Puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 4, 2025
I found this to be a moderately challenging puzzle with 1a (REPROOF) and 21 (SKIN UP, a new expression to me) being particularly difficult. My favourite clues are 6 (PERSECUTE) and 25 (NO WAY JOSE).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | REPROOF |
Copy from lecture (7)
|
| REPRO (copy, short for reproduction) + OF (from). Originally I was unable to make sense of the wordplay here and thank commenters for illuminating it for me. | ||
| 5 | BYPASS |
Black year dad finally forgets his way around (6)
|
| B (black) + Y (year) + PA (dad) + [forget]S [hi]S | ||
| 8 | PARSIMONY |
May prison supply economy with bread? (9)
|
| Anagram (supply) of MAY PRISON | ||
| 9 | REALM |
Field with actual mud on one side (5)
|
| REAL (actual) + M[ud] | ||
| 11 | RHONE |
French runner about to eat sweetie (5)
|
| HON’ (sweetie) in (to eat) RE (about) | ||
| 12 | STUPEFIED |
Fed ties up criminal rendered senseless (9)
|
| Anagram (criminal) of FED TIES UP | ||
| 13 | MANICURE |
Midge possibly rabid? Treatment on hand (8)
|
| MANIC (rabid) + URE (Midge). Midge Ure is a Scottish musician. | ||
| 15 | BUCKET |
Rain, that might go down well if you need water (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | RUBATO |
Old rugby club introduces varying rate for players (6)
|
| RU (rugby) + BAT (club) + O (old) | ||
| 19 | FIVE-STAR |
One match in four’s outside with high-class facilities (4-4)
|
| I (I) + VESTA (match) in (in) F[ou]R | ||
| 22 | OVERTAKEN |
Public knowledge about Afghans initially left behind (9)
|
| OVERT (public) + A[fghans] + KEN (knowledge) | ||
| 23 | COMMA |
Butterfly’s dormant state taking months (5)
|
| M (months) in (taking) COMA (dormant state) | ||
| 24 | HE-MEN |
Tough guys reinforced border, even clearing out those within (2-3)
|
| HEM (reinforced border) + E[ve]N | ||
| 25 | NO WAY JOSE |
Zip severing half of John Wayne’s nuts? Impossible (2,3,4)
|
| O (zip) in (severing) anagram (nuts) of JO[hn] WAYNES | ||
| 26 | EGGCUP |
Pot the yellow and the white might go in (6)
|
| Cryptic definition. And what about the shell? | ||
| 27 | DRUMLIN |
Row around strange lake, prominent glacial feature (7)
|
| RUM (strange) + L (lake) together in (around) DIN (row). A drumlin is a mound of glacial drift. I have come across this word before but did not know exactly what it meant. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | RUPERT MURDOCH |
Billionaire’s purr due to HMRC failing? (6,7)
|
| Anagram (failing) of PURR DUE TO HMRC | ||
| 2 | PURLOIN |
Appropriate security code protects web address with obsolete cipher (7)
|
| URL (web address) + O (obsolete cipher) together in (projects) PIN (security code). ‘Cipher’ is an obsolete terms for zero. | ||
| 3 | ON ICE |
Put off nothing pleasurable (2,3)
|
| O (nothing) + NICE (pleasurable) | ||
| 4 | FOOTSORE |
Hero’s too fired up, somewhat hurt by a tramp (8)
|
| Reverse (up) hidden (somewhat) word | ||
| 5 | BUYOUT |
Business assignment only involving second person (6)
|
| YOU (second person) in (involving) BUT (only) | ||
| 6 | PERSECUTE |
Harry’s essentially out of the picture, fifth in succession (9)
|
| PER SE (essentially) + CUT (out of the picture) + [succ]E[ssion] | ||
| 7 | SEASICK |
Chucking in the drink? (7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 10 | MEDITERRANEAN |
Before publication, correct mistake: article in Cruel Sea (13)
|
| EDIT (before publication correct) + ERR (mistake) + AN (article) all in MEAN (cruel). By the way, The Cruel Sea is a great movie from 1953 starring Jack Hawkins. | ||
| 14 | CATATONIC |
Unresponsive pet given a stimulant (9)
|
| CAT (pet) + A (a) + TONIC (stimulant) | ||
| 16 | WINNOWED |
Separated from wife at home? On the contrary, bound by vows (8)
|
| W (wife) + IN (at home) + NO (on the contrary) all in WED (bound by vows) | ||
| 18 | BEER MUG |
Perhaps pond-skater put by Spooner in stout container? (4,3)
|
| Spoonerism of “mere bug” (perhaps pond-skater) with a slightly cryptic definition | ||
| 20 | TOMFOOL |
Silly excessively large trousers both sexes love (7)
|
| MF (both sexes) in (trousers) TOO (excessively) + O (love) + L (large) | ||
| 21 | SKIN UP |
Punk is struggling to wrap pot in paper (4,2)
|
| Anagram (struggling) of PUNK IS with the answer being a new term to me meaning to roll a joint | ||
| 23 | COYPU |
Shy little dog tailed large rodent (5)
|
| COY (shy) + PU[g] (dog tailed) |
Thanks Guy and Pete
1ac: I am not sure that I had a proper parsing for this when solving, but after reading the blog it occurs to me that it could be REPRO (copy, noun) + OF (from). Chambers 2016 p 1323 has repro as a short form of reproduction
Nice to see Guy in the weekend slot and very enjoyable it was too.
Favourites included PARSIMONY, STUPEFIED, DRUMLIN (the parsing helped me to remember a geographical feature I did once know), FOOTSORE (lovely reverse hidden answer), SEASICK and NO WAY JOSE.
Like Pete, I didn’t know the meaning of SKIN UP – nor did I spot ‘Vesta’ in FIVE STAR being stuck on ‘iv’ for ‘four’. (I don’t smoke so that’s my excuse!) The answers for both were clear enough, though.
Thanks to Guy and to Pete for a great blog – I’ll make a note of that film recommendation.
I agree with PB@1 on REPROOF. Nice job on the blog.
Thanks Guy. I found this on the difficult end of Guy’s spectrum & I failed with RUBATO & NO WAY JOSE. Additionally I couldn’t parse MANICURE (nho URE) & FIVE-STAR (nho VESTA). Still it was worth my time for clues like ON ICE, FOOTSORE, CATATONIC, & TOMFOOL. I knew SKIN UP only because it was in a recent crossword. Thanks Pete for the blog.
Tony @4,
It’s perhaps worth noting Midge Ure as he’s regularly referenced here (not sure if he’d be amused or baffled by this) and has had a long and varied career.
You’d probably remember him as a frontman for Ultravox and his joining forces with Bob Geldof to form Band Aid in the 1980s.
Thanks Diane @5 for the background. BTW, I still have the first Ultravox record (my only one) with John Foxx as the frontman prior to Midge Ure joining the band.
[I have a few 45s too though with Midge at the helm..somewhere in my Dad’s attic!]
We think ‘midge’ to clue ‘ure’ is becoming a bit of a chestnut – at least that was what occurred to us when we saw the clue. Anyway, an enjoyable puzzle with some nice twists. Thanks, Guy and Pete.
The URE that comes to my mind is Mary Ure, the accomplished Scottish actress who starred with her husband Robert Shaw in the film “The Luck of Ginger Coffey”, filmed in Montreal and Ottawa. The backgrounds included many of my friends and relatives, who were hired as extras for the Ottawa scenes. I was too young to be included, alas. (Please excuse the self-indulgent reminiscence.)
Re 10d, The Cruel Sea was an excellent novel by Nicholas Monserrat before it was turned into the 1953 movie.
Thanks Guy and Pete for the fine puzzle and blog.
Maybe due to too many skin-ups, I failed to spot RUBATO and SEASICK. Midge Ure also hosted a wonderful R4 series about ‘The Middle Eight’. NO WAY JOSE is pure joy.
Thanks for the blog, Pete.
I’m afraid this seemed like another example of a setter seeking pleasure from proving their own cunning cleverness rather than from bringing pleasure to the solver…
…there was nothing to raise a smile in this crossword. No lightheartedness, no humour. It was just a tedious struggle.
I’m afraid I agree with Kirsty. I often find GUY too ‘clever’ by half and always devoid of any pleasure. The sooner this setter toodles back to the weekday paper the better. Quite spoiled my weekend.
Kirsty and Nathan are spot on.