The regular last-Sunday-of-the-month crossword based on topical events. Solve online or download and print from the FT website.
The always reliable Neo brings us a puzzle crammed full of up-to-the-minute references – not as difficult as he can be but lots of fun, even if some of the stories referred to are a bit depressing. I’ll leave it to commenters to pick favourites.
Thanks, Neo!
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | OPPRESSOR |
Tempestuous Prospero’s a Putin? (9)
|
| Anagram (tempestuous) of PROSPERO’S | ||
| 10 |
See 26 down
|
|
| 11 | PORTO |
Trump or townspeople holding the city? (5)
|
| Hidden in trumP OR TOwnspeople
FC Porto are through to the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Atletico Madrid last week. |
||
| 12 | IN CONCERT |
Working together as Taylor Swift performing at 1? (2,7)
|
| Two definitions
Taylor Swift’s world tour continues – she’s due to appear at 1d in July (if it opens on time). |
||
| 13 | INDULGE |
Humour believer like Modi, leaving hospital, leg fixed (7)
|
| [h]INDU (believer like Modi) less H (hospital) + anagram (fixed) of LEG
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hoping to be re-elected in the election currently taking place (polling opened mid-April and closes in June). |
||
| 15 | BOOSTER |
Rocket part gets you shot in the arm? (7)
|
| Two definitions
Older and vulnerable people in the UK are currently being invited for a Covid vaccination booster jab. |
||
| 17 | EMBER |
Glower from Garrick user say barred at first (5)
|
| [m]EMBER (Garrick user, say) less the first letter (barred at first)
A judge was recently removed from a court case because both he and the accused are members of the Garrick Club. |
||
| 19 | ROE |
Fish eggs for Wade’s adversary? (3)
|
| Two definitions
Trump has recently been bragging about overturning the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade US Supreme Court ruling that legalised abortion, with hospitals now turning away women seeking emergency abortions. |
||
| 20 | DUDES |
City types taking capital from Darktrace in fees (5)
|
| D (first letter of Darktrace) in DUES (fees)
Cybersecurity firm Darktrace has agreed a $5.3bn takeover by US investors. |
||
| 22 | TOLEDOS |
Was leader also getting grip, beginning to sell weapons? (7)
|
| TOO (also) “gripping” LED (was leader) + S (beginning to “sell”)
A toledo is a type of sword. Perhaps the clue is referring to the ongoing scrutiny of the Prime Minister over the UK’s arms sales to Israel. |
||
| 23 | UKRAINE |
Posh family accepting God’s direction invaded country (7)
|
| U (posh) + KIN (family) containing RA (Egyptian god) + E (east, direction)
The war in Ukraine has now been going on for 795 days. |
||
| 25 | NAIL-HOLES |
Evidence of fix? Explosive one is all about Huw initially (4-5)
|
| Anagram (explosive) of ONE IS ALL containing H (first letter of Huw)
After being suspended last year following a misconduct investigation, BBC news presenter Huw Edwards officially resigned last week. |
||
| 27 |
See 7 down
|
|
| 28 | AGNES |
Girl back to Rwanda good with Geordie son? (5)
|
| A (last letter of Rwanda) + G (good) + NE (northeast, Geordie) + S (son)
The government finally managed to push its legislation through to declare Rwanda a “safe” country in order to make it possible to deport people there. |
||
| 29 | THE WARDEN |
Trade when collapsed makes Trollope work (3,6)
|
| Anagram (collapsed) of TRADE WHEN | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CO-OP LIVE |
Conservative, corrupt turd, erected huge venue (2-2,4)
|
| C (Conservative) + reversal (erected) of EVIL (corrupt) POO (turd)
The 23,500-capacity arena in Manchester was due to open this week but technical problems have caused delays, with Peter Kay’s planned gigs being postponed. |
||
| 2 | SPARED |
One escaping terrible despair? PO victims hope execs won’t be (6)
|
| Aangram (terrible) of DESPAIR less I (one)
The inquiry into the Post Office’s Horizon scandal is ongoing. A former director Angela van den Bogerd admitted this week that she lied in a 2018 testimony about who had access to the IT system. |
||
| 3 | VETO |
Corrupt vote — reject that measure! (4)
|
| Anagram (corrupt) of VOTE | ||
| 4 | ASPIRE |
An item lost to the Danish Stock Exchange? Have ambitions! (6)
|
| Two definitions – the first requiring the word to be split as A SPIRE
A fire in the 400-year-old stock exchange building in Copenhagen this month caused its spire to collapse. |
||
| 5 | CRUCIBLE |
Earthen pot where prominent potters presently potting? (8)
|
| Two definitions
The World Snooker Championship is currently taking place at its traditional venue, the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. |
||
| 6 | OMAN |
Female’s suppressed with Yemeni neighbour (4)
|
| [w]OMAN (female) less the W (with) | ||
| 7/27 across | INFECTED BLOOD |
Scandal of clot, British, indeed disastrous (8,5)
|
| Anagram (disastrous) of OF CLOT B (British) INDEED
Over 3,000 people in the UK have died and many thousands more have contracted HIV and hepatitis from transfusions of infected blood. It came out this week that the UK Government had been warned about the risks as long ago as the 1970s. |
||
| 8 | OYSTER |
Changing story about ecstasy and aphrodisiac … (6)
|
| Anagram (changing) of STORY about E (ecstasy) | ||
| 14 | LURED |
… was Mark Menzies so ruled out? (5)
|
| Anagram (out) of RULED
MP Mark Menzies resigned the Conservative whip last week over an investigation into misuse of party funds. |
||
| 16 | OLDER |
More daring to go topless, like Biden and Trump? (5)
|
| [b]OLDER (more daring) less the first letter
The correct solution is more plausible than my original guess of [b]RAVER. |
||
| 18 | BILLIONS |
Invoice one’s handling about amount for Zelenskyy? (8)
|
| BILL (invoice) I’S (one’s) containing ON (about)
The US government recently approved a $6bn military aid package for Ukraine. |
||
| 19 | RESOLUTE |
Determined in uniform stopping ‘orse let loose? (8)
|
| U (uniform) inserted in an anagram (loose) of ORSE LET
Five horses belonging to the Household Cavalry bolted after being spooked during training exercises this week and ran loose through central London for several hours before being caught. |
||
| 21 | SPENDING |
Shilling in the balance: 10 for public services? (8)
|
| S (shilling) + PENDING (in the balance) | ||
| 22 | TEN HAG |
Boss under pressure has catch-up with crone (3,3)
|
| Reversal (up) of NET (catch) + HAG (crone)
Erik Ten Hag, manager of Manchester United football club, is reportedly at risk of losing his job after a string of poor performances, even though his team last week booked their place in the final of the FA Cup with a lucky win on penalties over Coventry. |
||
| 23 | ULSTER |
Bad result: Bloody Sunday justice awaited here? (6)
|
| Anagram (bad) of RESULT
The High Court announced this week that British soldiers who gave false evidence to the Bloody Sunday inquiry will not face perjury charges. |
||
| 24 | ISOLDE |
Princess one alone accepting tip from Donald? (6)
|
| I (one) + SOLE (alone) containing D (tip from Donald)
Princess is the name of Donald Trump’s superyacht but if there’s a particular topical reference in this clue, it has passed me by. |
||
| 26/10 | HUSH MONEY |
No telling if this was Trump’s payment to Daniels? (4,5)
|
| Cryptic definition
Donald Trump’s fraud trial finally began this week. He is accused of using company funds to make hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. |
||
| 27 | BOAT |
Priest covering hole in transport crossing Channel? (4)
|
| BAT (priest) containing O (hole)
A priest is a bat used by poachers to stun and kill fish. The clue refers to the ongoing issue of traffickers bringing asylum-seekers across the Channel to the UK in small boats. |
The standard of these crosswords remains high, shame that the news is so depressing. Nice reversal spot for CO-OP LIVE. I also discovered the former Chelsea manager has been elected chairman of FC Porto, although too late for this puzzle.
Thank you to Widdersbel and Neo.
A nice puzzle with the usual excellent, comprehensive blog. Thanks, both.
19d RESOLUTE – The runaway ‘orses only happened last Wednesday – very up-to-the-minute.
Thanks N&W
Thanks you lot and Wids. We FT lads and lasses try to be as on it as possible, but as the submission date is usually the Thursday, there’s always a chance of missing something big. I think Bobby Charlton died right at the end of the week a while back, presenting m’colleague Leonidas with a bit of a probbie, but he stabbed it home in true Spartan style.