Puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 21, 2026
I breezed through most of this puzzle but needed to do some digging to solve 1 (THE YEAR DOT). My favourite clues are 7d (SHIPOWNER) for its cryptic definition, 13 (BRIGHTON) for its smooth surface, 14 (GORE VIDAL), 22 (ABOVE ALL) and 25 (BALDERDASH) for its two trees. My thanks to BC for some help and to Julius for another grand puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | THE YEAR DOT |
Mone’s expensive purchase from Spooner back in the day? (3,4,3)
|
| Spoonerism of “dear yacht” referring to Baroness Michelle Mone’s superyacht. “The year dot” is a British informal idiom used to refer to a very long time ago. | ||
| 7 | SIDE |
Bank regularly swindled (4)
|
| S[w]I[n]D[l]E[d] | ||
| 9 | TUBA |
Instrument neighbour returned (4)
|
| ABUT (neighbour) backwards (returned) | ||
| 10 | FEVER PITCH |
Part of Hornby set that generates enormous excitement? (5,5)
|
| Double definition with the first referring to one of Nick Hornby’s books. | ||
| 11 | PISTON |
Component in engine pump is to need clamping (6)
|
| Hidden word (clamping) | ||
| 12 | DIAMONDS |
Ice suit (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | BRIGHTON |
Book trendy seaside resort (8)
|
| B (book) + RIGHT ON (trendy) | ||
| 15 | NARK |
Police informer drug cop reported (4)
|
| Homophone (reported) of “narc” (drug cop) | ||
| 17 | OVER |
Finished port after saying goodbye to daughter (4)
|
| .[d]OVER (port after saying goodbye to daughter) | ||
| 19 | GIMCRACK |
Dodge Russian fighter from the east, first-rate (8)
|
| MIG (Russian fighter) backwards (from the east) + CRACK (first-rate) | ||
| 22 | ABOVE ALL |
First and foremost a lovable rogue (5,3)
|
| Anagram (rogue) of A LOVABLE | ||
| 23 | UNCAGE |
Upper-class actor Nicolas showcasing new release (6)
|
| N (new) in (showcasing) U (upper-class) + CAGE (actor Nicolas) | ||
| 25 | BALDERDASH |
British tree and Dutch tree rot (10)
|
| B (British) + ALDER (tree) + D (Dutch) + ASH (tree) | ||
| 26 | BLUE |
Rejected European Union; pound down (4)
|
| EU (European Union) + LB (pound) all backwards (rejected) | ||
| 27 | FOWL |
Bird starts to fly over winter landscape (4)
|
| F[ly] O[ver] W[inter] L[andscape] | ||
| 28 | DEHYDRATED |
Daddy there, desperately in need of a drink (10)
|
| Anagram (desperately) of DADDY THERE | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | HAULIER |
Husband running EU rail transport business (7)
|
| H (husband) + anagram (running) of EU RAIL | ||
| 3 | YEAST |
The old way to introduce a fungus (5)
|
| A (a) in (to introduce) YE (the old) + ST (way, i.e. street) | ||
| 4 | AFFINITY |
Frisky, 50, in a married relationship (8)
|
| Anagram (frisky) of FIFTY (50) IN A | ||
| 5 | DAVID AND GOLIATH |
Oh… a lad v giant did become quite a story! (5,3,7)
|
| Anagram (become) of OH A LAD V GIANT DID | ||
| 6 | TARMAC |
The black stuff beginning to tempt real ale fans to the north (6)
|
| T[empt] + CAMRA (real ale fans) backwards (to the north) | ||
| 7 | SHIPOWNER |
SS boss, wartime captive sporting black eye (9)
|
| POW (wartime captive) in (sporting) SHINER (black eye) | ||
| 8 | DECIDER |
Iced over before the German crunch match? (7)
|
| ICED (iced) backwards (over) + DER (the German) | ||
| 14 | GORE VIDAL |
Famous American Good Old Republican boy I have upset (4,5)
|
| G (good) + O (old) + R (republican) + LAD (boy) IVE (I have) backwards (upset, in the sense of turned over). Gore was actually not a Republican, not that this matters for the clue. | ||
| 16 | AMBUSHED |
In the morning, knackered, attacked by surprise (8)
|
| AM (in the morning) + BUSHED (knackered) | ||
| 18 | VIBRATO |
Very independent spoiled child, zero musical skill (7)
|
| V (very) + I (independent) + BRAT (spoiled child) + O (zero) | ||
| 20 | CAGOULE |
Century since Euler discovered hooded garment (7)
|
| C (century) + AGO (since) + [e]ULE[r] | ||
| 21 | SACRED |
Holy See initially having lots of land (6)
|
| S[ee] + ACRED (having lots of land) | ||
| 24 | COBRA |
Chaotic OBR arranges to host emergency meeting (5)
|
| Hidden word (to host). OBR stands for Office for Budget Responsibility. |
Another wonderful entertainment from Julius.
THE YEAR DOT, FEVER PITCH, ABOVE ALL, BALDERDASH (for the same readon as Pete), DEHYDRATED, AFFINITY, SHIPOWNER, GORE VIDAL and CAGOULE (not heard that in years) all earned ticks.
Did wonder if the definition of GIMCRACK (19a) was a typo where ‘dodgy’ was required?
Thanks to Julius and Pete.
Thanks Julius and Pete
19ac: gimcrack “n a dodge, trick” appears explicitly in Chambers 2016 p 644.
As a fan of Julius, I am always delighted to see his name
I ticked TUBA, VIBRATO, AFFINITY and BALDERDASH. I thought DAVID AND GOLIATH nothing short of triumphant, and DEHYDRATED pretty good too
I am afraid I was also disappointed that parts of this puzzle were so parochial – words and abbreviations only someone living in or from UK would know. This meant I struggled in places, particularly the top half. Perhaps I should be disappointed in myself instead.
Thanks Julius and Pete
Thanks Pelham @2 – I had only seen it as an adjective.
Thanks Julius for the weekend entertainment. Most of this slipped in quite easily but I could only guess THE YEAR DOT (unfamiliar expression with equally unfamiliar wordplay) and FEVER PITCH (unfamiliar with Hornby). Otherwise it was a quick solve with my favourites being TUBA, BALDERDASH, BLUE, DAVID AND GOLIATH (simply brilliant), SHIPOWNER (liked the SS diversion), DECIDER, and VIBRATO. Thanks Pete for the blog.