thread left inside on backing (6) |
| LINGEL – L + IN + LEG backwards. | |
| 19 | Actor losing a new amulet (7, two words) |
| SEA BEAN – SEA[n] BEAN, where only one N is lost. | |
| 21 | Flexible stem denying aquilegia a lot of support (4) |
| BINE – [colum][n]]BINE. Looking up what aquilegia is will give it to you if you are stuck. | |
| 22 | See both sides of motorway covered in trees (4) |
| ELMY – |
|
| 23 | Magical figure shedding luminance, article of a sorceress (7) |
| CIRCEAN – CIRC[l]E + AN. | |
| 24 | Source of legumes it’s said go with fish (6) |
| PEACOD – Sounds like PEE + COD. | |
| 28 | Version of Bible partly reordered Galatians (5) |
| ITALA – Backwards hidden in [g]ALATI[ans]. | |
| 30 | Ghost of deceased spirit returns after having drained Lethe (5) |
| LEMUR – L[eth]E + RUM backwards. | |
| 31 | A fish cake sent back — rather milky nature? (8) |
| NUBECULA – A LUCE BUN backwards. | |
| 32 | Like flowers of hibiscus, hybrid should open AM (12) |
| MONADELPHOUS – Anagram of SHOULD OPEN AM. | |
| 33 | A novel type of fruit (5) |
| ANANA – A NANA, a novel by Emile Zola. | |
| 34 | Position for fencing division I note (7) |
| SEPTIME – SEPT +I + ME. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Two heartlessly throw rubbish (5) |
| TOSHY – T[w]O + SHY. | |
| 2 | Gangrene developed in a chap’s large toe (12) |
| SPHACELATION – Anagram of IN A CHAP’S L TOE. | |
| 3 | Eccentric American Democrat’s appeal over second year (5) |
| DITSY – D + IT + S + Y. | |
| 4 | Growth of international law (4) |
| ILEX – I + LEX. The literal is a little vague, to say the least. | |
| 5 | Burmese native jackdaw seen over rising interior (7) |
| KARENNI – KA + INNER upside-down. | |
| 7 | Declare once? Declare twice to make it! (5) |
| AREDE – Hidden in [decl]ARE DE[clare] – we’ve seen this trick before. | |
| 8 | Searches the internet about current deceptive questions (8) |
| GOOGLIES – GOOGL(I)ES, some slang transferred from cricket. | |
| 9 | Fibrous connection unfortunately uncurable in mouth tissue (12) |
| GUBERNACULUM – GU(anagram of UNCURABLE)M. | |
| 10 | All at once a Nile hazard on Egyptian banks (7) |
| ASUDDEN – A SUDD + E[gryptia]N. A mass of vegetation floaing on the Nile, evidently. | |
| 13 | Wagon, good one on the tube (6) |
| TELEGA – TELE-G-A. | |
| 16 | Open land regularly seen in Chad map? Bang on, lad! (8) |
| CAMPAGNA – C[h]A[d] M[a]P? [b]A[n]G [o]N [l]A[d]. | |
| 18 | Girl initially runs in without foundation garment (6) |
| GIRDLE – G[irl] + I[r]DLE. Even though foundation is part of the wordplay, it gives away the answer. | |
| 19 | Sort of bird, millions in aeries all over the place (7) |
| SERIEMA – Anagram of AERIES around M. | |
| 20 | Accountant is sorry for falls due (7) |
| ACCRUES – ACC + RUES. | |
| 25 | Tricky rock worked in Cornwall (5) |
| ELVAN – Double definition, where the first one is usually elven. | |
| 26 | Farm implement Chinese used in water (5) |
| WECHT – WE(CH)T. | |
| 27 | Audibly express admiration of green stone (5) |
| PRASE – Sounds like PRAISE. | |
| 29 | Warrant earlier festival once about Britain (4) |
| ABLE – A(B)LE. | |
Thanks, Jonathan. I think the only mystery remaining for me is the reference in your headline.
Er, 1 down – watch out for that!
Oh, good grief!
22A does El mean to see?
No, the parsing is ELY (the see) split around either side of M for motorway.
Many thanks to both setter and blogger.
I think 22 ac. is rather Ely (a see) either (both) sides of M?
Fun puzzle, lots of unusual words, though ITALA has appeared in other barred-grid puzzles recently so it was a write-in.