Mephisto 3073 - Don Manley
Strange solving process for this one, as I started at the bottom and worked my way up. On a first reading of clues I could not get a single one in the top half of the grid, and I think the bottom half was complete before any of the entries poking up into the top half gave me a fingerhold.
Overall I found this a touch more difficult than recent Mephisto puzzles.
Definitions can be confirmed in Chambers and so I will focus on the wordplay in this report.
Away we go...
Overall I found this a touch more difficult than recent Mephisto puzzles.
Definitions can be confirmed in Chambers and so I will focus on the wordplay in this report.
Away we go...
Across | |
1 | Plants are having stems, therefore needing to be pinned (10) |
ACANTHUSES - A(are, unit of measurement), then CANES(stems) containing THUS(therefore) | |
10 | Maybe like organ passage with tweaking of a gut (6) |
FUGATO - anagram of OF,A,GUT | |
12 | The French place, a strange island (6) |
LAPUTA - LA(the in French), PUT(plac), A. Strange due to its connection to Gulliver's Travels | |
13 | Severe old people affected somehow by contact with insect (11) |
STERNOTRIBE - STERN(sever), O(old), TRIBE(people) | |
15 | Article about terrible ruler very unacceptable in a Greek location (6) |
AONIAN - A(article), ON(about) and then IVAN the terrible missing V(very) | |
16 | What's odd in old company, looking back? Shut up! (6) |
IMMURE - RUM(odd) in EMI(old musical company) all reversed | |
17 | Stopping short, come to river or lake (4) |
MEER - shorten MEET(come to) then R(river) | |
18 | Weed became tainted (6) |
STALED - double definition, the first being relatied to cattle urination | |
19 | Advice before putting back sheets or mattress? (6) |
AIRBED - before you put back the sheets you should AIR the BED | |
20 | Embrace one getting cross, needing to gather support (6) |
ABRAZO - A(one), then ZO(cross) containing BRA(support) | |
24 | Gravedigger’s therefore getting it wrong — one wild creature? (6) |
ARGALI - if you check in Chambers, ARGAL is a bungled attempt by a gravedigger in Hamley to say ERGO(therefore), then I(one) | |
28 | Act involving three thousand outside university (4) |
MUMM - M,M,M (three thousand) surrounding U(university) | |
29 | Need, say, to get from ’ere (6) |
EGENCE - EG(say) then get from 'ENCE | |
30 | Juniper to preserve outside home (6) |
SAVINE - SAVE(preserve) containing IN(home) | |
31 | Rash I sorted out in medical treatment (11) |
ARTHRODESIS - anagram of RASH,I,SORTED | |
32 | Having less rain than anywhere else, stride out (6) |
DRIEST - anagram of STRIDE | |
33 | Insist on providing very small amount for beggar? (6) |
THREEP - the beggar in The Threepenny Opera would want THREE P | |
34 | When in trouble, rangers eat ants (10) |
ERGATANERS - anagram of RANGERS,EAT |
Down | |
2 | Copper to advertise safety device (6) |
CUT-OUT - CU(copper), TOUT(advertise) | |
3 | Particular opening’s marked by song in the Netherlands (6) |
NARIAL - ARIA(song) in NL(the Netherlands) | |
4 | Got hold of by Bob in Perth, I acted like a lout (6) |
HOONED - HOD(bob, Scottish) containing ONE(I) | |
5 | Superior officer meets foreign friend turning up in den in garden? (6) |
ULTIMA - U(superior), LT(lietenant, officer), then AMI(foreign friend). The definition is that DEN is the ultima of GARDEN | |
6 | Use this chemical compound next in novel experiment (6) |
EPIMER - anagram of EXPERIMENT minus NEXT | |
7 | Bring new development to old city and don’t allow one to have buses running round (11) |
SUBURBANISE - UR(old city) and BAN(don't allow) I(one) inside an anagram of BUSES | |
8 | What’s harvested sadly had to be ditched — go very hungry, as before (6) |
STERVE - anagram of HARVESTED minus HAD | |
9 | German chemist has a meal — fish (10) |
HABERDINES - Fritz HABER(German chemist) then DINES(has a meal) | |
11 | Foreign officers with inside information meeting challenge outside club (11) |
GENDARMERIE - GEN(inside information) then DARE(challenge) surrounding MERI(a kiwi club) | |
13 | Serve salad spiced up with sauce (10, two words) |
SALSA VERDE - anagram of SERVE, SALAD | |
14 | Head giving audible refusals (4) |
NAZE - sounds like NAYS | |
21 | Graffiti in the gents showing actor (6) |
BOGART - graffiti in the gents could be BOG ART | |
22 | East End ghost maybe in old-style escapade (6) |
AUNTER - remove the aspirant from HAUNTER(ghost) | |
23 | Thanks after measure is laid down in code of honour (6) |
OMERTA - TA(thanks) after something that sounds like HOMER(a Hebrew measure) | |
24 | Idiot getting too much infatuated, as of old (6) |
ASSOTT - ASS(idiot), OTT(too much) | |
25 | Attack has a couple of characters turning up in Moroccan house (4) |
RIAD - jumble the middle characters of RAID(attack) | |
26 | Good knight embracing maiden possibly gets control (6) |
GOVERN - G(good), N(knight) containing a maiden OVER | |
27 | Having more rows maybe in boat around island (6) |
LINIER - LINER(boat) surrounding I(island) |