“The FT monthly news puzzle, featuring clues and solutions relating to events and topics in the month of November.” Find it on the website to download and print or solve online, or via the smartphone app.
Basilisk returns to give us another dose of topical cruciverbal fun. And it was indeed a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed the well-crafted surfaces, especially those for 12 and 20 across and 17 and 24 down.
Parsing for one clue eludes me (28 across), and I may have missed some topical references, but I’m sure you’ll all put me straight in the comments below. (Edit: thanks to Andrew for explaining 28a, and to Shanne for further observations.)
Thanks, Basilisk!
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | RWANDA |
How one might describe war-torn country? (6)
|
| R, W AND A are the letters of WAR rearranged (torn)
The UK Supreme Court recently declared that the Government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda was illegal on the basis that the country is not safe. |
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| 5 | CAFTAN |
Loose garment is able to cover behind (6)
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| CAN (is able) “to cover” AFT (behind)
Edit: see comment 7 below for possible topical reference – Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan (Le Caftan Bleu), released earlier this year, was recently announced as Morocco’s top grossing film internationally, overtaking Nabil Ayouch’s 2015 film Much Loved. |
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| 9 | ANDALUSIA |
Continent covering wild land and uniform region (9)
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| ASIA (continent) covering [anagram (wild) of LAND + U (uniform in Nato alphabet)] | ||
| 10 | REHAB |
What stops legal profession backing treatment for problem? (5)
|
| EH (what?) inserted in (stops) BAR (legal profession) reversed (backing) | ||
| 12 | INEPT |
Cack-handed group of ministers cut by almost half clings onto power (5)
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| (cab)INET (group of ministers) “cut by almost half” containing (clings onto) P (power)
Pointed reference to the Prime Minister’s reshuffle following the sacking of Home Secretary Suella Braverman. |
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| 13 | MEAT WAGON |
Get a woman transported in emergency vehicle (4,5)
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| Anagram (transported) of GET A WOMAN
Meat wagon is a slang term for an ambulance. |
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| 14 | CANNABIS |
Drug arrest takes place behind toilet (8)
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| NAB (arrest) + IS (takes place) “behind” CAN (toilet) | ||
| 16 | ARMANI |
Pilot delaying appearance of international fashion designer (6)
|
| AIRMAN (pilot) moving back (delaying appearance of) I (international)
Famous people usually appear in these crosswords when they die but Giorgio Armani, now 89, is still very much with us. I’m not aware of any other possible topical reason for inclusion. Edit: as per comment 7 below, Armani has recently launched a new collection for Selfridges. The news completely passed me by! |
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| 18 | MORASS |
Sticky situation caused by men stopping service (6)
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| OR (other ranks, ie soldiers, or “men”) inserted in (stopping) MASS (service)
A reference to protesters disrupting the two-minute silence during the Remembrance Day service. |
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| 20 | CONSPIRE |
Right-wing politicians quietly rage and plot (8)
|
| CONS (Conservatives, right-wing politicians) + P (quietly) + IRE (rage)
Reference to the New Conservatives, a faction of the parliamentary party who want to replace Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister. |
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| 23 | RESURFACE |
Cure fears about to appear again (9)
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| Anagram (about) of CURE FEARS | ||
| 24 | MILEI |
Imperial measure by current president-elect (5)
|
| MILE (Imperial measure) + I (current)
The people of Argentina recently chose far-right politician Javier Milei as their next president. |
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| 25/22 | NIGEL FARAGE |
“Celebrity” in Bake Off regularly cooked with large gin (5,6)
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| Anagram (cooked) of the alternate letters (regularly) of bAkE oFf + LARGE GIN
The former MEP is appearing in the current series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. The final of the current (non-celebrity) series of The Great British Bake Off will be on Channel 4 this coming Tuesday. |
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| 26 | AUTOGRAPH |
What might one ask of star sign? (9)
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| Two definitions – similar in meaning but one is a noun and one a verb. | ||
| 27 | ESCAPE |
Avoid encountering Simon Case at public enquiry initially (6)
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| First letters (initially) of Encountering Simon Case At Public Enquiry
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case recently appeared to give evidence to the ongoing Covid enquiry. |
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| 28 | ROCKET |
What might startle little green man from Mars? (6)
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| Stumped by this one, but presumably a reference to the SpaceX Starship rocket, which was launched on 18 November, experiencing a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” three and a half minutes into its flight. Edit: see comment #1 below – it’s ROCK (startle) + ET (little green man from Mars), and the whole clue is the definition. I like this a lot now I get it! | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | WIDGEON |
Extra leg comprises last of Peking duck (7)
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| WIDE (an “extra” score in cricket) + ON (the “leg” side in cricket) containing (comprises) the last letter of pekinG | ||
| 3 | NILOT |
African native not accepting Israel’s borders (5)
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| NOT containing (accepting) first and last letters (borders) of IsraeL
A Nilot is an inhabitant of the Nile valley. Edit: and as Shanne @3 points out below, the clue is a reference to Egypt taking in people fleeing the fighting in Palestine. |
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| 4 | AI SUMMIT |
Mail uncovered case involving 2000 technocrats meeting here (2,6)
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| mAIl with the first and last letters removed (uncovered) + SUIT (case) containing (involving) MM (2000 in Roman numerals)
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| 5 | CIARAN |
Originally I’m A Celebrity somehow managed to create a storm (6)
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| Anagram (rearranged) of the first letters (originally) of I‘m A Celebrity + RAN (managed)
Storm Ciaran recently battered the UK and parts of Europe, leaving 21 people dead. |
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| 6 | FIREWORKS |
Temperamental outburst dismisses nursing profession (9)
|
| FIRES (dismisses) containing (nursing) WORK (profession)
Firework displays took place across the UK this month to mark both Bonfire Night and Diwali. |
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| 7 | APHAGIA |
Group occupying cenotaph — a giant, potentially life-threatening issue (7)
|
| Hidden in cenotAPH A GIAnt
A medical condition characterised by an inability to eat. Edit: again, thanks to Shanne for highlighting the reference to “Tommy Robinson” and his cronies “protecting” the Cenotaph. |
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| 8 | DAVID CAMERON |
A divorced man managed to become prime minister (5,7)
|
| Anagram (managed) of A DIVORCED MAN
The former PM was recently appointed Foreign Secretary in the reshuffle following the sacking of Suella Braverman. |
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| 11 | BONFIRE NIGHT |
Celebration of failed plot is no brief thing surprisingly (7,5)
|
| Anagram (surprisingly) of NO BRIEF THING
Remember, remember, the fifth of November… for those outside the UK, this is when we have firework displays to celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 by a gang including Guy Fawkes. |
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| 15 | AUSTRALIA |
World cup winners from European country winning almost everything (9)
|
| AUSTRIA (European country) containing (winning) AL[L] (almost “everything”)
The Aussies this week won the Cricket World Cup. |
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| 17 | FOMENTER |
Former home secretary possibly in favour of locking up people there “on vacation” (8)
|
| FOR (in favour of) containing (locking up) [MEN (people) + TherE with middle letters removed (on vacation)]
The former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was sacked for inflammatory comments that were said to have incited violent protests by far right groups on Remembrance Day. |
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| 19 | RESIGNS |
Gives up because of what king does about opening of speech (7)
|
| REIGNS (what king does) “about” first letter (opening) of Speech
The King’s speech on 7th November marked the opening of the current session of Parliament, setting out the Government’s legislative plans. |
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| 21 | ILL FAME |
Disgrace of lines effacing old lady in I’m a Celebrity (3,4)
|
| LL (lines) replacing (effacing) MA (old lady) in I’M A + FAME (celebrity)
The new series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here started on 19th November. |
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| 22 |
See 25 Across
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| 24 | MAGIC |
Comparing Now and Then with Revolution is very enjoyable (5)
|
| Anagram (with revolution) of alternate letters (now and then) in CoMpArInG
The Beatles’ “new” track Now and Then was released this month, predictably going straight to number one in the charts. Revolution was a song from their 1968 “White” album. |
28a is an &lit, with wordplay ROCK (startle) ET (extraterrestrial, “little green man”)
Of course! Thanks, Andrew. Seems so obvious now you’ve pointed it out.
I enjoyed this, thank you to Widdersbel and Basilisk.
Wasn’t the AI SUMMIT at Bletchley Park? And don’t we have a reference to either the Far Right mob with Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Tommy Robinson “protecting” the Cenotaph and/or the occupation of the Royal Artillery Memorial by Palestinian protestors in the clue for APHAGIA. And I also thought of Egypt’s reluctance to take in all those displaced from Gaza in NILOT
Thanks, Basilisk and Widdersbel!
Thoroughly enjoyed the topical puzzle and the excellent blog.
Liked RWANDA and ROCKET in particular.
Shanne @3 – yes, of course, the AI summit was at Bletchley Park but it was billed as a “London” event (in much the same way that Luton is a London airport?). I did register the topical references in the APHAGIA and NILOT clues while solving but neglected to include them in the blog, so thanks for the reminder.
The other thing I didn’t realise was topical was that The Blue Caftan film (2022) was announced as the biggest grossing Moroccan film overseas in the last few days.
Armani was in the news for relaunching some of his 70s and 80s suits in a capsule collection at Selfridges this month.
I used to live within cycling distance of Bletchley Park as a child – which I knew as Hanslope Park, I even went to school/was friends with children whose parents worked there – before the building of Milton Keynes. At the time it was a very rural area on the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire border, with quaint village names indicating the extent of Viking Britain, Roman heritage along Watling Street, and occasional excitement from Silverstone. Really we didn’t think of it as London.
I enjoyed this too. Thanks to Basilisk, Widderbel and all.
Good job Basilisk. Plenty of nice references scattered throughout. I could have nominated quite a few as my COTD but do think RWANDA has to take the bittersweet biscuit.
And thanks widders for a most professional and informative blog.
Took my time but got there. Bottom right hand corner was the trouble area as I couldn’t parse magic, rocket or fermenter.
Thanks for explaining
This is at the tough end of my spectrum, but I thought the clueing was fair.
Many thanks to Widdersbel for the excellent blog. I think the news puzzles are particularly difficult ones to blog. And thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment on the puzzle.
Shanne @7 – Great detective work! Must admit those stories passed me by. The Blue Caftan sounds good.
Basilisk @11 – Blogging is a breeze compared to the challenge you face in setting one of these puzzles!
A masterpiece of forensic and entertaining cluemanship, all the more remarkable given the constraints on the content. Jolly well played that Basilisk!