Well, John Grimshaw is back, but in a tamed version. I was able to solve this puzzle, and parse every answer, but it was not exactly a pushover. I would say this is exactly the right level of difficulty that most Mephisto solvers would find enjoyable.
I was fortunate to be able to get three out of the four long ones relatively early on. A random guess that 1 across might start with xi- led to an examination of the anagram letters for 1 down, where xylo- was a very likely possibility. A quick check in Chambers showed I was right, and I was off to the races.
It was actually the crossing of Niflheim and sallal that held me up, since I didn’t realize that ‘in’ was part of the anagram fodder for the misty place. I liked sallal, but it doesn’t say it’s related to heather in Chambers, so I had to look up lallan to confirm it – that’s lowland for you non-Scots speakers.
Across | |
1 | Greek characters back another one over process (12) |
XIPHISTERNUM – XI + PHI + STERN + MU backwards. Yes, it’s a process, but the literal is not very helpful. | |
10 | Ground liver? Lots sent back unfinished remnant (6) |
YNAMBU – MANY backwards + BU[tt], probably. A ground liver in the sense of a bird that lives on the ground. | |
12 | Gods with collection of gossip on goddess (5) |
DIANA – DI + ANA, a starter clue. | |
13 | Weapon — mother needs this on as domestic killer? (5) |
LATHI – [ma]LATHI[on], which most solvers will just biff. | |
14 | Germany had this historian overturn check about where former Axis ended (7) |
NIEBUHR – R(HUB)EIN, all backwards. Not Reinhold Niebuhr, but another guy I never heard of. | |
15 | Work turning brass of coal-hole lids (8) |
OPERCULA – OP + LUCRE backwards + ‘A. | |
17 | King had left before assembly of elders (6) |
KGOTLA – K + GOT + L + ‘A. A biff for experienced Mephisto fans. | |
18 | Fruits I stored in a box mostly (5) |
ACAIS -A CA(I)S[e]. | |
19 | Make clear English wine is used by church (6) |
EVINCE – E + VIN + C.E., another starter clue. | |
22 | Excellent concept, not one in which belief is obligatory (6, two words) |
DE FIDE – DEF + IDE[a]. | |
23 | Amusing part introduced by director (5) |
DROLE – D + ROLE, where the answer uses an alternate spelling. | |
24 | Scots lacking name reflecting plant related to heather (6) |
SALLAL – LALLA[n]S backwards. | |
28 | What could be styling product hotel branch returned (8) |
HYDROGEL – HYDRO + LEG backwards. | |
29 | Gore coloured cloak worn by goddess (7) |
MAGENTA – MA(GE)NTA. Ge has also been seen as Gaia lately. | |
30 | Rapidly rotating body shortened backbone (5) |
SPINA – SPINA[r]. More alternate spelling. | |
31 | Former operation in charge of human waste (5) |
UREIC – URE + I.C. Ure is obscure, but it’s there. | |
32 | Flipping obscure new enzyme (6) |
RENNIN – INNER backwards + N. | |
33 | Studying ants I see on my jolly green tree trunk (12) |
MYRMECOLOGIC – MY + R.M. + ECO + LOG + I.C. Simple, right! I was helped by remembering a certain Quickie commenter’s email address. |
Down | |
1 | Not a word after all say box is treated wood that’s dried (12) |
XYLOBALSAMUM – Anagram of ALL SAY BOX + MUM. If you know Greek, you will realize this is likely to start with either XERO- or XYLO-, but the anagram letters leave XYLO- as the only possible choice. | |
2 | Unfit girl getting personal trainer (5) |
INAPT – INA + P.T., another starter clue. | |
3 | Find out missing heroin turned up under old pie dishes (7) |
PATERAE – PATE + [h]EAR upside-down. A patera is an old Roman dish. | |
4 | More than one climber in the same place freezes (6) |
IBICES – IB. + ICES. Ib. is an abbreviation of ibidem, and ibices is the third-declension plural of ibex. | |
5 | Locally the same type is after half of this (5) |
THILK – TH[is] + ILK. Not a great clue, because the answer is literally th’ ilk. | |
6 | Possibly trim wife has good lines (8) |
RIBBONRY – RIB + BON + RY, stock cryptic elemetns. | |
7 | Old relative — ninety, thin, not good (5) |
NAUNT – N + [g]AUNT, where N is a medieval Roman numeral, what else? I think we just had this clue. | |
8 | Formerly uncover one local goddess of old earth (6) |
UNHELE – UN + HEL + E, a bit of Spenser for you. | |
9 | Girl with German actor going topless. Grounds for divorce? (12, two words) |
MARIAGE BLANC – MARIA + G + [l]EBLANC. | |
11 | Remaining homeless after house is lost (6) |
UNUSED – UN[ho]USED. | |
16 | With male concealed, shot film in misty location (8) |
NIFLHEIM – Anagram of FILM IN around HE. Interestingly, ruled over by Hel from 8 down! | |
20 | I’ve a darkening, showing result of embolism (6) |
VEADAR – Hidden in [i]’VE A DAR[kening]. | |
21 | Joint company once led by cheat (7) |
COGGING – COG + GING, an obsolete for of gang. Yes, a cogging is a type of joint. | |
22 | Your little lad is raised around adult bull handler (6) |
DATARY – YR (A) TAD. The chap who handles papal bulls, not a toreador. | |
23 | Back of document left hanging (6) |
DORSEL – DORSE + L. A hanging in the back of an altar. | |
25 | Cross old resident emitting eccentricity (5) |
LIGER – LI[e]GER. | |
26 | Capital perhaps raised in support of pound breaking down (5) |
LYTIC – CITY + L upside down. | |
27 | Low-down on two potentially evil spirits (5) |
GENII – GEN + II, another easy one. |
Indeed this was enjoyable with every clue understood. The only annoyance – my fault entirely – was a transcription error from paper to the online submission, yet again!
Join the club!
I found this hard, but doable. At this level I can just about cope!
DNF
Dipped my toe into these waters again after a long absence. Jeepers! First thing to learn is that “a” seems to be an abbreviation for quite of stuff you don’t find in the dailies.
About 3/5 done with aids.
Thanks Vinyl – impressive blog
I found this hard going, and needed a lot of help. I think I was put off by the vagueness of “Greek letters” (which ones?!) in 1a, and the girl and actor in 9d which gave an excess of choices for a phrase I didn’t know and an unfamiliar spelling of of MARIAGE. Just over the hour.