An enjoyable challenge to kick off the day.
A great mix of clue types, some clever anagrams, and plenty of witty misdirection to keep us on our toes. Many thanks to Basilisk!
ACROSS
1. Journalist sleeps regularly in part of Newfoundland? (7)
HACKLES
HACK (journalist) + [s]L[e]E[p]S (regularly)
Referring to the dog of course
5. Author and woman from East London wander aimlessly (7)
MEANDER
ME (author) + AND + [h]ER (woman, from East London)
Stereotypically, the east London accent does not pronounce the letter ‘h’ at the start of a word
9. Pressure on deprived area in economic downturn (5)
SLUMP
P (pressure) on SLUM (deprived area)
10. Lab test is likely to work (9)
PRACTICAL
11. Mismanaged team ruins way of avoiding complaints (9)
ANTISERUM
(TEAM RUINS)* (*mismanaged)
12. Reading of Frost’s poetry? (5)
RHYME
“RIME” (frost, “reading of”)
13. Miserable doctor worries about losing case (5)
DREAR
DR (doctor) + [f]EAR[s] (worries about, losing case)
15. Start to talk about soldier returning home (9)
ORIGINATE
ORATE (to talk) about (GI< (soldier, <returning) + IN (home))
18. Specify electronic evidence in court (9)
DESIGNATE
(E (electronic) + SIGN (evidence)) in DATE (court)
19. Blunder leads to Italian terrorists and extremists abandoning territory (5)
ERROR
[t]ERR[it]OR[y]: I[talian] T[errorists] (leads to) and extremists (i.e. outer letters) abandoning
21. What may be used to train faculty (5)
SIGHT
23. She lapses badly, suffering from lack of form (9)
SHAPELESS
25. Fine arts courses introduced by university exhibiting greatest bias (9)
UNFAIREST
(FINE ARTS)* (*courses) introduced by U (university)
26. Lie about strength of character (5)
FIBRE
27. Corporation supported by local consumption? (4,3)
BEER GUT
Cryptic definition
A play on the word ‘local’ which can mean a pub/bar
28. Arrogance of Tory constituency’s statement (7)
CONCEIT
CON (Tory) + “SEAT” (constituency, “statement”)
DOWN
1. Make good use of important figure in Union? (7)
HUSBAND
Double definition
‘Union’ referring to marriage in this case
2. Noblemen drilled by the French Legion (9)
COUNTLESS
COUNTS (noblemen) drilled by LES (the, French)
3. People from the north drink Pimms on vacation (5)
LAPPS
LAP (drink) + P[imm]S (on vacation)
4. Prove a sun is destroyed in such an event (9)
SUPERNOVA
(PROVE A SUN)* (*destroyed) – semi &lit
5. Male boss’s last point raised a stink (5)
MIASM
(M (male) + [bos]S (last) + AIM (point))< (<raised)
6. What awaits those passing short course on animation? (9)
AFTERLIFE
AFTER[s] (course, short) on LIFE (animation)
7. Year end always reveals corruption (5)
DECAY
DEC (year end) + AY (always)
8. Help woman tempted to support Republican spreading lie (7)
RELIEVE
EVE (woman tempted) to support (R (Republican) + LIE* (*spreading))
14. Conservative position that may assist strikers? (5,4)
RIGHT WING
Double definition
Right wing can be both a political position and a position on the football pitch
16. A client is surprisingly unresponsive to changes in price (9)
INELASTIC
(A CLIENT IS)* (*surprisingly)
17. Fine line in a live match takes precedence (9)
AGREEABLE
L (line) in A + BE (live); AGREE (match) takes precedence
18. Interrupt attempt to keep tedious routines up (7)
DISTURB
(BID (attempt) to keep RUTS (tedious routines))< (<up)
20. Observe haunting vision’s about to rise (7)
RESPECT
SPECTRE (haunting vision); RE (about) to rise
22. Boss finishing early is a serious mistake (5)
GAFFE
GAFFE[r] (boss, finishing early)
23. Four separate points brushed under the carpet? (5)
SWEPT
Four separate points: S (south) + W (west) + E (east) + PT (point)
24. Somewhat self-interested, delicate and charming (5)
ELFIN
[s]ELF-IN[terested] (somewhat)
Hmmm, 17863 is right but the online puzzle is Monk and a different grid too.
I don’t know what the print copy carries but I haven’t seen this puzzle, Oriel…
Diane. I printed off the crossword early this morning and it was this one.
Oh dear, thanks Diane. There seem to be two different FT puzzles today. I’ll try to look into it. This is the print version, as Hovis says…
My friend takes the FT and we swap the FT puzzle for the back of my G2, This one is in the paper.
It was 8am with me, Hovis, when I visited the App (seven hours ahead of the UK).
Well, not to worry, Oriel. More gremlins at work. I’ll try to unsee the first few of your Basilisk blog (!) and for what it’s worth, the Monk puzzle was lovely!
No doubt, had I ventured out today, I’d have picked up the newspaper and enjoyed the Basilisk.
Thanks for the blog and your introduction sums it all up for me . Neat, clever , concise clues throughout. SUPERNOVA is a great anagram , these events are also very creative .
I am not sure how, but Basilisk puzzles always subtly test my familiarity with the setter’s bag of tricks. I did not find this especially difficult, but time and again, as I took a moment to parse the solutions, I thought how I would have found many of these clues baffling as a novice. As usual, reliably clever and fun.
I completed the Monk puzzle, too. Also definitely worth a gander, if FT has not memory-holed it already.
11a: antiserum does not normally avoid complaints; it is usually given after a complaint has started as passive resistance against the problem
Cineraria@7 “at 10:01 am”: It’s over four hours later, and online it’s still the Monk I solved last night. Nice to get a BOGOF bonus puzzle.
There was a similar SNAFU last November, when Roger Blitz (, The FT crossword editor) apologized for an old reprinted crossword.
11ac: Collins 2023 p 88 defines antiserum as “blood serum containing antibodies against a specific antigen, used to treat or provide immunity to a disease”. Mandrake@8 says “does not normally” and “is usually given”, which suggests that antiserum can indeed be used as described in the clue, in line with the second option given by Collins. The words “way of avoiding complaints” could also be taken as meaning that antiserum could be given so that the patient does not complain about being ignored.
I expect that the Monk puzzle will appear in the paper in due course, the most likely date being one of 16 October or 23 October.
PB@10. I also did Monk today. I hope they publish this Basilisk puzzle in the app on the day they publish Monk in the paper.
Thanks Basilisk for another top drawer crossword. So many clues deserved ticks but I did choose MEANDER, RHYME, ERROR (creative wordplay), BEER GUT, COUNTLESS, SUPERNOVA, AFTERLIFE, and SWEPT as top picks. Thanks Oriel for the blog. [FWIW: When I tried to print this from my phone I ran into a pay wall; I then tried from my desktop and I had no problem.]
I downloaded the puzzle at when it first was released and it was the Basilisk version (better than the October genius puzzle which was first released with the right clues but the wrong grid and only later updated to the correct grid). Loved Basilisk’s puzzle—definitely in the Goldilocks zone for me.