Mephisto 3282 – Yes, that’s what it is!

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Mephisto

This was quite easy for a Mephisto, and I solved it in one sitting while hardly cracking my Chambers.    There were few really obscure words, at least for the hardened Mephisto solver.    Since I had heard of things like sonants, krewe, coombs, and hansel, and knew the Greek meaning of agape, I was able to write in a number of simple answers.   I had only one parsing I was a little uncertain of, but I’m sure that will be cleared up.   I don’t expect that this one will have given any of our regulars much difficulty.

1 Huffish male of doubtful standing (5)
MIFFY – M + IFFY.
6 Took note of trousering old hard cash? (5)
DOUGH – D(O)UG + H.
10 Fitting and starting like a lieutenant heading off indignation (6, two words)
A SALTI – AS A LT + I[ndignation].
11 In the main new eclectic host of paramilitaries (4)
SENA – SE(N)A.
12 In developing section I aim for a student of signals (11)
SEMIOTICIAN – Anagram of SECTION I AIM, a write-in for the pomo crowd.
13 Plod’s learned about nabbing blagger finally (4)
TROG – GOT backwards containing [blagge]R.
14 Noises that are voiced by inhabitants about social worker (7)
SONANTS – SON(ANT)S, as in the sons of Eire.
16 Thousand run with sheep — this shapes Mardi Gras (5)
KREWE – K + R +EWE, a write-in for me,  since I knew the word.
17 Veined salad leaves with wee tuft? (7)
COSTATE –  COS + TATE, a Scots word, as you might expect.
19 Who’d upset public hospital? One arguing (11)
OVERTHROWER – OVERT H + ROWER.
23 Back mediocre stuff that’s more or less revealing with age? (7)
HEMLINE – MEH backwards + LINE, as in a line of clothing.
26 Advanced wake-up call from drivers in the past (5)
AFORE – A + FORE!
28 I’ve gone aside on island for windsurfing (7)
RETIREE – RE + TIREE, an island well-known to solvers.
29 Gravel ridges being yellowish brown when temperature drops off (4)
ASAR – [t]ASAR, a variant of tussah, a copper-colored silk.
30 Banter about study saying “figure that personifies kitsch” (11, two words)
GARDEN GNOME – RAG backwards + DEN + GNOME in the sense of an aphorism.
31 Perhaps Bergmann-Pohl is caught by gross injustice (4)
OSSI – Hidden in [gr]OSS I[njustice].   I conclude from this that Bergmann-Pohl must be from East Germany, and research shows this is correct.
32 Coal dust starts to blacken some features of hilly landscapes (6)
COOMBS – COOM + B[lacken] S[ome].     Coom is another Scots word.
33 Liner for a well special injury from days of old (5)
STEEN –  S + TEEN.   Old English teona, nothing to do with the geoguth.
34 Quondam cuts given by episcopal offices about end of Latin (5)
SNEES –  S([lati]N)EES.
Down
1 Filling sticky stuff on which swine dine? Quiche’s filling (6)
MASTIC – MAST + [qu]IC[he].
2 Passing fancy engages wimp that’s once put in the spotlight (8)
FAMOUSED – FA(MOUSE)D.
3 Exodus — fine thing to put in the grid (6)
FLIGHT – F + LIGHT.
4 Spenser’s cast allegory’s end in honour of Saint (5)
YTOST – [allegor]Y TO ST.
5 Brood over my middleman? What do middlemen do? (13, four words)
SIT ON THE FENCE – SIT ON + THE FENCE.
6 Lush type to tattoo overseen by drummer (7)
DRINKER –  DR + INKER.  DR is a valid abbreviation for drummer,   and an INKER is evidently a tattoo artist, although that is not given in Chambers.
7 In old style saloons perhaps little figures to praise (6)
OSCARS – O/S + CARS.
8 When one European is new, wickedly great news for tweeters? (9)
GNATWRENS – Anagram of GREAT NEWS, with N substituted for one E.
9 Chinese hawk left leaving present (6)
HANSEL – HAN + SEL[l], easy if you have heard of the word.
15 What’s blind and rash about Earl leaves you agape (9, two words)
LOVE FEAST – LOVE + F(E)AST.
18 Book about Judges encased in switches (8)
TWIGSOME – T(WIGS)OME.
20 Scratch about where the buck stops? For Scots that’s at home (7)
THEREIN – T(HERE)IN.
21 Fish from small ship close to Hebrides (6)
SARGOS – S ARGO + [hebride]S.
22 Bank rate I had that is equal to turnover (6)
BRIDIE – B.R. + I’D + I.E. for a meat and onion turnover.
24 Pressurize bishop to abandon Levantine state (6, two words)
LEAN ON – LE[b]ANON.
25 Right to leave, right to return, right to be ignored (6)
EGRESS – [r]EGRESS.
27 Plants in the West, for example, in appeal for help (5)
SEGOS – S(E.G.)OS.

6 comments on “Mephisto 3282 – Yes, that’s what it is!”

  1. I found this a little tricky. I was puzzled by scratch/tin (both words for money), and by this concept of a ‘middleman’ (which is, unsurprisingly, in Chambers). I remain puzzled by ‘little figures to praise’ for OSCARS: in what sense are the figur(in)es themselves ‘to praise’?
    12ac gives me an opportunity to do my semiotics joke (I used to think it was cool but now I’m not Saussure) but I will spare you.
    This week’s pun is even more magnificently terrible than usual. Bravo.

  2. Couldn’t get ASAR, not having Chambers. (Collins gives a half-dozen variant spellings for ‘tussah’, none of them ‘tasar’.) I wondered about ‘to praise’; still do.

  3. I found this puzzle more tricky than recent ones. Did complete it but didn’t understand the parsing of COOMBS. All is now clear – thanks! I rather liked 25dn EGRESS. Perhaps too obvious for regular solvers, I thought it was neat.

    1. Yes. Meh is defined as mediocre in Chambers (you might say ‘the food was a bit meh’). I think line/stuff is a verb: see the second definition of line in Chambers.

  5. I suspect KREWE is in much more common use on this side of the pond. TWIGSOME is a wonderful word.

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