Greetings, barred-grid fans.
OK, I’ll fess up – I waited until I could check the answers before writing up this blog, because I not only found this puzzle extremely challenging, I was not sure my grid was going to be accurate.
I was relieved to find out that my grid came back all green, now let’s hope I can explain them all. This is the trickiest Mephisto of recent memory.
A reminder that in Mephisto puzzles, definitions can be confirmed in Chambers, so I will focus on wordplay here.
Away we go…
Add your introduction here
Definitions underlined in italics, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, {} deletions and [] other indicators.
Across | |
1 | What could be small Scottish swallow of old (5) |
ABYSM – Scots for “small” is SMA which could be A BY SM | |
5 | Stone in wall level with side of quadrangle (7) |
PARPANE – PAR(level) and PANE(side of quadrangle) | |
10 | Trap fastening beside swarm never has succeeded (7) |
CLAPNET – CLASP(fastening) and NEST(swarm) both missing S(succeeded) | |
11 | In the end completely out of time, sadly (4) |
ALAS – AT LAST missing both T’s(time) | |
12 | Give an update to reference to magnetism (5) |
REFIT – REF(reference) next to IT(personal magnetism) | |
13 | Take in land once which African explorer may have owned? (6) |
IMPARK – The African explorer Mungo may have said “I’M PARK” | |
14 | What’s rolled during tetanic rictus, rolled inwards (9) |
CIRCINATE – hidden reversed inside tETANIC RICtus | |
16 | Inform houses in advance of cases of fungus (6) |
TELIAL – TELL(inform) containing I(in), A(advance) | |
19 | Got out of condition like a northern waster? (8) |
HASTATED – |
|
21 | Bit of tack gives way, thus having to replace half of it (8) |
CAVESSON – CAVES IN(gives way) with SO(thus) replacing I(half of it) | |
26 | Typeface left over in abandoned cans (6) |
CASLON – L(left), O(over) inside an anagram of CASE | |
27 | Mineral zero energy drink got backing, low in calories (9) |
ELAEOLITE – O(zer), E(energy) and ALE(drink) all reversed, then LITE(low in calories) | |
29 | Past trouble with Norman over scornful term for woman (6) |
RONYON – NOY(trouble) and NOR(Norman) all reversed | |
30 | Get wet sheltered by one Scottish ridge (5) |
ARETE – RET(get wet) inside AE(one, Scots) | |
31 | Ingredient for nog one’s put in? Rum’s close to it (4) |
EIGG – EGG(ingredient for nog) containing I(one). Rum and Eigg are Small Isles in the inner Hebrides. | |
32 | Secure round a docked missile installation at the base (7) |
BASILAR – BAR(secure) containing A and SILO(missile installation) minus the last letter | |
33 | Time traveller carries advanced electronic instrument (7, two words) |
DRAW HOE – the time traveller is DR WHO, insert A(advanced) then E(electronic) | |
34 | Go off most unattached female misses (5) |
REEST – FREEST(most unattached) minus F(female) |
Down | |
1 | Weak-willed deserter a senior officer’s locked up (7) |
ACRATIC – RAT(deserter) inside A, CIC(senior officer) | |
2 | Blister oozed endlessly on top of boot (4) |
BLEB – BLED(oozed) minus the last letter, then the first letter of Boot | |
3 | Noisy bird upset two fairies (6) |
YAFFLE – the fairies are ELF and FAY, both reversed | |
4 | Gleaning I support in season (9) |
SPICILEGE – I and LEG(support) inside SPICE(season) | |
5 | Brilliant soft local substance used in making glass (8) |
PEARL-ASH – PEAR(brilliant in gem cutting), LASH(soft) | |
6 | Half sent up evangelical Catholic logician (6) |
RAMIST – reverse the first half of MARIST | |
7 | Opening in India a friend set up around acting (5) |
ALAAP – A, PAL(friend) reversed surrounding A(acting) | |
8 | Managed lifting cross under our church portico (7) |
NARTHEX – RAN(managed) reversed, then X(cross) after THE(our) | |
9 | Deposit in a bank paid after this gets reported as prank (5) |
ESKER – If you add PAID you can get a homophone of ESCAPADE(prank) | |
15 | Foolishness in backing artificial intelligence course out of term (9) |
NIAISERIE – IN reversed, then AI(artificial intelligence) then SERIES(course) minus the last letter | |
17 | Group of small creatures diascope blows up (8) |
PSOCIDAE – anagram of DIASCOPE | |
18 | What scrapes vehicle reversing? My getting in one (7) |
RACLOIR – CAR(vehicle) reversed, then LOR(my) containing I(one) | |
20 | Scotch stupid clue leading to rising trend? (7) |
DONNERT – you can make TREND reversed as D ON NERT | |
22 | Squirt well quiet about serious blow (6) |
SKOOSH – SO(well), SH(quiet) surrounding KO(serious blow) | |
23 | Gene variant partly responsible for parallel evolution (6) |
ALLELE – hidden inside parALLEL Evolution | |
24 | Surrounded drunk given to ranting away (5) |
MERED – HAMMERED(drunk) minus HAM(given to ranting on stage) | |
25 | African cloth jumper dispensing with fleece mostly (5) |
KANGA – KANGAROO(jumper) minus ROOK(fleece) missing the last letter | |
28 | Time following festival, as and when (4) |
UTAS – UT(as) and AS(when) |
Happy to have got about a quarter of this, including the whole SE quadrant, but didn’t have time to settle in and try to fill in the rest—and was not encouraged by comments I’d already read about it here.
Sorry if this is not really a reply, but please can some kind person explain to me how to get all the entries in my grade in ink. I cannot work out how to undo the pencil feature.
Someone may, but I have no idea what you’re referring to, as I always print the puzzles and they’re always worked in ink (though sometimes I have wished a pencil! Ha).
The icon to switch between pencil and ink is in the top right of the puzzle. I don’t believe there is a way to automatically convert anything you had entered in pencil into ink, you have to type over your original answers. Not really sure why the pencil option exists for the puzzles, maybe it stops you from submitting an answer you are not 100% sure of.
Roughly 12 years ago, when we were designing a new solving interface that was intended to become the one for all our online puzzles, I looked at some other online solving services, and “pencil mode” was offered on at least one. We don’t really think that many people switch between pen and pencil, but I didn’t/don’t think I’m alone in writing some possible answers or bits of answers lightly, and grey rather than black seemed like a good imitation.
Well, I was fool enough to try to finish, and filled my grid. Unfortunately, I had two errors, cered and etas, but I did surprisingly well on most of them. I did have to think about each clue for a long time before I saw how it worked – e.g., I biffed Ramist and erased it several times before remembering Marist. The psocidae were very elusive for an 8-letter anagram, but I eventually tracked them down; I think there are one or two other convincing genera that you can make from the anagram letters. I thought donnert was brilliant when I finally got it.
Solvers will be happy to hear that normal Mephisto service is now resumed, and I’ll be back next week to tell you about it.
First fail in years.
Did not understand how swallow got in there.
Got 10 ac wrong, which doomed 4 d.
Most difficult in memory.
Same here. Can’t remember the last time I failed to finish a Mephisto – typos excepted.
I too fund this the most difficult I can remember. Thanks for explaining ABYSM, George – it had me baffled. A bit less challenging, please John!
19: HASTATED
It’s simply STATE (condition) in HAD (got). Waster is a northern word for a spear.
It was certainly a toughie that took me around an hour.
Many thanks for the blog.
I looked at that definition of waster and tried to put two and two together and completely missed the obvious! Ta, will fix.
This was a complete stinker! I thought I would have to abandon it after a clear run of finishing them over the past 18 months. In the end I did finish it during the early hours of yesterday; though uncertain of five clues. As it happens I had CERED instead of MERED.
Should 5d should have been (8, two words)? I don’t see the hyphenated form in my edition of Chambers.
I cannot make any sense of 19a. Even the definition leaves me with doubts. The only thing I can add is there’s a northern trait of dropping aitches where they should be and inserting where the shouldn’t be. So, HAS = AS = LIKE.
I think I’m going to just skip John Grimshaw puzzles in future.
I think I’ll join you.
I also found this one of the toughest mephistos I’ve ever done- thanks George for the blog to explain several of the clues that I couldn’t fathom. Some of the clues were very enjoyable like esker and donnert- but like others I would appreciate a reduction in difficulty.
John has said that he’ll be looking for some easier clues in his future puzzles. He works a long way ahead, but in the intervening edits we’ll be looking for some ease-ups. That said, my test-solve of 3350 was rather easier.
5D should have been (5,3) – apologies for missing that.
1A is abysm a word for gulp in Scottish or is it something else
Swallow as a noun in Chambers: an abyss
What a stinker. I did eventually finish fully parsed but time was off the scale and needed minor use of aids other than Chambers. One complaint – Scotch refers to whisky, not the great nation, which made me much slower than I should have been to get donnert, which I do know but spell check doesn’t.
Haven’t looked at today’s yet but I hope it’s gentler.
Not far off an hour and a half, and submitted with several clues only half understood. So with PEARL ASH I couldn’t get past a dubious pearl for brilliant. NARTHEX from definition, but not seeing how “our” gives THE: is it something to do with our paper being The (X) Times?
A difficult slog, needing every aid at my disposal: this weeks is altogether gentler, for which relief much thanks!
From memory Chambers gives “our” (or “my”) as a meaning for “the” – cf the/our neighbours, the/my wife.