Financial Times Sunday No.33 – News by Leonidas

by

The February edition of the monthly topically themed puzzle. Find it on the FT website to download and print or solve online, or via the smartphone app.

Another very enjoyable entry in this series from the ever-reliable Leonidas. I particularly liked the pointed 21d PLEDGE.

Thanks, Leonidas!

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
7 WHATSAPPS
Which idiots reportedly deleted messages? (9)
Sounds like (reportedly) “WHAT SAPS” (which idiots)

The ongoing saga of government ministers deleting messages during the coronavirus pandemic came up again in Stormont this week.

9 USAGE
For employment, some bootleg as UK’s in recession (5)
Hidden (some) and reversed (in recession) in bootlEG AS Uk

It came out this week that the UK entered a “technical recession” with successive negative growth in the last two quarters.
10 THE PIPS
Knight’s singers, you can hear them on the hour (3,4)
Two definitions – Gladys Knight’s backing band and the Greenwich time signal, which is broadcast hourly on BBC Radio 4

Edit: the pips are 100 years old, having been first broadcast on 5 Feb 1924 – see comment from Shanne below
11 OPEN-TOP
Frank has best type of car for the Summer? (4-3)
OPEN (frank) + TOP (best)
12 RED WALL
Labour-voting areas with everybody on wine (3,4)
RED (wine) + W (with) + ALL (everybody)
14 FINESSE
Skill essentially used to follow what Trump’s got (7)
FINES (what Trump’s got) + middle letters (essentially) of uSEd

Trump was fined $355m by the US courts this week for fraudulent claims he made in order to obtain business loans.
16 FARSI
Language of remote central part of Asia (5)
FAR (remote) + middle letters (central part) of aSIa

Edit: the Prince of Persia videogame is being voiced in Farsi for the first time – see comment from Shanne below
17 VIA
Bird skinned Meloni’s way? (3)
aVIAn (bird) with outer letters removed (skinned)

Giorgia Meloni is Prime Minister of Italy, and via is Italian for street.
18 GATOR
Warthog regularly fed to gross lizard (5)
Alternate letters (regularly) of wArThOg inserted in (fed to) GR (gross)
20 IMPENDS
One politician points and threatens (7)
I (one) + MP (politician) + ENDS (points)

Clue could be referring to one of several recent incidents, eg Lee Anderson making unseemly comments about London Mayor Sadiq Khan this week.
22 ESTONIA
A note is mobilising nervous Russian neighbour? (7)
Anagram (mobilising) of A NOTE IS

Estonia this week claimed Russia is building up forces to launch attacks across Western Europe.
24 FREEMAN
Morgan or Martin, but perhaps not Imran (7)
“FREE MAN” (not Imran [Khan])

Former Pakistan Prime Minister was jailed for 10 years this week for revealing state secrets.
26 NAVALNY
Brave Russian from maritime city (7)
NAVAL (maritime) + NY (city)

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died recently in prison. Brave because it seems his vocal opposition to Putin was the cause of his demise.
27 AEGIS
Extra defence spending ultimately is providing protection (5)
Last letters (ultimately) of extrA defencE spendinG + IS

The Aegis was a device carried for protection by Greek gods Zeus and Athene, also used figuratively. The clue perhaps refers to money promised by the US to Ukraine for spending on weapons which the Senate recently voted to approve.
28 SWIFTNESS
Head after Queen of Pop for some speed (9)
SWIFT (Taylor Swift, Queen of Pop) + NESS (head)

Taylor Swift’s hugely successful Eras tour is still ongoing.

DOWN
1 LAVENDER
Bank maybe accommodates a very British actor (8)
LENDER (bank, maybe) containing (accommodates) A + V (very)

Ian Lavender, last surviving member of the original cast of Dad’s Army in which he played Private Pike, died this month aged 77.
2 ESTIMATION
View 25% of migrants turning within English channel (10)
MI (25% of migrants) reversed (turning) and inserted in (within) E (English) + STATION (channel)

Perhaps alluding to Ibrahima Bah, who was sentenced this week after being found guilty of causing the deaths of four migrants, who died while attempting to cross the English Channel in a small boat.
3 OPUS
Post Office upset our people in work (4)
PO (Post Office) reversed (upset) + US (our people)

The inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal rumbles on.
4 DUNE
Exotic Nude: its sequel has just premiered (4)
Anagram (exotic) of NUDE

Dune part 2 was released in cinemas this week.
5 BAFTAS
Bleats about this publication’s awards (6)
BAAS (bleats) about FT (this publication)

Oppenheimer was the big winner at the recent British Academy Film and Television Awards.
6 LEAP YEAR
Pine cut after Spring 2024? (4,4)
YEARn (pine, with the last letter cut) after LEAP (spring)

Yep, February has 29 days this year.
7 WATER
Server dropping last of linguini in drink (5)
WAiTER (server) dropping the last letter of linguini
8 SNOWFLAKE
Reluctant army conscript? Each is unique (9)
Two definitions

Edit: the clue refers to a recent story about falling numbers of people joining the Army – see comment from Shanne below.
13 LOVE-SONGS
DJ’s tracks from records including five new ones (4-5)
LOGS (records) containing (including) V (five) + anagram (new) of ONES

Topical because it was Valentine’s Day a couple of weeks ago. Edit: As Hamilton points out in the comments below, also a reference to DJ Steve Wright, who died this month aged 69. He was presenter of Sunday Love Songs on Radio 2. 
15 NEGATIVITY
Bad karma, say, in school’s annual performance (10)
EG (say) in NATIVITY (school’s annual performance)
16 FLIMFLAM
Rubbish film shot surrounded by fire mostly (8)
Anagram (shot) of FILM surrounded by FLAMe (fire, mostly)
19 TANGLIER
Harder to unravel line in African port (8)
L (line) in TANGIER (African port)
21 PLEDGE
Promise Labour’s ended, dismaying Green electorate, primarily? (6)
First letters (primarily) of Promise Labour’s Ended Dismaying Green Electorate

Very neat Everyman-style first letters clue referring to Labour dropping its promise to spend £28bn a year on green projects. You could take just “promise” as the definition but the whole clue defines an example of a pledge (definitions by example are customarily indicated with a question mark).
23 ABYSS
Gulf sailors holding evacuated Yemenis (5)
ABS (sailors) containing (holding) YemeniS with middle letters removed (evacuated)
25 MUSK
He has X and K below total in reverse (4)
K after SUM (total) in reverse
26 NAIL
America invested in nothing secure (4)
A (America) inserted (invested) in NIL (nothing)

14 comments on “Financial Times Sunday No.33 – News by Leonidas”

  1. Rather pleased I remembered it’s news puzzle day as I enjoyed this. It’s a shame so many of the events that inspired the clues were less pleasant to recall but that’s hardly Leonidas’ fault.

    I snorted and spilled my coffee at whatsapps.

    Thanks L & W.

  2. Thanks Leonidas and Widdersbel.
    I think 13 down is also a reference to DJ Steve Wright, who presented Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2 and who sadly passed away this month

  4. Hamilton @2 – yes, of course! Good spot, thanks. Forgot about Steve Wright. (I’m more familiar with Radcliffe and Maconie’s Sunday Glove Songs parody.)

  6. OK I did comment, but it didn’t like my three links to stories on the Pips, snowflakes and Farsi, so it’s awaiting moderation.

    Thank you to Leonidas and Widdersbel.

  9. Like Shanne, I really love these puzzles (but, unlike Blah, I – again – forgot about it until I saw the blog this afternoon). I continue to be amazed at how all the setters manage to produce such high-quality puzzles within such a demanding time frame. By my reckoning, this one includes half a dozen or more references to news from just this past week – and Widdersbel produces brilliant blogs under the same kind of pressure. We are truly blessed.

    My ticks this time were for THE PIPS, NAVALNY, AEGIS, LAVENDER (‘Don’t tell him, Pike!’), NEGATIVITY and PLEDGE.

    Huge thanks to both Leonidas and Widdersbel – great job!

  10. Thanks Widders for the excellent blog and to everyone who has kindly taken the time to comment. (ABYSS was referencing the Houthi situation.)

    Blah@1 has a point re. the NEGATIVITY of some of the issues alluded to. It’s a tightrope we walk when setting these: we don’t want to make the puzzles too miserabilist, but we need to reflect the news cycle on publication. The passing of the Great and the Good was deemed to be fair, a celebration of lives lived. I have tried to include a sprinkling of more positive themes to ‘sugar the pill’.

    On the plus side, I didn’t find room for my PROSTATE clue (ref. CR). Probably for the best.

    See you all next time.

  11. Thanks, Leonidas – thought I’d mentioned the Houthi business in the ABYSS clue. Have a feeling I deleted my original comment and didn’t get round to rewriting it. Intrigued by the sound of this prostate clue!

  12. What Eileen said @9.

    Much of the British news does not make it to where I live, so I did not understand some of the clues as usual. But Leonidas did such a good job with the setting that it was not an issue. And lots of tongue in cheek enhanced the experience.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this and Leonidas continues to cement his place as one of my favourite setters

    Thank you Leonidas and Widdersbel

  13. Leonidas@10 I certainly intended no criticism of you or the puzzle in my comment and thought you did a sterling job of leavening the subject with a healthy dose of wit and humour. Like Eileen I am always impressed by the work our setters put in to these news puzzles.

    I do however hold you fully responsible for the resulting coffee stains 😉

  14. Leonidas @10 and Widdersbel @11 – I did spot the ABYSS references to the Houthi situation in the Gulf, but three links in a post was already too many for the system to cope with, and I was sure Widdersbel had spotted that one. I wasn’t so sure about the others I linked to, but my habit of having Radio 4 chatting in the background and reading the daily Guardian news digest means I do notice a fair bit of UK based current affairs.

    I did also look to see if FLIM-FLAM was in the news – but because Trump gets referred to as the Flim-Flam man there was a fair bit. Ditto Elon MUSK – and I didn’t think either needed any further publicity.

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