Puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 13, 2025
As usual with Guy, I found this harder than most. My fast first-in was 1a (PASSING) and I quickly solved several clues in the top half. Then I got to a stage where I had the whole top completed and no lower-half clues solved. And spent a considerable time before getting some traction down there. Tough as it was, I found it very satisfying. My favourite clues are 17a (SANITY), 17d (SEA LEGS) and 22 (GENERA).
Did you notice that the solution published with this crossword was actually the solution of this crossword (and not 18,232 as it should have been)?
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PASSING |
Dad’s chant helping at football? (7)
|
| PA (dad) + S (‘s) + SING (chant) | ||
| 5 | HI-DE-HI |
Swiss girl at altitude called out greeting to campers (2-2-2)
|
| Homophone (called out) of “Heidi high” (Swiss Girl at altitude). Google tells me that “hi-de-hi” is a cheerful greeting, often shouted, to get attention or say hello, popular in entertainment and holiday settings. I imagine that the term is best known to most Brits from the 1980s’ British TV sitcom “Hi-De-Hi” set in a 1950s holiday camp. | ||
| 8 | BRAINSTORM |
Brit on Mars struggling to have many ideas (10)
|
| Anagram (struggling) of BRIT ON MARS | ||
| 9 | NEAT |
Orderly area inside court barrier (4)
|
| A (area) in (inside) NET (court barrier) | ||
| 10 | RUFFLE FEATHERS |
Trump emptied fake tan bottles — spoon’s beginning to stir things up (6,8)
|
| RUFF (trump) + F[ak]E in (bottles) LEATHER (tan) + S[poon] | ||
| 11 | TITLED |
Aristocratic idiot given guidance (6)
|
| TIT (idiot) + LED (given guidance) | ||
| 13 | CARNIVAL |
Four squeezed into corporal’s Fiesta (8)
|
| IV (four) in (squeezed into) CARNAL (corporal) | ||
| 15 | MEDIOCRE |
Pedestrian’s first person Detective Inspector Brown picked up (8)
|
| ME (first person) + DI (Detective Inspector) + OCRE (homophone of “ochre”) | ||
| 17 | SANITY |
Utter fool has broken marbles (6)
|
| NIT (fool) in (has broken) SAY (utter) | ||
| 18 | CHARLIES ANGELS |
Coiffed crimefighters from Lancashire swapped hair products (8,6)
|
| Anagram (swapped) of LANCASHIRE + GELS (hair products). Wow! This takes me back, way way back to the television series that ran from 1976 to 1981 and of which I saw a few episodes. And there was a subsequent film. | ||
| 20 | KIWI |
Flightless bird of legend, tiny one hears (4)
|
| Homophone (one hears) of “key wee” (legend, tiny one) | ||
| 21 | SPACE CADET |
Someone on a trip apparently walked around California in circle (5,5)
|
| CA (California) in (around) PACED (walked) together in SET (circle) | ||
| 22 | GENERA |
Information Age classes for biologists (6)
|
| GEN (information) + ERA (age) with a slightly cryptic definition | ||
| 23 | DISPLAY |
Screen underworld drama (7)
|
| DIS (underworld) + PLAY (drama). Dis is a deity of the underworld in Roman mythology | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PORCUPINE |
Monster standing in wood spiked rodent (9)
|
| ORC (monster) + UP (standing) together in PINE (wood) | ||
| 2 | STIFF |
Second row finding it difficult to move (5)
|
| S (second) + TIFF (row) | ||
| 3 | INSTEAD |
Rather snide at parties (7)
|
| Anagram (parties) of SNIDE AT | ||
| 4 | GROVER CLEVELAND |
Country led by old king rather than almost intelligent president (6,9)
|
| GR (old king, i.e. George Rex) + OVER (rather than) + CLEVE[r] (almost intelligent) + LAND (country) | ||
| 5 | HAMSTER |
Troll biting heads off mice and squirrels, 1 Down’s relative? (7)
|
| M[ice] S[quirrels] in (biting) HATER (troll) | ||
| 6 | DANDELION |
Clock-maker adjusted dial on end (9)
|
| Anagram (adjusted) of DIAL ON END | ||
| 7 | HEADS |
Noodles, nuts or beans in sailor’s can? (5)
|
| Quadruple definition. ‘Head’ or ‘heads’ serves as a nautical name for a toilet. (Corrected — I had now known that ‘heads’, apparently plural, could serve sailor’s can.) | ||
| 12 | LAID ASIDE |
Large lady in opera dies horribly, rejected (4,5)
|
| L (large) + AIDA (lady in opera) + anagram (horribly) of DIES | ||
| 14 | ARTILLERY |
Big arms worse in painting, perhaps Hockney’s last? (9)
|
| ART (painting) + ILLER (worse) + [Hockne]Y | ||
| 16 | CELESTA |
Musical instrument in case secured by screw as missing odd bits (7)
|
| LEST (in case) in (secured by) [s]C[r]E[w} A[s] | ||
| 17 | SEA LEGS |
Knack of walking on water working less with age (3,4)
|
| Anagram,(working) of LESS AGE | ||
| 18 | CRIME |
Conservative leader in Kuwait returned battery, say (5)
|
| C (Conservative) + EMIR (leader in Kuwait) backwards (returned) | ||
| 19 | GNARL |
Twisted round, did telephone line knot? (5)
|
| L (line) + RANG (did telephone) all backwards (twisted around) |
There are some bits missing from 10A and 4D.
HEADS is a quadruple definition. Chambers lists “head” often in plural “heads” as “a ship’s toilet” (nautical slang).
Thanks Guy and Pete. I noticed HIDEHI in the printed solution some time after solving that clue. I had not got PASSING at that time for 1ac, but no other solutions stayed in my mind for the time it took me to put something on top of the printed solution grid.
As noted by Cineraria @1, 10ac needs + S (Spoon’s beginning) and 4dn needs + LAND (Country). I agree that HEADS is just four definitions.
Thanks Guy, I enjoyed that with my favourites being HI-DE-HI, CARNIVAL, SANITY, DISPLAY, HEADS, & LAID ASIDE. I found all the wordplay fairly straightforward this time. Thanks Pete for the blog.
Thank you!
My first run through yielded very little, and it took me some time to make meaningful progress. I wondered at one stage whether I would be able to finish, but the answers started falling into place once I established a foothold.
I ticked KIWI, SANITY and BRAINSTORM.
I found a few of the cryptic definitions only borderline equivalent to the answer. Indeed I was not sure whether I had successfully solved a couple of clues until the crossers worked.
I needed Pete’s help to parse HEADS (I got the first three definitions, but could not work out “sailor’s can”), and I solved (albeit with wrong spelling) but was completely perplexed by HIDEHI. Reading Pete’s explanation, it is not difficult to see why.
Thanks Guy and Pete