| This one was a bit of a step-up from the easier Mephistos we’ve been seeing lately – John Grimshaw has provided a tougher challenge, with a number of cleverly-set traps for the unwary solver. I noted them on my copy as I solved, meaning that I wasn’t fooled. I have learned by now to look carefully at unchecked letters.
I did take a fair amount of time, and I had to look high and low in my well-worn copy of Chambers. I thought I was doing well when Etruria popped into my head, but I don’t imagine saouari or pitarah popped into many solvers heads. I ended up having to knock off at midnight and finish on Sunday morning. And thanks to Mr Purcell for the catchy tune! |
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| 1 | Weapon control precedes conflict (7) |
| HANDJAR – HAND + JAR, giving a Persian dagger. | |
| 7 | Rarely get comfortable before college function (5) |
| COSEC – COSE + C, where rarely indicates an obscure verb. | |
| 11 | Farrier working for top end racer? (7) |
| FERRARI – Anagram of FARRIER, a starter clue. | |
| 12 | Land north of Rome and once there one’s in a lot of country (7) |
| ETRURIA – ET (and in Latin) + RUR(I)A[l]. | |
| 13 | Writ wrong in law with Latin for Regina (4) |
| TOLT – TO(-r,+L)T, a simple letter-substitution clue. | |
| 14 | I must be beginning to despair in sending old fruitcake (7) |
| MADLING – MA(-i,+D[espair])LING, another letter substitution clue. | |
| 15 | Quiet synagogues, Nazareth’s last with fifty gone (5) |
| SHUSH – SHU[l]S + [Nazaret]H. | |
| 16 | Request that is accepted by sharp-toothed war ministry? (12) |
| SERASKIERATE – SER(ASK,I.E)RATE. | |
| 17 | What’s light from Etna? Purplish-pink — in its interior, note (6) |
| PUMICE – PU(MI)CE. | |
| 22 | In a plane sitting centrally is backed in design (6) |
| MESIAN – ME(IS backwards)AN. | |
| 23 | Rising nation in a mess as presented in G&S? (12, two words) |
| TIRONIAN SIGN – Anagram of RISING NATION, where the trick is to see the literal and know the expression. | |
| 26 | Group of fir trees, little ones, not British (5) |
| ABIES – [b]ABIES. | |
| 27 | With very low bow walk near when earl enters (7) |
| STEEPTO – STE(E)P TO. | |
| 29 | Small pig that was quickly skinned (4) |
| RONT – [p]RONT[o]. Trap number 1. | |
| 30 | Be appropriate, like a wagtail by falling water but not river (7) |
| PERTAIN – PERT + [r]AIN, a bit of a starter clue. | |
| 31 | In English, priest caught what Thomas Aquinas is called (7) |
| ANGELIC – ANG + ELI + C. Ang is a valid abbreviation for the French Anglice, meaning in English. Aquinas was called the Angelic Doctor. | |
| 32 | Regional hack passionate about all sections (5) |
| HOAST – HO(A,S)T. A cough, not a horse. | |
| 33 | Reproach Benin, secretive about return of work (7) |
| DYSLOGY – DY SL(GO backwards)Y. DY comes from Dahomey, the former name for Bening. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Slight coughs one gets in early winter (5) |
| HIEMS – H(I)EMS, | |
| 2 | Classical giant pilasters Susa only half erected (7) |
| ANTAEUS – ANTAE + SU[sa] upside down. | |
| 3 | One of the awkward ones mostly high up (4) |
| NURD – DRUN[k] upside-down. Trap number 2. | |
| 4 | Help with Labour party unionist answer about left (5) |
| DOULA – DO U(L)A. | |
| 5 | Legal expert gentleman elevated over magistrate in project (12) |
| JURISCONSULT – JU(SIR upside-down + CONSUL)T. | |
| 6 | Empty rage against particular type of antibody (6) |
| REAGIN – R[ag]E + AGIN, with not indication of the dialect form. | |
| 7 | Doctor discerns free hysterics (12, three words) |
| CRISE DE NERFS – Anagram of DISCERNS FREE. | |
| 8 | Ring in right hours following old church service (7) |
| ORTHROS – O + RH + HR(O)S. | |
| 9 | Monkey takes in afternoon in our nut tree (7) |
| SAOUARI – SA(OU(A)R)I. | |
| 10 | Austrian instrument with missing lead in Swiss lab (7) |
| CITHERN – C([w]ITH)ERN. You can’t mess this one up, as the H is checked. | |
| 17 | Army regulation about cutting weight which covers gear in transit (7) |
| PITARAH – PIT(AR,A)H. Weight is meaning number 23 of pith. | |
| 18 | Genus of molluscs containing round vibrating membrane (7) |
| MYRINGA – MY(RING)A. Well, as George Harrison said…. | |
| 19 | One very good English plant coming up, one with hollow leaves (7) |
| ISOETES – I + SO + E + SET upside-down. | |
| 20 | Parliament arrest paltry government (7) |
| LAGTING – LAG + TIN + G. I wasted a lot of time with variants of althing. | |
| 21 | Appearing unshaven is irrational in high-definition (6) |
| HISPID – H(IS PI)D. | |
| 24 | Mammal’s covering it with bristles (5) |
| SETAL – SE(‘T)AL. | |
| 25 | Not new, unknown word of unknown meaning (5) |
| NONNY – NON-N + Y. | |
| 28 | What’s apparently raised outside of Cuzco? (4) |
| PACO – AP upside-down + C(uzc)O. A llama, not a nickname for Francisco. | |
Fell into trap 1. Otherwise not too difficult.
I avoided trap 1 but not trap 2. I thought it was probably wrong and meant to go back to it but I found the rest of the puzzle extremely difficult so by the time I had fought my way through it I forgot. Damn.
Lots of interesting vocabulary. Thank you for such a comprehensive blog. (And all your Chambers-work!)
I had missed the entry in Chambers for Tironian. But I now see it is there with the subsidiary TIRONIAN SIGN = an ampersand. (23ac). I checked again when I saw your very precise underling of just the “&”.
Similarly I hadn’t checked ANG from 31ac. So thank you for pointing out it means specifically “In English” – I had wondered what the “In” was doing in that clue.
Regarding “agin” in 6D: Chambers has it as “facetious” as well as dialect. Collins also adds “informal”. It seems to have become a popular word with political commentators in the UK. I first noticed Jonathan Dimbleby using it a lot in his latter years presenting Any Questions?: “If those amendments were made to the bill, would your party still be agin” etc. I also see from searching The Times that Quentin Letts used it several times in his columns: “Mr Corbyn claimed repeatedly to be agin the ‘born-to-rule-establishment'”.
What does trap1 and trap 2 refer to in the comments. It does not reference any clues in either case.
Louis
NERD and RUNT are the more usual versions.