It’s the last Sunday of the month and that means another current affairs-themed puzzle in the FT’s Sunday series, this time brought to us by the ever-reliable Neo. Find it on the FT website to print or solve interactively, or via the FT’s smartphone app.
I found myself getting quite angry while solving and blogging this one – not because of the clues, which are well up to Neo’s usual standards of witty wordplay – but because many of the stories referenced are really quite depressing. Still, at least there’s the sport to celebrate and a nice nod to the cultural phenomenon that is currently sweeping cinemas worldwide.
Overall, Neo has gone quite gently on us today, focusing on entertainment rather than difficulty. Favourites were 3d ENCHANT for its evocative surface and 6d MATT SMITH for its amusing definition (which will no doubt irk the purists).
Thanks, Neo!
| ACROSS | ||
| 1,4 | BARBENHEIMER |
Pub with ale, hotel in north-east, and Neo’s welcomed for movie event (12)
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| BAR (pub) + BEER (ale) containing [H (hotel) in NE (northeast) + I’M (Neo’s)]
Portmanteau of Barbie and Oppenheimer, a media buzzword to describe the fad of watching Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer as a double bill, which came about since both films were released in cinemas on the same day. I’ve not seen either yet. |
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| 4 |
see 1
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| 9 | EZRA |
Prophet seen within ULEZ radius (4)
|
| Hidden in ulEZ RAdius
London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is a road user charging scheme aimed at drivers of the most polluting vehicles. London Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to expand the scheme to cover the whole of London next month but the policy, which is unpopular with some Londoners, is reckoned by many commentators to have been a key factor in the result of the recent Uxbridge byelection. |
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| 10 | COEXISTING |
Old flame is in bed in middle of night – getting on in peace (10)
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| [EX (old flame) + IS] inserted in COT (bed) + IN + niGht | ||
| 11 | NAUSEA |
What winds up Farage in kinky sauna is revulsion (6)
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| Last letter (what winds up) of faragE in an anagram (kinky) of SAUNA
Everyone’s favourite ideologue has been in the news again lately with some more of his manufactured outrage shtick yadda yadda… let’s not give him the oxygen of publicity. |
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| 12 | ZOOT SUIT |
Old fashion spot admits us as well, on reflection (4,4)
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| ZIT (spot) containing a reversal (on reflection) of [US TOO (as well)]
Zoot suits, comprising high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders, became popular in the US in the 1930s, mainly associated with jazz and blues subcultures. |
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| 13 | PLACATORY |
Venue not closing – a winner at Uxbridge seeking to appease (9)
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| PLAC[e] (venue not closing) + A + TORY (winner at Uxbridge)
The Conservatives were narrow winners at the recent Uxbridge byelection, held due to the resignation of the sitting MP, but I think we’ve heard enough about him for now. |
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| 15 |
see 16
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| 16,15 | WILDFIRE |
Wit needed to protect tree – might this trap Gove on Evia? (8)
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| WILDE (wit) containing FIR (tree)
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who famously once said “we’ve had enough of experts”, has said that he intends to go ahead with his upcoming holiday in Greece despite parts of the country being ravaged by ongoing wildfires that have seen many holidaymakers evacuated. |
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| 17 | STOCKHOLM |
Farm animals heard in Thunberg’s birthplace (9)
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| Sounds like “STOCK HOME” (farm animals are stock, ergo a farm is a home for stock – at least I think that’s how the clue is intended to be interpreted unless anyone has any better ideas. ETA: as KVA @1 points out, “in” = “home” in crossword speak)
Greta Thunberg, environmental activist, was recently fined by courts for refusing to obey police orders to leave a demonstration. |
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| 21 | CROSSBAR |
Save follows ball in from wing: is it struck at World Cup? (8)
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| BAR (save) + CROSS (ball in from wing)
The Women’s Football World Cup is currently under way in New Zealand. |
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| 22 | BARGES |
Rudely pushes Bibby 17, say – at Suella’s instigation (6)
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| BARGE (eg Bibby Stockholm) + S[uella] (ETA: thanks to KVa @3 for pointing out what I’d missed here!)
The Bibby Stockholm is an accommodation barge the UK government intends to use to house asylum seekers while their claims are being processed. It was recently moved to its mooring site in Dorset and the first residents are due to move in very soon, despite ongoing safety concerns about the barge. |
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| 24 | EISENSTEIN |
Playing tennis, I see Soviet film director (10)
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| Anagram (playing) of TENNIS I SEE
Probably a coincidence but this year is the 100th anniversary of Eisenstein’s first film, a short called Glumov’s Diary. |
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| 25 | OVAL |
Girl chasing ball where Ashes series continues (4)
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| O (ball) + VAL (girl)
The home of Surrey County Cricket Club in South London, and venue for the fifth Ashes test match, which is currently under way. |
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| 26 | GAMERS |
Online players right into World Cup or Ashes matches? (6)
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| R (right) inserted in GAMES (World Cup or Ashes matches)
Reference to the aforementioned football and cricket events. |
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| 27 | STRAND |
Coutts offices here: Rose initially in place (6)
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| R[ose] inserted in STAND (place)
The Strand in London is where you’ll find the offices of elite bank Coutts, which has been in the news recently for closing the account of a customer it described as xenophobic and racist and as allegedly having connections to Russia. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BAZBALL |
An unknown in B&B all for style now on show at 25? (7)
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| [A (an) + Z (unknown)] inserted in BB (B&B) ALL
The positive, attacking style of play associated with the current England cricket team, named after coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum. |
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| 2 | ROARS |
What Lioness does, or what excited World Cup crowd does! (5)
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| Cryptic definition.
As in “The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd” |
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| 3 | ENCHANT |
Song from terraces with England’s top two bringing delight (7)
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| EN[gland] + CHANT (song from terraces)
Another reference to the cricket. At least one of England’s top two has certainly been bringing delight, with Zak Crawley rapidly racking up 189 runs in England’s first (and only) innings in the fourth test at Old Trafford. |
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| 5 | EDITOR |
News boss, Greek character gutted with water level rising (6)
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| R[h]O (Greek character, gutted) + TIDE (water level) all reversed (rising) | ||
| 6 | MATT SMITH |
Who he was: dull worker in forge (4,5)
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| MATT (dull) + SMITH (worker in forge)
This is where pedants get to point out that the character is called The Doctor, not Doctor Who. |
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| 7 | RUN TIME |
Close to hour – minute possibly how long program takes (3,4)
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| [hou]R + anagram (possibly) of MINUTE | ||
| 8 | NET ZERO TARGET |
Japanese fighter in trap spoiled Greta T’s aim Sunak played down (3,4,6)
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| ZERO (Japanese WWII fighter plane) inserted in NET (trap) + an anagram (spoiled) of GRETA T
Feeble excuse for a prime minister Rishi Sunak has suggested he will water down policies aimed at addressing climate change in a short-sighted, desperate move to grab votes. |
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| 14 | COLOSSEUM |
Place for spectacles of 25 shape (9)
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| Cryptic definition | ||
| 16 | WARMING |
West preparing for combat – crisis 8 seeks to minimise (7)
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| W (west) + ARMING
Scientists are now suggesting we’ve moved beyond global warming and have started to use the term global boiling. |
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| 18 | CABINET |
Policy makers can be reshuffled with it (7)
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| Anagram (reshuffling) of CAN BE IT | ||
| 19 | LEEWARD |
Attract fish back to sheltered side (7)
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| Reversal (back) of DRAW (attract) + EEL (fish) | ||
| 20 | ABUSER |
Arse quivering – bum endlessly squeezed – is one a pincher? (6)
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| Anagram (quivering) of ARSE containing (squeezed) BU[m] | ||
| 23 | RIOJA |
Port at first judged acceptable as wine (5)
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| RIO (port) + Judged Acceptable |
A very enjoyable puzzle. Thanks, Neo.
A very informative and detailed blog. Thanks, Widdersbel.
STOCKHOLM
I read it slightly differently
Farm animals: STOCK
heard ‘in'(home): HOLM
KVa @1 – Of course! Thanks. Kicking myself for missing that – I glossed over “in” as a link word.
BARGES
Widdersbel! Does ‘Suella’s instigation’ lead to S?
We have only a BARGE otherwise.
‘Instigation’ is ‘an initiation (in a negative way though)’.
KVa @3 – Ah, yes, good spot. I did wonder slightly about the singular/plural mismatch but didn’t dwell on it because I was rushing to get the blog done. Misled by the wordplay being worked into a clever surface reading.
BARBENHEIMER: Have to see Oppenheimer. Barbie, if it is released on Netflix.
MATT SMITH: I just loved it.
NET ZERO TARGET: ‘spoiled Greta T’-Neo means that?
CABINET: The clue reads pretty nice (like an extended def).
Smashing puzzle, smashing blog. Thanks to both.
Well that was fun, thanks for the links Widders. They’re good, these guys, at getting the topical references in.
Lots of nice clues. I was wondering if the P at 20 down was originally capitalised, until the lawyers saw it 😀
Ui Imair @7 – I had a similar thought about 20d but thought it safer not to mention it!
Lovely puzzle. Especially liked MATT SMITH and BARBENHEIMER . Thanks Neo & Widdersbel
Thanks all, esp Widdersbel.
These are a bit of a rollercoaster ride, as fresh news items are coming in as you set them. It’s all tickety-boo and then the monarch dies, or something else like it stops raining in July.
Anyway cheers. I did think about capitalising Pincher, or contriving to have the definition at the front end, but it was me who chickened out.
That was a fun puzzle and a great blog. Thanks
As always, failed to see this was on offer until noticing the blog this morning (Monday). Beaten by the 1a/4a combo only because it’s not sufficiently well bedded in as a Thing. Ugly Thing that it is but we do have this need to name things, don’t we? (And I had no idea we have felt the need to coin BAZBALL as a word: it would be nice if that lasts no longer then BARBENHEIMER!)
Plenty to like and a smooth puzzle with, as there should be, some nice topical surfaces. MATT SMITH, the runaway winner for me.
Thanks Neo and widders for the blog.
What a lovely puzzle! And what a beautiful blog!
Dunno why we don’t see many comments here.
The news puzzle as Neo says must be quite a task. Similarly, the blogger has the extra burden of reading
every news item/incident referred to (directly or indirectly) in the clues and then coming up with a crisp
summary (just 2-3 lines) to present in the blog.
Nice puzzle and entirely doable, despite my having practically no familiarity with the UK news references, which required quite a bit of googling to follow. These stories (politicians, scandals, controversies, etc.) have very little play in the US. It all made sense in the end. (One of the recent geographically themed special puzzles was a DNF drag for me, having never encountered half the theme solutions–toponyms and the like.)
The 18d reshuffle was newsworthy in Canada so count that one too.