The end of the month brings the FT’s Sunday News Crossword, packed with topical clues. Widdersbel is otherwise engaged and it was a race between Eileen and me as to who blogged this one.
I hope I’ve found most of the news stories – please add more in the comments below if I’ve missed anything.
| ACROSS | ||
| 6 | SWAP |
‘Change’ article penned by left wing group (4)
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| Insertion of A in SWP, the Socialist Workers Party (left wing group)
not sure if there’s anything particularly linked to them – when I looked there was news about involvement in the Palestinian demonstrations in London, and protesting against Farage standing in Clacton. |
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| 8/9 | ROB BURROW |
Rhino, one with enormous strength (3,6)
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| This is commemorating the death of Rob Burrow, a rugby league player who played for Leeds Rhinos and died this month of MND (Motor Neurone Disease). He was awarded a CBE for his work campaigning for awareness for MND, | ||
| 10/23 | SNAP ELECTION |
A shock for France — beaten on penalties after conceding first in Cologne (4,8)
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| Anagram of (ON PENALTIES + C)* where the C is the first in Cologne –
The SNAP ELECTION called by Macron after the EU Parliament elections, which has been causing consternation ever since. |
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| 11 | GREEN PARTY |
Silly prat, 21, a strong opponent of 15 21 (5,5)
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| Anagram of (PRAT + ENERGY)* with anagrind silly 15, 21 is nuclear energy.
The English Green Party policy on nuclear energy is “We want to see the phase-out of nuclear energy, which is unsafe and much more expensive than renewables.” Which surprised me as I know someone from the Scottish Greens who is a nuclear scientist. In the news as we’re in the middle of a General Election |
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| 12/18 | NATIONAL SERVICE |
Can evil Tories become fragmented after backing an outmoded policy? (8,7)
|
| Anagram of (CAN EVIL TORIES)* anagrind become fragmented, after NA (backing AN<)
One of Rishi Sunak’s brilliant wheezes to win votes for the Conservative Party is to bring back National Service. Having spent an afternoon calming down 14 year old boys who were panicking and then attended a funeral full of army bods who were equally anti this idea, colour me unconvinced. |
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| 13 | HUNTER |
Watch Biden, a man with conviction (6)
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| A HUNTER watch is the watch on a chain that fits into a waistcoat pocket.
Hunter Biden was convicted of gun and drug offences and has lost his right to practice as a lawyer this month. |
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| 15/21 | NUCLEAR ENERGY |
Rare genny lec U-turns that could affect the balance of power (7,6)
|
| anagram of (RARE GENNY LEC U)* with anagrind turns
I suspect this news item comes from Putin’s threats to start using nuclear weapons earlier this month. The Genny Lec is apparently a common form of speech in various circles, along with Cossie Liv. |
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| 18 |
See 12
|
|
| 26 | ODDFELLOWS |
They’re benevolent chaps (following rum) (10)
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| Charade of FELLOWS (chaps) following ODD (rum) to give a benevolent society encouraging friendship and social activities, Not sure if they’re in the news other than they’ve just held their annual conference. | ||
| 28 | RAPS |
Knocks box over (4)
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| A reversal of SPAR< | ||
| 29 | FABRIC |
Marvellous, endlessly sumptuous manufactured cloth (6)
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| Charade of FAB (marvellous) and RICh (endlessly sumptuous) | ||
| 30/31 | SKY DISH |
Small Kentucky Fried Chicken for one which Rishi wasn’t allowed as a kid (3,4)
|
| Charade of S (small) KY (Kentucky) DISH (fried chicken for one)
Rishi Sunak has been widely mocked for saying, when interviewed, that he went without lots as a child, and gave satellite TV as an example. (He went to Winchester School, current fees around £40k). |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | RWANDA |
Country run with a gagging order? (6)
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| Charade of R (run) W (with) A NDA (Non-Disclosure agreement – gagging order)
RWANDA remains in the news after the High Court ruled the previous Conservative government’s plans illegal on 31 May, The Tories say they will continue with their policy if they are elected and Labour say they will not. |
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| 2 | DRAGON |
The end of Sutherland? Groan; that’s awful — such a fiery character! (6)
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| D + (GROAN)* to give DRAGON
The clue refers to Donald Sutherland who died this month at the age of 88, recently seen in Game of Thrones (with dragons) |
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| 3 | ABSEILS |
Sailor goes to sea, reportedly shins down rope (7)
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| AB (sailor) SEILS (sounds like sails – reportedly – to go to sea) | ||
| 4 | ORDAIN |
Decree old road the way to Edinburgh? (6)
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| Charade of O (old) RD (road) AIN (the road to Edinburgh is the A1N) | ||
| 5 | BOOT |
Starts to bet openly on timing — this might mean the sack (4)
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| Acrostic (starts to) Bet Openly On Timing
News story about Craig Williams and various others who bet on the date of the General Election, the timing suggestive of inside knowledge – and will very likely get the BOOT |
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| 7 | PEPPILL |
Stimulant keeping City boss on the ball? (3,4)
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| Manchester City FC Boss is Pep Guardiola and Manchester City won the Premier Football League and the FA Cup for the 2023-24 season | ||
| 9 | BANSHEE |
Held captive by Taliban, she embodies female spirit (7)
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| Hidden (held captive) in TaliBAN SHE Embodies
The Taliban is continuing to limit women’s rights in Afghanistan, currently in the news for Doha talks starting today taking women’s rights off the agenda and refusing any women participants. Also a report of sexual and other assaults on young women wearing “bad hijab”. |
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| 14 | ETC |
Go and get undressed, and so forth (3)
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| fETCh (go and get – fetch – undressed) | ||
| 16 | URN |
Regularly cleared current ballot box (3)
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| Alternate letters (regularly cleaned) of cUrReNt
Ballot box as this year is the year when most of the world holds elections, including currently France and the UK. |
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| 17 | ACYCLIC |
Open-chain structured pharmacy — click to collect (7)
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| Hidden (to collect) in pharmACY CLICk and meaning not in a cycle in chemical terms. | ||
| 19 | VOTER ID |
Working to drive controversial government initiative (5,2)
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| Anagram of (TO DRIVE)* anagrind working
VOTER ID is another clever Conservative wheeze to disenfranchise those who won’t vote for them – bus passes for old people count, student ID doesn’t. Currently in the news in June as there was a big drive to get voters ID and on the electoral register through Give it an X which featured Michael Sheen |
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| 20 | REMORSE |
Guilty feeling beginning to rattle persona of C Dexter? (7)
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| Charade of R (beginning to Rattle) E MORSE (Endeavour Morse, Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse). | ||
| 22 | REFORM |
Scripture class that has attracted many converts? (6)
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| RE (Scripture – Religious Education) FORM (Class) to give REFORM.
Nigel Farage, after saying he wouldn’t get involved in this General Election, has bumped the leader of the REFORM Party, Richard Tice (although Tice is still funding it) and the original REFORM candidate for Clacton to stand as an MP (against the original candidate who is standing as an independent) and be the public face of REFORM, which is currently doing well in the polls and reducing any votes for the Tory party. |
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| 24 | ESSAYS |
Try southern papers (6)
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| charade of ESSAY (try) + S (southern)
In the news this week was an experiment from the University of Reading submitting AI generated papers to examiners. Only one was spotted and rejected, the rest were marked as higher than the average score. |
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| 25 | OPPOSE |
Be against leaders of oil protest painting over walls of Stonehenge (6)
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| Acrostic (leaders of) Oil Protest Painting Over SE (walls of StonehengE)
In the news last week were Just Stop Oil protesters covering the menhirs of Stonehenge with orange powder just before the Summer Solstice celebrations. Much concern about the lichens on the megaliths. |
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| 27 | DDAY |
Sum up year: a disaster for the PM (1-3)
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| Reversal of ADD< (sum up) + Y (year)
D-Day was a disaster for Rishi Sunak as he left early from the 80th anniversary remembrances of the D-Day landings – with a very few surviving participants attending – to take part in a pre-recorded ITV interview. |
Thanks for the blog, dear Shanne.
Quiet in here, innit?
I got up early to solve this eagerly-awaited puzzle but had no time to comment before going out to church. Just home, expecting to see lots of comments, so very surprised to see none – will be back soon!
These news & world puzzles (the Sunday special ones) are quite different conceptually and I find them fascinating. More research is required to blog them than routine cryptic puzzles, I think.
For some reason, many routine solvers don’t solve them (must be time or other constraints).
I loved solving this puzzle. Liked FABRIC, SKY DISH, PEP PILL, ETC and D-DAY. Learnt more UK news than what I had gathered during the month from the news sites. Thanks Julius.
Thanks Shanne for the extensive and neat blog. Superb debut here!
ROB BURROW
What is the cryptic part of this clue? The ‘one with enormous strength’ implies more than what the surface does?
Please enlighten me.
PEP PILL
A pill, colloquially known as a bobble, fuzzball, or lint ball, is a small ball of fibers {sic} that forms on a piece of cloth: Wiki.
Is ball=PILL in this sense?
KVA @3 – well done on getting the ball rolling.
To be fair, many ‘routine solvers’ would be at quite a disadvantage in solving these puzzles, based as they are on mainly UK events, etc, many of which must seem bizarre or incredible to non-UK solvers, but, as you imply, it can provide fun insight into the weird world we live in. And even we here don’t always see the minutiae: for instance, I hadn’t caught the item behind ESSAYS – it takes brilliance on the part of both setter and blogger to wring every last juicy bit from the month’s news.
For me, this was one of the very best of these puzzles so far – staggeringly good anagrams at 10/23, 12/18 and 15/21, all with superb surfaces, every word being significant.
I smiled at 13ac HUNTER (man of conviction), 5dn BOOT (wonderful) and 30/21 SKY DISH, while shedding a tear for poor deprived Rishi – and for his fiasco at 27dn D-DAY.
I loved the poignant tributes for ROB BURROW at 9ac and Donald Sutherland at 2dn and the reminder of Colin D and E Morse 20d.
Ticks for most of the clues – will just highlight one more 25 OPPOSE, for the surface (although they’re all superb).
So, huge thanks, as always, to Julius and to debutante Shanne (Bravissima!) – I’m quite relieved not to have won the race: I couldn’t for the life of me see why 14dn had to be ETC!
(‘ve spent so long going back over this – and typing – that I’ve probably been overtaken, on several accounts, by now.)
KVa @3
I read PEP PILL as you did.
RE ROB BURROW: I don’t really know how to answer your question, except to suggest you google ROB BURROW to find out (much) more about this amazing man, who has amazed and inspired the whole country.
Eileen@5
ROB BURROW
Thanks for your response.
I read a couple of articles about him on the net (didn’t know about him earlier. I just about know how Rugby is played but I don’t follow the game). I wanted to know if there was any wordplay in the clue. Or is it a quote by someone famous or some such thing?
Hi @KVa
Re ROB BURROW…I tried to avoid filling this grid with exclusively politics references and wanted to include a tribute to Rob Burrow. Obviously, the idea was to write a clue which was appropriate and my (barely) cryptic allusion to his career as a “Rhino” (Leeds Rugby League club) while making reference to his immense strength (of character) was my best effort. Similar challenge with Donald Sutherland.
Regarding the clue for NUCLEAR ENERGY, I wanted to use “genny lec” in the puzzle somewhere. It’s so excuciatingly bad – like “platty jubes” – that it’s almost good.
Thanks Julius. Understood. Thanks again.
Lovely puzzle from Julius – solvable, smart and fun. Echoing Eileen@4 Shanne not only skillfully parsed but also found the relevance of several clues which I had missed. Thanks to both and congrats for a masterful crossword.
KVa @3 i think ROB BURROW is a double definition as he was both a (Leeds) Rhino and one with enormous strength?
Great puzzle – much enjoyed it.
Topical clues certainly shift the balance – they significantly assist the solvers and make life more difficult for the setter. Hat off to Julius for making it look easy with some fabulous surfaces.
Just a comment on clues which use (to my mind) unusual phrases like ‘genny lec’; having never heard of the phrase it screams out ‘anagram’ and maybe makes the clue easier than it would otherwise be.
Of course, now that I’ve looked up what it means it makes the clue even cleverer 🙂 – I’m not complaining! (although the phrase is shockingly awful! )
I always think Julius is the best at these news puzzles in a field of top setters. He’s certainly the most entertaining. I think this is now his third in this series?
I’m in complete agreement with Morten@10 re genny lec which, as a phrase, made me cringe even more than platty jubes did. May I humbly submit bolly abbs (bollocks abbreviations) as a meta-description?
Also with Eileen for her picks and re: ETC which I’ll admit stumped me as to why for far too long.
Nice blog Shanne thanks for stepping in for the errant (in the sense of all five of its Chambers entries) Widders.
Thanks both.
Now back at a computer, not out and about and answering from my phone.
From 15/21A, genny lec (General Election) is some current slang, along with cozzie livs (cost of living) and a few more similar phrases, according to this article from the 18th June, which I’d read in the Guardian this month and wondered as I was blogging if Julius had too. According to the article it allows people to discuss money without as much acrimony: “Where previously WhatsApp groups discussing hen parties or meet-ups were fraught with anxieties around money, now the simple phrase makes it clear: “Sorry girls, can’t afford it. Cozzie livs,” ”
8/9A – I took the ROB BURROW clues to be referring both to his amazing strength competing in Rugby League as a much smaller player than the rest of the team, and his strength in dealing with the diagnosis of MND, also known as ALS, one form of MND, by campaigning and fundraising for research. We had news bulletins broadcasting his messages he’d prepared for when he died, and his funeral is booked in the next few days. Plus he was a Rhino, played for Leeds Rhinos.
7D – PEP-PILL – I solved this thinking that was a cryptic definition. In my Chambers (1998), pep-pill is defined as a pill containing a stimulant, which is the meaning I knew from my days of irresponsible party-going. I thought the clue was a pun on Pep Guardiola’s name, so it was a special stimulant to keep him going, linked to being a football manager, so on the ball – as in the manager of Manchester City FC.
However, I’ve just checked online and that usage has been superseded by the current use of post-exposure prophylactic pills for HIV and I couldn’t find the original meaning.
A day late to this one but, having been recommended to give it a go, glad I made the time this morning. Too late to make meaningful comment but did want to agree with the general view that Julius does a cracking job with these puzzles and that this is a particularly neat and polished example.
Thanks both
Glad I found time to catch up with this – lovely stuff, thanks, Julius. And many thanks Shanne for taking this one on.
I did miss one topical reference, reminded yesterday by one of the clues elsewhere: ORDAIN – this crossword went out in Petertide (very Church of England concept this), around St Peter’s Day on 29 June, and is traditionally when priests are ORDAINed into the priesthood.
What PostMark and Widdersbel said. As someone living outside UK. I found some of this perplexing. But I managed to solve (guess?) everything except ROB BURROW, which was completely inaccessible to me.
Thanks Julius and Shanne
PS KVa Rugby (short for Rugby Union) and Rugby League are different games, and it appears RB played the latter
Thanks Julius – I enjoyed 10/23 and 12/18. I was defeated by the player in 8/9, and I was wondering if there was more in the clue that I was missing. I did think that 11 might be a bit unkind to the Greens!