This is my first venture into the Financial Times Sunday World puzzles that focus on a particular place in the World, with a number of the clues just providing wordplay to an answer associated with that particular place. It’s a different place each month.
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My entry to this puzzle was through the thematic clue at 16 across which looked like an anagram for SILLOTH, a place I vaguely remembered was in Cumbria somewhere. Having confirmed this, the demarcation of 4,7 for the theme location suggested LAKE DISTRICT.
The clues fell steadily after that, but I needed a bit of research to check locations and associations with the LAKE DISTRICT. Some of the theme answers were fairly well known to me, such as BUTTERMERE, WAINRIGHT, ESK PIKE, HONISTER PASS and GRASMERE, but the remainder needed a bit of checking. For me, the least well known were CLAIFE, BLACKWELL and ELTERWATER.
I liked the clue for TEA TROLLEY as it brought back memories of banter in the queues at the TROLLEYs in the early days where I worked for most of my life. Eventually, the TEA TROLLEYs were phased out in favour of electronic vending and a small shop, all in the name of progress [and cost cutting].
I’m not too sure about the use of the two words ‘in grain’ to represent the one word ‘ingrain’ as a definition for IMBUE at 7 down, but perhaps I’m being a bit pedantic.
I enjoyed this puzzle and will look out for future ones. The World puzzles appear every month.
The grid below highlights the thematic entries along with the two entries displaying the theme.
| No |
Detail Asterisked clues have wordplay, but no definition, as they lead to answers associated with the theme |
| Across | |
| 1 | Understated heartless caption (6)
SUBTLE (elusive; impalpable; understated) SUBtiTLE (caption) excluding the central letters (heartless) TI SUBTLE |
| 4 | See 12
[LAKE] DISTRICT The puzzle’s theme |
| 10 | * Endless surprise at no start for ages (7)
AMAZONS (The book SWALLOWS [entry at 1 down] and AMAZONS by Arthur Ransome [1884 – 1967] is set in the Lake District) AMAZe (surprise) excluding the final letter (endless) E + eONS (vast ages) excluding the first letter (no start) E AMAZ ONS |
| 11 | Tie to prevent coupling (7)
DRAWBAR (a bar used in coupling railway vehicles; coupling) DRAW (have an equal score; tie) + BAR (prevent) DRAW BAR |
| 12/4 | [See Setter Notes] (4,8)
LAKE [DISTRICT] The puzzle’s theme |
| 13 | * Start to boil pure water (10)
BUTTERMERE (name of an area and lake in the Lake District) B (first letter of [start to]) + UTTER (pure) + MERE (pool; lake; water) B UTTER MERE |
| 15 | FT takes heart in city every Sunday, perhaps (6)
WEEKLY (something that happens every Sunday can be described as happening once a week [WEEKLY]) WE (descriptive of the Financial Times [FT] given this is an FT puzzle) + (K [central letter of {heart} taKes] contained in [in] ELY [city in England]) WE E (K) LY |
| 16 | * New to hills (7)
SILLOTH (a port town [full name SILLOTH-on-Solway) and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria [location of the Lake District] Anagram of (new) TO HILLS SILLOTH* |
| 20 | Arctic hunter mixes fuel in container (4,3)
BLUE FOX (another name for the Arctic FOX [a hunting animal]) Anagram of (mixes) FUEL contained in (in) BOX (container) B (LUE F*) OX |
| 21 | Soundly criticise smoker (6)
CENSER (ceremonial container in which incense is burned; smoker) CENSER (sounds like [soundly] CENSOR [condemn; criticise]) CENSER |
| 24 | * Being around in war at sea (10)
WAINWRIGHT (reference Alfred WAINWRIGHT [1907 – 1991], British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator who is famed for his books on the Lake District) WIGHT (obsolete term for creature, person or supernatural being) containing (around) an anagram of (at sea) IN WAR W (AINWR*) IGHT |
| 26 | See 18 Down
[HONISTER] PASS |
| 28 | Knock deserter with two others leaderless (7)
RAT-A-TAT (a knocking sound or knock) RAT (traitor) + rAT (another traitor) excluding the first letter (leaderless) R + rAT (and another one, making two others) also excluding the first letter (leaderless) R RAT–AT–AT |
| 29 | * Point about king following end of parade (3,4)
ESK PIKE (hill in the Lake District at the head of ESKdale) E (last letter of [end of] paradE + (SPIKE [point] containing [about] K [king]) E S (K) PIKE |
| 30 | See 23
[SHEEP] SHEARERS |
| 31 | * Desperately facile (6)
CLAIFE (civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness Unitary Authority of Cumbria [location of the Lake District]) Anagram of (desperately) FACILE CLAIFE* |
| Down | |
| 1 | * Flounder caught by boat (8)
SWALLOWS (The book SWALLOWS and AMAZONS [entry at 10 across] by Arthur Ransome [1884 – 1967] is set in the Lake District) WALLOW (flounder) contained in (caught by) SS (steamship; boat) S (WALLOW) S |
| 2 | * Be without water in ring (9)
BLACKWELL (BLACKWELL is a large house in the English Lake District, designed in the Arts and Crafts style by Baillie Scott [1865 – 1945]) (LACK [be without] + W [water as in the abbreviation WC [water closet]) contained in (in) BELL (to ring) B (LACK W) ELL |
| 3 | Game’s up for ice performance movement (4)
LOOP (a movement in figure skating, such as a toe-LOOP [toe jump and a LOOP performed in combination) POOL (a game) reversed (up; down entry) LOOP< |
| 5 | Thoroughly eliminated problem without me (2,6)
IN DETAIL (considered point by point; thoroughly) Anagram of (problem) eLImINATED excluding (without) the letters in ME IN DETAIL* |
| 6 | Part to emote at, roll eyes at how refreshing lines are delivered (3,7)
TEA TROLLEY (small tiered table on wheels from which tea or coffee, cakes etc is served; a movable item from which people [usually staff] are waiting in line to be refreshed are served) TEA TROLLEY (hidden word in [part to] emoTE AT ROLL EYes) TEA TROLLEY |
| 7 | Leaders of industry may be using enzymes in grain (5)
IMBUE (in grain [in grain]) IMBUE (first letters of [leaders of] each of Industry, May, Be, Using and Enzymes) I M B U E |
| 8 | * Actor very content (6)
TURNER (reference the artist J M W TURNER [1775 – 1851] who spent a great deal of time in the Lake District) TURN (performer; actor) + ER (central letters of [content of] vERy) TURN ER |
| 9 | Edition of top paper (5)
ISSUE (edition) tISSUE (paper) excluding the first letter (to top [take the top off]) T ISSUE |
| 14 | * Wreck of trawler Heart of Steel (10)
ELTERWATER (village in the Lake District) Anagram of (wreck of) TRAWLER and TEE [central letters of [heart of] sTEEl) ELTERWATER* |
| 17 | Conductor of opera in fashionable return (9)
TOSCANINI (reference Arturo TOSCANINI [1867 – 1957], Italian conductor) TOSCA (opera by Giacomo Puccini [1858 – 1924]) + (IN + IN [fashionable]) reversed (return) TOSCA (NI NI<) |
| 18/26 | * Address one’s ready for Frenchman to reverse behind (8,4)
HONISTER PASS (a mountain pass in the Lake District linking Seatoller, in the valley of Borrowdale, to Gatesgarth at the southern end of Buttermere) HON (HONourable, form of address) + I’S (one’s) + PRET (French for ‘ready’) reversed (to reversed) + ASS (buttocks; behind) HON IS TER P< ASS |
| 19 | * Meagre supper ends badly (8)
GRASMERE (village and former civil parish in the Lake District) Anagram of (badly) MEAGRE and SR (the first and last letters of [ends] SuppeR) GRASMERE* |
| 22 | Curses losing use of arms (6)
SWORDS (weapons; arms) SwearWORDS (curses) excluding (losing) WEAR (use of, as in ‘WEAR and tear’) SWORDS |
| 23/30 | Producers of fleeces from Suffolk, perhaps? (5,8)
SHEEP SHEARERS (people who produce fleeces) SHEEP SHEARERS (Suffolk is a breed of English blackfaced SHEEP from which SHEARERS will cut a fleece) SHEEP SHEARERS |
| 25 | Tough piece of meat lacks extremely granular fibre (5)
ISTLE (a valuable fibre obtained from Agave, Bromelia, and other plants) grISTLE (touch piece of meat) excluding (lacks) GR (outer letters of [extremely] GranulaR ISTLE |
| 27 | Cheers skinheads with nothing left (4)
SKOL (friendly exclamation in salutation before drinking, etc.; similar to the use of word ‘cheers’) SK (first two letters of [heads] SKinheads) + O (character representing zero or nothing) + L (left) SK O L |
A better link for FT puzzles is https://app.ft.com/crossword/crossword_index , which leads to interactive versions.
Andrew @ 1
Thanks for that useful update to my original post suggesting ways of finding the puzzle.
The full blog is now available
8d could be Torver which is held in actor very
In the same way as today’s blogger SILLOTH was my entry point to the theme. Unfortunately my relative ignorance of the LAKE DISTRICT meant I could not finish with several clues unsolved .ISTLE and CLAIFE were jorums.
But, as always , it was fun.
Thanks to Gaff for a challenging puzzle and to duncanshiell for an excellent blog.
i_feel_your_pain @ 3
Indeed, it could well be TORVER which I see is another village and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness Unitary Authority of Cumbria.
I wonder which answer Gaff had in mind?
I also had TORVER which I had googled to confirm . One of the few theme clues I got.
I confidently entered Turner, only for the app to tell me I’d got it wrong. I kept looking in vain for Wordsworth. Quite a tricky puzzle, if you don’t know the Lake District well.
I did this electronically and TORVER was right.
BLACKWELL, as well as being the house on Windermere, is the surname of Nancy and Peggy, the Amazons in Swallows and Amazons.
Nope, I didn’t find it easy and I’ve walked in the Lake District a few times, stayed in Buttermere and Elterwater YHAs, wandered through GRASMERE, walked the Pennine Way with the Wainwright guide and grew up reading Swallows and Amazons. My way in was ELTERWATER.
Thank you to duncanshields and Gaff.
I was getting nowhere, with just four entries after a lot of flailing around, so I revealed the theme clue…and then immediately quit. All I know about the Lake District is (1) that it’s supposedly lovely and (2) that Wordsworth and Coleridge hung out there. Yes, after all these years, I do still sometimes come across a puzzle that is Too British For Me. Apologies, and I’ll be back next month.
Two of these puzzles have been about places I would say I know well – the last one being Venice. That one required a lot of googling as apparently I did not know it well enough. For this one, Claife and Torver were new to me but the rest familiar. The anagram for Elterwater got me my start. Looking back I think I may have spent as much as a 6 months in total in the Lakes, maybe more, walking most corners of it, so I feel like I should be good for a puzzle about it!
I think the expectation is that everyone should get a few themers for a famous place and then we all should resort to search engines. Is that reasonable? Clearly it puts a number of people off, and on the whole I don’t think the obscure clues are clued sufficiently accurately or simply to be solved without reference works. I’d prefer it if they were. And I also plumped for Turner at first, and see no reason it is not an acceptable themed answer. On balance I don’t think this puzzle idea is quite working as hoped.
Torver is correct and is hidden in (content) acTOR VERy.
I agree the choice of themed answers was odd: nothing on either of the Wordsworths, Coleridge, Potter, Ruskin, mint cake, etc and some odd choices like the lesser known Esk Pike and the totally obscure (to me anyway) Silloth (which is not actually in the lakes), Blackwell, Claife and Torver.
Shanne @8
Sorry, Nancy and Peggy were called Blackett.
If you get off the Windermere ferry and walk to Grasmere, the prettiest way is over Claife Heights.
btw Silloth is well worth a visit – delightful coastal town.