Mephisto 3349 – Robert Teuton

Posted on Categories Mephisto

Greetings, barred-grid fans.

I rather enjoyed this one – not too difficult, lots of fun clues, a little schoolboy humour and some very strange words. When I first started blogging Mephisto puzzles I complained about some of the disgusting sounding foods in the grid (crappit-head, anyone), but the food in this one sounds pretty tasty!

A reminder that definitions can be confirmed in Chambers, so if you disagree with a definition, chances are the Big Red Book disagrees with you.

Away we go…

Across
1 Spooner’s speciality, best part’s blue? (9)
MARROWSKY – MARROW(best part), SKY(blue)
11 Search when temperature’s dropped for good shelter in Cairngorms (5)
SCOUG – SCOUT(search) with T(temperature) replaced with G(good)
13 Charcuterie’s stocking animal organs … (5)
UTERI – hidden inside charcUTERIe
14 brain? Demand bovine heads removed (5)
SKULL – ASK(demand) and BULL(bovine) both missing the first letter
15 Buff liking to start with bread (7)
NANKEEN – KEEN(liking) with NAN bread at the start
17 Trying smokier nuts (7)
IRKSOME – anagram of SMOKIER
18 Hold in ring, left in flipping hooter, a little numb (6)
NELSON – L(left) inside NOSE(hooter) and the first letter of Numb, all reversed
19 Old bloodhound has carefree part of life returning to pound (4)
LYAM – MAY(carefree part of life) reversed, next to L(pound)
20 Prepay hotel for relaxing mud bath treatment (11)
PELOTHERAPY – anagram of PREPAY,HOTEL
23 Monk greeting being beset by awfully stark time (11)
MEKHITARIST – HI(greeting) inside an anagram of STARK,TIME
25 Excited with party hairstyle (4)
UPDO – UP(excited) and DO(party)
28 Water carrier’s call for silence in response (6)
BHISTI – HIST(call for silence) inside BI(a response in Chinese medicine)
30 Local bod sporting costume with finery (7)
GAUDGIE – GIE(costume for judo) with GAUD(finery)
32 I’ll pop in to present a dessert (7)
GRANITA – I inside GRANT(present), A
33 Give up having succeeded to discharge power (5)
REIGN – RESIGN(give up) minus S(succeeded)
34 Howler monkey blowing top? (5)
ERROR – TERROR(monkey) minus the first letter
35 Dead-head plant after early signs of spring (5)
SPRUE – RUE(plant) after the first two letters in SPring
36 Plaster required after instrument of torture? I love contraptions! (9)
GADGETEER – TEER(plaster) after GADGE(instrument of torture)
Down
2 Parrot largely tucked into excellent fruit (5)
ACKEE – KEA(parrot) minus the last letter inside ACE(excellent)
3 Unfortunate to be choked by profligate sauce (7)
ROUILLE – ILL(unfortunate) inside ROUE(profligate)
4 UK’s role at sea is dominant (7, two words)
RULES OK – anagram of UK’S ROLE. Was it a Benny Hill sketch or a Goodies sketch where the schoolboy changed graffiti from “Queen Rules OK” to “Queen Rules UK”?
5 Eye up silk handkerchief female’s discarded (4)
OGLE – FOGLE(silk handkerchief) minus F(female)
6 Climber adjusting balance with rest (11, two words)
SCARLET BEAN – anagram of BALANCE and REST
7 Limestone pot, not small, Arabic (6)
KUNKAR – SKUNK(marijuana, pot) minus S(small), then AR(Arabic)
8 Firework display’s ending after wee bit of oafishness (5)
PEEOY – last letter of displaY after PEE(wee) and the first letter of Oafishness
9 Opening time? Stay in hiding (5)
TREMA – T(time) then REMAIN(stay) minus IN
10 No gentleman to conclude I see back in the movies? (9)
CINEMATIC – CIT(no gentleman), then AMEN(to conclude), I, C(see) all reversed
12 Open University? Terribly behind with it (11)
UNINHIBITED – UNI(university) and an anagram of BEHIND and IT
16 Like acoustic performance that’s not advertised? (9)
UNPLUGGED – not advertised could be UN-PLUGGED
21 Drug addict’s first on grass (pot) leaving nothing (7)
ARICEPT – first letter of Addict, then RICE(grass) and POT minus O(nothing)
22 Confusion about misty rain for emmet in Cornwall? (7)
PISMIRE – PIE(confusion) surrounding SMIR(misty rain)
24 Child, one embracing grand exodus (6)
HEGIRA – HEIR(child), A(one) surrounding G(grand)
26 Keep off level crossing right by yard (5)
PARRY – PAR(level) surrounding R(right) then Y(yard)
27 Encampments moving guards away from the front (5)
DUARS – anagram of GUARDS minus the first letter
29 Char kept back to work during weekday (5)
TOGUE – GO(to work) reversed inside TUE(weekday)
31 Irish sweater’s wrapper’s lost (4)
ERSE – JERSEY(sweater) minus the exterior letters

6 comments on “Mephisto 3349 – Robert Teuton”

  1. I enjoyed this puzzle. All parsing understood though I do wonder why Cornwall was needed for 22d? PISMIRE = EMMET = ANT in any county. Only in Cornwall can EMMET = TOURIST. Oh wait a minute, EMMET is dialectal, so I guess Cornwall was chosen as the flag for that. But do we know that the ant meaning applies to Cornwall? I’ll take it as a minor bit of misdirection.

    1. Dialect word for man. Derived from Romany, and a word I often heard used by settled travellers in Aberdeen. Fairly straightforward – solved on paper, then forgot to submit.

  2. This was at exactly the level I like Mephistos, Goldilocksish in terms of difficulty and obscurity. Like richard I wondered about ‘emmett’.

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