Financial Times 18,105 by Rosa Klebb

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Puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 13, 2025

Another great puzzle in fine Rosa style. My first-in was 1a (PUFFIN) and last was 22 (IBIDEM), a new word for me.  My favourites are 13 (LAWN TENNIS), 21a (RITALIN), 21d (REMADE), 27  (DHOTI) and 30 (MASALA).

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 PUFFIN
Praise popular seabird (6)
PUFF (praise) + IN (popular)
4 SCRAMBLE
Are incoherent after extremely shambolic emergency take-off (8)
S[hamboli]C + RAMBLE (are incoherent)
10 GERM-LADEN
Insalubrious ragmen led rioting (4-5)
Anagram (rioting) of RAGMEN LED
11 PRUDE
Quietly insulting Mrs Grundy (5)
P (quietly) + RUDE (insulting)
12 LOOP
Twisted Kitty’s kink (4)
POOL (kitty) backwards (twisted). I was surprised to see ‘twisted’ as a reversal indicator but after checking Collins I have to say that I think it works.
13 LAWN TENNIS
Lenin wasn’t playing game (4,6)
Anagram (playing) of LENIN WASNT.  A good clue for Wimbledon time.
15 SO THERE
Defiant words from drunk at this point (2,5)
SOT (drunk) + HERE (at this point)
16 SKIMPY
Revealing agent harbouring Philby (6)
KIM (Philby) in (harbouring) SPY (agent)
19 SNORER
Noisy sleeper more upset about onset of nightmares (6)
N[ightmares] in (about) SORER (more upset)
21 RITALIN
Some marital infidelity is remedy for restlessness (7)
Hidden word (some)
23 BOTHERSOME
Taxing the boomers misguidedly (10)
Anagram (misguidedly) of THE BOOMERS
25 BEDE
Read out part of rosary for venerable saint (4)
Homphone (read out) of “bead” (part of rosary)
27 DHOTI
Sexy in short dark loincloth (5)
HOT (sexy) in (in) DI[m] (short dark)
28 BADMOUTHS
Slags off poor kissers (9)
BAD (poor) + MOUTHS (kissers)
29 MISTIMED
Inopportune film Ms Moore backed (8)
MIST (film) + DEMI [Moore] backwards (backed)
30 MASALA
Runs out of wine and curry (6)
MA[r]SALA (runs out of wine)
DOWN
1 PUGILIST
Dog register including one boxer (8)
PUG (dog) + I (one) in (including) LIST (register)
2 FORGOTTEN
Yield clear returns, intentionally disregarded (9)
FORGO (yield) + NETT (clear returns) backwards (returns). I am not clear about what ‘intentionally’ is doing here. Usually something forgotten is disregarded unintentionally.
3 ISLE
Element of travel sickness around Ely? (4)
Reverse (around) hidden word (element of).  Non-Brits may not know of the Isle of Ely which is actually a region of England and not an island.
5 CANINES
Constant boundless zaniness in setters? (7)
C (constant) + [z]ANINES[s]
6 APPRECIATE
Increase in adjusted per capita income at last (10)
Anagram (adjusted) of PER CAPITA + [incom]E
7 BRUIN
Briefly regretting tailing black bear (5)
B (black) + RUIN[g] (briefly regretting)
8 EVER SO
Frightfully English backside (4,2)
E (English) + VERSO (backside)
9 IDEATE
‘Imagine’ is almost perfect hit single, ultimately (6)
IDEA[l] (almost perfect) + [hi]T [singl]E
14 DECREE NISI
Residence affected current court order (6,4)
Anagram (affected) of RESIDENCE + I (current)
17 PALAESTRA
Training facility in China was essentially established by Gunners (9)
PAL (china) + [w]A[s] + EST (established) + RA (gunners, i.e. Royal Artillery)
18 UNDERSEA
Endures storms on a submarine (8)
Anagram (storms) of ENDURES + A (a)
20 RISIBLE
Relative bitten by bug, causing laughter (7)
SIB (relative) in (bitten by) RILE (bug)
21 REMADE
Endings of Goldfinger and The Servant reportedly filmed again (6)
[goldfinge]R [th]E + homophone (reportedly) of “maid” (servant).  Two of my favourite movies in one clue.
22 IBIDEM
Writer stays married, in the same place (6)
I BIDE (writer stays) + M (married)   (corrected)
24 TROTS
Goes off to support Tooting’s foremost revolutionaries (5)
T[ooting] + ROTS (goes off) with the definition referring, I believe, to Trotskyites
26 IOTA
Intermittently hit outlaw in scrap (4)
[h]I[t]O[u]T[l]A[w]

21 comments on “Financial Times 18,105 by Rosa Klebb”

  1. So much to like in this puzzle from the fabled bear (7d) to the apt surfaces of APPRECIATE and BOTHERSOME.
    But the one which tickled me most was LAWN TENNIS for its superb – and topical – surface.
    I even managed to retrieve DHOTI from the memory files.
    Thanks to Rosa for making it all look so effortless and to Pete for another fine blog – I was similarity puzzled by intentionally.

  2. For 22d I thought writer stays = I bide. Lots of beaut surfaces as per from the spy (or spider) lady. Thx to her and Pete

  3. The forgotten clue is a bit odd. I find forgo and yield sort of awkward to swap, and yes perhaps intentionally lost its un-.

  4. Thanks Rosa for another gem. I liked every clue as usual. My top picks were LAWN TENNIS (COTD), RITALIN (nicely hidden), BOTHERSOME, MASALA, PUGILIST, CANINES, IDEATE (great surface), and RISIBLE. Merriam-Webster lists ‘disregard intentionally’ as a definition of ‘forget’ as in the imperative ‘just forget it!’ so FORGOTTEN can accurately mean ‘intentionally disregarded’. Thanks Pete for the blog.

  5. IBIDEM
    grantinfreo@2
    Agree with you on I BIDE.

    Liked SCRAMBLE and APPRECIATE.
    FORGOTTEN
    clear=NETT (returns used twice in the blog)

    Thanks Rosa Klebb and Pete.

  6. PALAESTRA: the University of Pennsylvania has a famous basketball arena called The Palestra. (Famous among people who follow college basketball. Which means it isn’t that famous.) It took me a moment to realize that this was another instance of “Americans usually reduce the digraphs ae and oe to just e”, but I did get there. Thanks, Penn hoops.

  7. A helpful number of anagrams made parts of this very tractable. Favourites have been mentioned, but I will add that LAWN TENNIS was wonderful; amongst a nice sequence of clues in the pithy style I love.

    But then in the bottom half RK got into the dusty corners of the language, where only librarians and professors of Greek history dare to tread, and that took my enjoyment down a tad.

    Thanks Pete for clearing up how Ely = ISLE. I have been there and there is not much evidence of water!

    Thanks Rosa Klebb and Pete for both producing consistently high quality

  8. 24d refers to Citizen Smith, the great sitcom about the Tooting Popular Front. “Power to the people!”

  9. PS I just read up on Isle of Ely and apparently it used to be an island until the surrounding swamps were drained in 17th century.

    Also of note, given another clue in the puzzle, Its name has been said to mean “island of eels”, a reference to the fish that were often caught in the local rivers for food. This etymology was first recorded by the Venerable BEDE.

  10. Lovely puzzle as always

    PUGILIST, SKIMPY, MISTIMED, EVER SO, RISIBLE were my favourites

    Thanks Rosa Klebb and Pete

  11. Another lovely puzzle from Rosa, with the usual meticulous constructions and witty story-telling surfaces.

    As usual, too many favourites to list but I’ll echo the acclaim for LAWN TENNIS as pick of the bunch.
    I enjoyed working out PALAESTRA and agree with gif and KVa re IBIDEM.

    Many thanks to Rosa and to Pete.

  13. Thanks Rosa and Pete

    14dn: I is the standard symbol in physics for electric current. See, for example, Chambers 2016 p 752.

  14. I enjoyed most of this, but didn’t know MISTIMED or IBIDEM and so failed there. LAWN TENNIS was my favorite. Thank you Rosa Klebb and Peter.

  15. I do enjoy Rosa’s puzzles! This was, as usual, very approachable. I wasn’t fazed by the classical input, although I had to claw back IBIDEM from memory banks… the Isle of Ely seems to remain in my memory as a place that Alfred (the Great), used as a hiding place, but not sure if that wasn’t in Somerset…
    Anyway, thanks Rosa Klebb n Pete Maclean

  17. I still don’t understand PALAESTRA.
    Why is China = PAL?
    How does essentially fit into the solution?
    Help please

  20. Kev, You are absolutely right. I have a strong sense that “china” is used in this sense more in Scotland than other parts of the UK but originally it is indeed Cockney rhyming-slang (china plate) for “mate”.

  21. I’m very late to comment as I was abroad and didn’t have much internet access. Another super puzzle. Pity Sarah’s puzzles are so rare these days.

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