Puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 6, 2025
Ah, a puzzle with a touch of a Christmas theme. I made easy work of it. My favourite clue is 9 (HIGHWAY ROBBERY) and I also applaud 3 (DYSTOPIA), 8 (HI TECH), 20 (OTHELLO) and 25 (REINDEER). Thank you, Julius.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | HONEYDEW |
Polish tree bearing first of durian fruit (8)
|
| HONE (polish) + D[urian] in (bearing) YEW (tree) | ||
| 8 | HI TECH |
Master of suspense fondly embracing European design style (2,4)
|
| E (European) in (embracing) HITCH (master of suspense fondly, i.e. Alfred Hitchcock); I like the way Julius uses ‘fondly’ in this clue. | ||
| 11 | TEMPT |
Attract casual worker close to bankrupt (5)
|
| TEMP (casual worker) + [bankrup]T | ||
| 12 | TROUNCING |
Licking Manx cat in 4 town? (9)
|
| OUNC[e] (Manx cat) in (in) TRING. Tring is a market town in Hertfordshire. | ||
| 13 | CALYPSO |
Charlie plays remixed intro to Oasis song (7)
|
| C (charlie) + anagram (remixed) of PLAYS + O[asis] | ||
| 14 | LUCKNOW |
City fortune secured from the East (7)
|
| LUCK (fortune) + WON (secured) backwards (from the East) | ||
| 15 | ROSS AND CROMARTY |
Opening of really sad story Macron broadcast somewhere up north (4,3,8)
|
| R[eally] + anagram (broadcast) of SAD STORY MACRON. Ross and Cromarty is an area of Scotland and was at one time a county | ||
| 18 | SPINACH |
Leaves second leg, long drained of energy (7)
|
| S (second) + PIN (leg) + ACH[e] (long drained of ‘E’) | ||
| 20 | OTHELLO |
Tragedy beginning to overtake Time magazine (7)
|
| O[vertake] + T (time) + HELLO (magazine). “Hello!” is a British weekly magazine specialising in celebrity news and human-interest stories. | ||
| 22 | MARDI GRAS |
Mum runs lodgings accommodating artist festival (5,4)
|
| MA (mum) + R (runs) + RA (artist) in (accommodating) DIGS (lodgings) | ||
| 23 | RHOMB |
Figure in polyester homburg (5)
|
| Hidden word (in). ‘Rhomb’ means the same as ‘rhombus’ (i.e. a polygon with four equal sides that is not squared). | ||
| 24 | STATUE |
Small gallery showcasing university artwork (6)
|
| S (small) + U (university) in (showcasing) TATE (gallery) | ||
| 25 | REINDEER |
Cupid maybe was king here, it’s said (8)
|
| Homophone (it’s said) of “reigned ‘ere”. This Cupid is one of the original eight reindeer in Christmas lore. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | WHITE CHRISTMAS |
Write smash hit composition featuring No1 from Crosby (5,9)
|
| C[rosby] in (featuring) anagram (composition) of WRITE SMASH HIT. With the definition referring to Bing Crosby. | ||
| 2 | ENAMEL |
Gloss over Earl upsetting lover (6)
|
| E (earl) + LEMAN (lover) backwards (over) | ||
| 3 | DYSTOPIA |
Page One in today’s fresh hellscape (8)
|
| P (page) + I (one) in anagram (fresh) of TODAYS | ||
| 4 | HERTFORDSHIRE |
That woman’s acquired the first car lease in the county (13)
|
| T[he] + FORD (car) together in HERS (that woman’s) + HIRE (lease) | ||
| 5 | PICNIC |
A piece of cake that might be served on a blanket? (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 6 | DESIGNER |
Sid and Gene organised debut for Rudolph Valentino, for one (8)
|
| Anagram (organized) of SID GENE + R[udolf] | ||
| 9 | HIGHWAY ROBBERY |
Holding up traffic? (7,7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 10 | ROLLERCOASTER |
Wave breaking over vessel that might cause nausea (13)
|
| ROLLER (wave) + COASTER (vessel) | ||
| 16 | SLIP ROAD |
Crumbling old Paris side lane (4,4)
|
| Anagram (crumbling) of OLD PARIS | ||
| 17 | MAHARANI |
Important woman from Omaha ran independently (8)
|
| Hidden word (from) | ||
| 19 | ANIMUS |
Article on current mass American hostility (6)
|
| AN (article) + I (current) + M (mass) + US (American) | ||
| 21 | LOOSER |
Ladies and gents wear periodically made less figure-hugging (6)
|
| LOOS (ladies and gents) + [w]E[a]R |
Another highly entertaining offering from Julius which I relished with the likes of REINDEER, PICNIC and the truly brilliant WHITE CHRISTMAS — Pete, 1d needs the ‘C’ of ‘Crosby’ to complete the anagram.
Other picks included HONEYDEW (ooh the dreaded durian), HI TECH, CALYPSO, OTHELLO, DYSTOPIA, MARDI GRAS and SLIP ROAD.
With the high calibre of our current crop of weekend setters, I greatly look forward to this year’s jumbo puzzle.
Thanks, Julius, for your customary mix of flair and fun, and to Pete for the blog.
Oops, sorry Pete, I didn’t read your blog properly re 1d.