The Mega Mix is proving more popular each issue as you get used to Christine’s mix of general knowledge, straight and cryptic clues. She enjoys compiling it, so is very pleased you all enjoy solving it. A small number of errors were noted by our judges in entries in MEGA! issue No. 56.
‘The choo choo on track 29 according to Glenn Miller’ at 15ac was CHATTANOOGA not CHATTENOOGA. The train in this 40s swing song is going to the Tennessee city of Chattanooga.
‘Plain like the truth or timber’ (3dn) was UNVARNISHED not UNTARNISHED. Unvarnished truth is an idiom recorded back to at least the 1800s – it is thought to have been known as far back as Elizabethan times.
A spelling error at 10dn saw EXODIS – EXODUS is correct.
At 31dn the anagram of ‘emus go’ UGSOME caught out a few of you (see letters). You could not have UNSAME.
60dn’s weather feature was El NINO and not NINA.
In the Mighty Mega the most common error was at 100ac where ‘Two-faced behaviour’ was HYPOCRISY not HYPOCRACY. Watch out for that one in future.
Quite a few also slipped-up at 7dn ‘Coffee brewer’, which was PERCOLATOR not PERCULATOR or PERCOLATER.
A few were confused by 96ac ‘Hinders’. The answer was INHIBITS not IMPEDITS.
Over in the Stinker at 18ac for ‘Violin craftsman’, was one of my favourite words, LUTHIER. It resonates with the history of craftsmen dating back to the time when lutes were more common than electric guitars. LATHIER was incorrect.
The ‘WWI female military corps’ (48ac) saw many of you enter WRAC but unfortunately this was not correct. The WRAAC was formed in 1951 but the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) started in Britain in WWI to allow women into non-combat roles.
The ‘Grade of cocoa bean’ at 70ac was FORASTERO not FORESTERO or FORESCERO. According to the Oxford dictionary the forastero provides the bulk of the world’s cocoa beans. The word means ‘foreign’ as the tree was brought into Venezuela from the West Indies.
A ‘Condiments holder shaped like ship’ was a NEF at 134ac not a NAF. The answer may have eluded you, but doesn’t it sound like a wonderful addition to any dining table? Such a conversation starter!
‘Bucolic’ at 12dn was PASTORAL not PASTURAL, and ‘Bode’ at 21dn was AUGUR not AUGER.
At 47dn the singular ANTHESIS for ‘Plant’s flowering period’ was required not ANTHESES, which would have been ‘Plants’ flowering periods’.
A real Stinker occurred at 110dn. ‘Steep section of glacier’ was ICEFALL not ICEWALL. I could find ICE WALL as two words but ICEFALL is the recognised term for a frozen waterfall or avalanche.
The ‘Fine-wool sheep’ at 128dn – the one that Australia was fam­ously said to ride on the back of in the 50s, was MERINO not MARINO.
Please write in, or email me at postbox@lovattts.com.au, or add a comment below. I’d love to hear from you with queries about any words in our contests. Happy puzzling!