Greetings, barred-grid fans!
This should be a fun one to write up. I was just at a piano recital – a rather upscale retirement home just bought a new grand piano and invited a friend of mine to christen it with a short program. I went for “moral” support and to help watch his kids while he played. On the way there I was joking that surely this retirement home had an open bar, and since I had a ride home I could crazy go nuts… and what do you know – they had a reception before, during and after the recital, with three wine options: a California Chardonnay (pass); an Oregon Prosecco (pass – how is that even a thing); and a 2020 Cotes du Rhone that it seems nobody else was drinking (score!).
I found this puzzle on the easier side for Paul McKenna, and the pun in the top row raised a smirk. How did you get along?
| Across | |
| 1 | Fancy pigeon losing head in the course of occasion for herd (7) |
| HARBOUR – BARB(fancy pigeon) minus the first letter inside of HOUR(occasion) | |
| 7 | Feature restaurant embracing Italy (5) |
| TRAIT – TRAT(restaurant) containing I(Italy) | |
| 11 | Hold good old boy, necessary before going inside (6) |
| OBTAIN – OB(old boy) then TIN(necessary) with A(before) inside | |
| 12 | In short I feast after joyful shout (6) |
| IODINE – DINE(feast) after IO(joyful shout) | |
| 13 | Trams poorly served by mile with broken signals (9) |
| MISALIGNS – MI(mile) and an anagram of SIGNALES | |
| 15 | Cross back on dreadnought that’s shipshape (4) |
| TAUT – TAU(cross) and the last letter of dreadnoughT | |
| 16 | Baby to fall about almost striking head (6) |
| DEARIE – DIE(to fall) surrounding NEAR(almost) minus the first letter | |
| 17 | Pub filling obligation supplies can of Fosters, say (6) |
| TINNIE – INN(pub) inside TIE(obligation). A write-in for someone who came of age in Australia in the 80s | |
| 18 | Fastening of elegant stoep being unlocked (12) |
| ESPAGNOLETTE – anagram of ELEGANT,STOEP | |
| 19 | Standard joke makes stronger swimmers (12) |
| PARROT-FISHES – PAR(standart), ROT(joke), FISHES(makes stronger with a fishplate) | |
| 24 | Seafood — to wit, shrimp’s tail taken by French friend (6) |
| SCAMPI – SC(scilicet, to wit), then the last letter of shrimP inside AMI(French friend) | |
| 25 | Overwhelm English with return of viral infection (6) |
| ENGULF – ENG(English) then FLU(viral infection) reversed | |
| 27 | Couple of diamonds getting knocked off (4) |
| ICED – ICE and D are both diamonds | |
| 29 | Unusually too genial to operate unassisted (9, three words) |
| GO IT ALONE – anagram of TOO,GENIAL | |
| 30 | Kitty, one standing still with no hints of presence is indolent (6) |
| OTIOSE – POT(kitty), I(one) and POSE(standing still) minus all P’s(first letter of Presence) | |
| 31 | Top-rate party that’s possibly hot and in part switched (6) |
| RINGER – double definition, the second one referring to bringing in someone who is much better to replace someone weaker | |
| 32 | English buff holds tablet back making a fist of the Bard (5) |
| NEAFE – E(English), FAN(buff) containing E(tablet), all reversed | |
| 33 | Song perhaps borders on deliberately disagreeable (7) |
| DYNASTY – external letters of DeliberatelY, then NASTY(disagreeable) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Hospital march is upsetting — that’s settled (5) |
| HOMED – H(hospital) then DEMO(march) reversed | |
| 2 | Bears no longer pray to get into rising tide (6) |
| ABIDES – BID(obsolete form of pray) inside SEA(tide) reversed | |
| 3 | False god is flat out of name (4) |
| BAAL – BANAL(flat) minus N(name) | |
| 4 | Ordinary gel one picked up for roustabout’s place of work (6, two words) |
| OIL RIG – O(ordinary), then GIRL(gel), I(one) all reversed | |
| 5 | Secret unit, if denied freely (12) |
| UNIDENTIFIED – anagram of UNIT,IF,DENIED | |
| 6 | Just specified as aristocracy curbing good access (12, three words) |
| RIGHT OF ENTRY – RIGHT(just), then OF(specified as) and GENTRY(aristocracy) minus G(good) | |
| 7 | Work involving not specified tissue (6) |
| TONSIL – TOIL(work) containing NS(not specified) | |
| 8 | Partridge, perhaps, holding one — so beautiful tree (9) |
| AILANTHUS – the Steve Coogan character ALAN Partridge containing I(one) then THUS(so). If you are not familiar with Alan Partridge, this 1994 World Cup bit is an oldie but a goodie. | |
| 9 | Suspect one from the north must accept temperature (6) |
| INTUIT – INUIT(one from the north) containing T(temperature) | |
| 10 | Look first to this form lifting those who’re examined (7) |
| TESTEES – SEE(look), the first letter in This, and SET(form) all reversed | |
| 14 | Poisoning a spear I am becoming worried (9) |
| SAPRAEMIA – anagram of A,SPEAR,I,AM – found in Chambers under SAPRO- | |
| 18 | One’s lip trembling is what gets Erato going (7) |
| EPSILON – anagram of ONE’S LIP for the first letter in Erato (Ερατώ) | |
| 20 | Summon a couple of Charlies over incomplete bit of news (6) |
| ACCITE – A, C,C(couple of Charlies), then ITEM(bit of news) minus the last letter | |
| 21 | Buddy’s last to lose face (6) |
| OPPOSE – OPPO’S(buddy’s) and the last letter in losE | |
| 22 | Invoice ChatGPT possibly over note for nothing (6, two words) |
| IN VAIN – INV(invoice), AI(ChatGPT possibly), then N(note) | |
| 23 | End of the prescribed course and end of decrepit kite (6) |
| ELANET – last letter of thE, then LANE(prescribed course) and the last letter of decrepiT | |
| 26 | With books cut, rare habit of telling stories is hard and dry (5) |
| FIERY – remove both B’s(books) from FIBBERY(rare habit of telling stories) | |
| 28 | What’s back in human lunate bone? (4) |
| ULNA -hidden reversed in humAN LUnate | |
I started solving without my Chambers – I said oh, I’ll just try a little, and see how it goes. Amazingly, half an hour later the grid was complete, with Chambers still in the bookcase. This is only the second Mephisto I’ve solved unaided – it doesn’t happen very often. There were only a few answer words I did not know, but the cryptics were very helpful.
It’s my second ever mephisto solve with the dictionary😊
I completed this Monday evening. The only clue I don’t understand and still don’t is 32a. Top-rate = ringer. But for the test of the clue I can’t match that to anything in Chambers. I wondered whether ring could refer to a gas or electric cooker ring both of which can be hot when switched on.
Ringer = a person or thing of the highest excellence, indicated by “top-rate party”, and also a car with false plates, almost certainly as it’s stolen. The second meaning is somehow not recorded in Chambers, but is in the Concise Oxford.
It is in Chambers as ‘a car put together from parts of other cars’ under the second entry for ‘ring’.
True, but that doesn’t quite justify “hot” – other dicts have “fraudulently” or “stolen”.
(PB logged out)
It says ‘possibly hot’, and it is pretty (more than?) likely that a car of this type would be constructed at least partly of stolen parts!
I was going to remark on that curious omission of the “hot” part from Chambers… once I’d verified that it was really not there (a too-quick glance had given me the impression that it was).
Thank you all for clearing that up.
Yes, I had thought that “hot” in 31ac referred to a switched and probably stolen car.
As an observation, my Chambers only gives m as an abbreviation for mile, not mi. Like vinyl1, I began without Chambers and was surprised to find I completed it, in about the same time; I then went back and looked up a few things out of curiosity. I liked “what gets Erato going” for Epsilon.
Using copies I still own, mi. = mile is in the 12th (2011) and 13th (2014) editions. It wasn’t in the 1998 one (apparently the 8th), and I seem to have given away 9 10 and 11.
Mine is the 1998 edition (which introduced, among other words, Britpop, Cybercafe, Double rollover and Eurobabble – those were the days!).
I liked Epsilon as well. Very nicely put together.
Quite straightforward. It wouldn’t occur to me to even try to do one of these without Chambers. Unlike with the daily puzzles – where I am focused on time and an inveterate biffer – I try to understand everything as I go with Mephisto, which is impossible without Chambers. If I were going to attempt it this would probably have been the one!
Got this all correct, but still can’t fathom the pun! “Arbitrates” doesn’t seem right…
A bit forced I agree. There is tendency in dialectal British English to insert aitches where there is none and drop them where they should be. Harbour could sound like arbour from a cockney say.
I know that, but it’s the second syllable of HARBOUR that doesn’t come over right.
Well I can see that might cause a problem. But British vowels are often so short as to diminish to a schwa. That’s the sound that both harbour and arbitrate approach in some speakers. I’m not saying I condone this or claim that the pun is one of Mr McKenna’s finest. It did raise a smile when I saw it.
So that is indeed the answer? OK…
A “smile,” maybe. And a “smirk” is (Collins) “a smile expressing scorn, smugness, etc, rather than pleasure.” So it might fit into the “etc.” category for me.
Not always accurate puns are an old tradition in some British crosswords. Many people solve the puzzles involved without knowing about them. If you want them to be always accurate, you’ll be disappointed, so if disappointment happens too often, maybe just solve the puzzle …
I don’t expect a pun to be accurate—certainly not here! I only had doubt that I had guessed this one correctly.
I would never describe the “noxious weed”, “invasive species”, foul-smelling AILANTHUS as a beautiful tree! I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
How do you get herd from harbour in 1ac?
I wondered about herd for harbour too but in the Chambers app- herd2 defines it as a verb to harbour. Thanks Paul Mckenna for an enjoyable puzzle and to George for the blog- I had most of it parsed for once but not fishes for strengthens.