Weekend puzzle from the FT of October 11, 2025
Julius outdoes himself with this themed puzzle honouring British Formula One driver, Sir Lewis Hamilton. It is brilliant and fun-filled with references to motor racing and motoring in general in 1a (LEWIS HAMILTON), 4 (AUTO-PART), 10 (MCLAREN), 14 (BRAKE DISC), 18 (SAT NAV), 18d + 23 + 9 (SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT), 19 (ROAD TEST), 20 (THE PITS), 21 (Ayrton Senna), 24a (DODGE) and 24d (Lando Norris). And one more that I initially missed: 15 (Lance Stroll). On top of this buried treasure we have knock-out clues at 1a (LEWIS HAMILTON), 13 (CHAMBERS), 26 (BENGALI) and 27 (EXCHANGE RATES). Gold to Julius for a 2 (WORK OF ART)!
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LEWIS HAMILTON |
A quick one in S London ‘otel? (5,8)
|
| LEWISHAM (S London) + [h]ILTON (‘otel). Lewisham is a borough of southeast London. | ||
| 9 | CIRCUIT |
Critic unhappy about last section of Baku track (7)
|
| [Bac]U in (about) anagram (unhappy) of CRITIC | ||
| 10 | MCLAREN |
Pound to get into Carmen, flipping Carmen! (7)
|
| L (pound) in (to get into) anagram (flipping) of CARMEN | ||
| 11 | NO-ONE |
Nobody has energy after twelve o’clock (2-3)
|
| NOON (twelve o’clock) + E (energy) | ||
| 12 | PORTRAYED |
Painted a picture of weak commerce, as some might say (9)
|
| Homophone (as some might say) of “poor trade” (weak commerce) | ||
| 13 | CHAMBERS |
Watch amber signals covering where I might send you (8)
|
| Hidden word (covering) with the definition referring to Chambers Dictionary | ||
| 15 | STROLL |
Walk in the park, maybe something from Baker Street first (6)
|
| ST (street) + ROLL (something from baker) | ||
| 18 | SAT-NAV |
Start in Calvi, regularly lost without this! (3-3)
|
| S[t]A[r]T [i]N [c]A[l]V[i] | ||
| 19 | ROAD TEST |
Vehicle trial, according to Spooner, giving awful driver break (4,4)
|
| Spoonerism of “toad rest”. (I originally had this as a Spoonerism of “towed rest” but now see that it must indeed be “toad rest”. Thank you to those who pointed this out.) | ||
| 22 | LISTENING |
Table G9 reviewed, paying attention (9)
|
| LIST (table) + anagram (reviewed) of G NINE | ||
| 24 | DODGE |
Avoid day getting caught up in Musk’s old project (5)
|
| D (day) in (getting caught up in) DOGE (Musk’s old project) | ||
| 25 | EMOTION |
Smiley for one lacks cold passion (7)
|
| EMOTI[c]ON (smiley for one lacks ‘C’) | ||
| 26 | BENGALI |
British English… the greatest language! (7)
|
| B (British) + ENG (English) + ALI (the greatest) | ||
| 27 | EXCHANGE RATES |
Greece has tax reforms, to include new cross-border pricing (8,5)
|
| N (new) in (to include) anagram (reforms) of GREECE HAS TAX | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | LACONIC |
Left area Tory in charge, rather Spartan (7)
|
| L (left) + A (area) + CON (Tory) + IC (in charge) | ||
| 2 | WORK OF ART |
With kart roof damaged, could be an expensive paint job (4,2,3)
|
| W (with) + anagram (damaged) of KART ROOF | ||
| 3 | SAUCE |
Lip or cheek? (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | AUTO PART |
Gold, best method for crafting 14? (4,4)
|
| AU (gold) + TOP (best) + ART (method… | ||
| 5 | IMMURE |
Heartless juvenile put in prison (6)
|
| IMM[at]URE (heartless juvenile) | ||
| 6 | TOLERATED |
Poor, dear Lotte suffered (9)
|
| Anagram (poor) of DEAR LOTTE | ||
| 7 | NERVY |
Anxious northern Republican in electric car parked on yard (5)
|
| N (northern) + R (Republican) in (in) EV (electric car) + Y (yard) | ||
| 8 | ANODAL |
Uptight about 16, to do with a terminal (6)
|
| OD (16) in (about) ANAL (uptight) | ||
| 14 | BRAKE DISC |
Fans backed Sir 1A stopping because of this (5,4)
|
| Anagram (fans) of BACKED SIR. Do we like ‘fans’ as an anagrind? | ||
| 16 | OVERDRAFT |
In public, doctor initially admitted falsifying bank credit (9)
|
| DR (doctor) + A[dmitted] F[alsifying] together in (in) OVERT (in public) | ||
| 17 | DOGGY BAG |
Takeaway delivery for one’s best friend? (5,3)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 18 | SILVER |
You exchange one for old metal (6)
|
| SOLVER (you) with ‘I’ (one) replacing ‘O’ (old) | ||
| 20 | THE PITS |
Ghastly place where 15 retires? (3,4)
|
| Double definition….but surely there is a mistake and the second should be “where 1a retires” (i.e. changes tyres in America). Or am I missing something? | ||
| 21 | SIENNA |
Motor racing legend touring Italy’s Anglicised city (6)
|
| I (Italy) in [ayrton] SENNA (motor racing legend) with the name of the city spelled as it always has been in English. (In Italian it is Siena.) | ||
| 23 | STONE |
Rock Hudson finally breaking small part of foot (5)
|
| S (small) + [hudso]N in (breaking) TOE (part of foot) | ||
| 24 | DONOR |
Philanthropist invested in Lando Norris (5)
|
| Hidden word (invested in). Lando Norris being another British racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. |
Thanks Julius and Pete. I agree about 20dn.
19ac: I think the spoonerism is Toad Rest, with a reference to Toad of Toad Hall. I would have preferred it if Julius had put “according to Spooner” at the end of the clue instead of the middle.
Like Pete, I greatly enjoyed the theme of this weekend’s puzzle, especially with Sir Lewis at the top of the grid in pole position, or rather 1 across. Get in there, Lewis!
Theme or no, I thought this was Julius at his inventive best. I loved the way he makes use of Carmen in MCLAREN and of Baker Street for STROLL.
BENGALI had a cheeky surface; if not actually the ‘greatest language’, then certainly one which lends itself to winning wordplay.
The linking of SILVER and STONE to form the 9a which has been a happy hunting ground for Lewis and for Lando this year settled the argument as to whether 18d should be defined by ‘you’ or ‘metal’. And, of course, the McLarens are silver.
It’s another podium finish for Julius, as well as Pete! Thanks both.
Hmm…I think the ‘retire’ reference is intended for STROLL because Lance Stroll is the Canadian F1 driver and though they don’t share all American spellings, I believe they do spell ‘tire’ that way.
‘Retiring in the pits’ could also mean just that, ie a driver’s race is over due to technical issues, for instance, and so must return to the pits. So the clue still makes perfect sense for Lance Stroll – or any other driver.
Knowing Julius, he meant ‘re-tires’ which makes this clue even better!
The brrm brrms totally not my thing, but not a brake on solving. One absorbs names like Senna, Hamilton, McLaren etc by osmosis, and good clues work independently of (not-so-) gk. Enjoyed it, thx Julius and Pete.
Agree with the your comment re good clues, Grant.
I agree with PB@511 that the awful driver in the 19a spoonerism is Toad of Toad Hall.
Osmosis worked for me too, ginf@519. How many of our brain cells are occupied retaining such information in which we have no interest – at least until a crossword puzzle calls it up?
Thanks Julius for the well-crafted puzzle, and Pete for the much appreciated blog.
Very enjoyable despite no interest in F 1.
Liked Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, sat nav, exchange rates, the pits. No real gripes.
Definitely Mr Toad. Poop poop!!
I am another with no interest in F1. Yet I thought Julius once more delivered a very enjoyable puzzle
I most liked PORTRAYED, TOLERATED, I tried to not like 1a given I needed all the crossers to solve it but could not stop myself giving it a big tick, SAT NAV, and BENGALI
I did not know IMMURE as a word, so it took me for ever to solve it. LOI was road test which cemented my dislike of Spoonerisms
Many thanks to Julius and Pete
Another good puzzle from Julius – got the theme straight away after getting LEWIS HAMILTON which I thought was a great clue. And for once the theme did help.
Also liked: SIENNA, CHAMBERS, ROAD TEST, EMOTION, AUTO PART, IMMURE
Thanks Julius and Pete Maclean
I share, in equal measure, the admiration for the puzzle despite a total lack of interest in the theme, shown by ginf, Cellomaniac, James P and Martyn. It’s all credit to Julius that I enjoyed it as much as I did!
Thanks to Julius (especially for 1ac, though I ticked many others) and Pete.
Excellent! Poop poop!
I completed this puzzle (apart from McLaren which I didn’t get) in blissful ignorance of any theme. Was I the only one?
Many thanks for the blog, dear Pete, and thanks to those who have left a comment.
I can confirm that the Spoonerism is intended to relate to Toad and that the reference to (Lance) Stroll was used in the clue for THE PITS because he is Canadian and they use the same spelling of “tire” as the Americans.
FWIW I don’t like F1 either, which I consider to be a video arcade game played outdoors with an element of the gun carriage assembly part of The Royal Tournament chucked in, but I thought of the excruciatingly bad gag at 1A and things kind of developed. Dear Richard Rogan always used to say that if you’re going to try a pun, don’t hold back – make it as groan-inducing as possible.
For those who don’t like themed puzzles, I set today’s Times cryptic in case anyone’s interested.
I hope to see some of you in York towards the end of the month.
Best wishes to all, Rob/Julius
Challenging in places but we got it all. We’re a bit surprised no-one seems to have picked up a touch of &lit-ishness in 24dn; Lando Norris has worked extensively with Mind charity in partnership with McLaren and has also been involved in other charitable activities – not that we knew that till we looked him up via Google.
Thanks, Julius and Pete.