Mephisto 3316 – No, no, no, no; no biffing at all!

 

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!

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.

5 comments on “Mephisto 3316 – No, no, no, no; no biffing at all!”

  1. 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.

  2. 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'”.

  3. What does trap1 and trap 2 refer to in the comments. It does not reference any clues in either case.
    Louis

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