Puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 7, 2026
My first-in was 7 (APERITIF) and I completed the grid with 20 (WHEEZE) after some pondering over the bottom-right quadrant. My favourites are 1a (PERICLES), 9 (PLASTIC SURGEON), 23 (AWASH) and 26 (DITHER).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PERICLES |
Classical subject of Dad’s Army and Python writers broadcast (8)
|
| Homophones (broadcast) of “[Jimmy] Perry and “[John] Cleese” | ||
| 5 | ORDAIN |
Arrange regular excerpts from Conrad, AA Milne (6)
|
| [c]O[n]R[a]D [a]A [m]I[l]N[e] | ||
| 10 | REPLACE |
Substitute two fine fabrics (7)
|
| REP (one fine fabric) + LACE (another fine fabric) | ||
| 11 | LAMBENT |
Brilliant, mournful song captivating bishop (7)
|
| B (bishop) in (captivating) LAMENT (mournful song) | ||
| 12 | CHIEF |
Rush to be accepted by Conservative female leader (5)
|
| HIE (rush) in (to be accepted by) C (Conservative) + F[emale] | ||
| 13 | TOSCANINI |
Drunkard knocked back tin at home with Italy’s no1 conductor (9)
|
| SOT (drunkard) backwards (knocked back) + CAN (tin) + IN (at home) + I (Italy) | ||
| 14 | VERIFICATION |
Proof of tie-in vicar sorted out… (12)
|
| Anagram (sorted out) of OF TIE IN VICAR | ||
| 18 | CASH REGISTER |
…till his carer gets to work (4,8)
|
| Anagram (to work) of HIS CARER GETS | ||
| 21 | BRIGADIER |
British capital starts to doubt its election returning officer (9)
|
| BR (British) + RIGA (capital, of Latvia) + D[oubt] I[ts] E[lection] R[eturning] | ||
| 23 | AWASH |
Saw a ship partially covered by the sea (5)
|
| Hidden word (partially) | ||
| 24 | ALABAMA |
The state of Birmingham! (7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 25 | END ZONE |
Where Eagles and Falcons hope to touch down? (3,4)
|
| Cryptic definition referring to the American Football teams the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons | ||
| 26 | DITHER |
Hesitate to take part in Verdi, The Requiem (6)
|
| Hidden word (to take part in) | ||
| 27 | ENERVATE |
Sap English courage when capturing flanks in Agincourt (8)
|
| E (English) + A[gincour]T in NERVE (courage) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PIRACY |
Quick to embrace Inland Revenue robbery (6)
|
| IR (Inland Revenue) in (to embrace) PACY (quick) | ||
| 2 | ROPE IN |
Enlist Republican, one in public view (4,2)
|
| R (Republican) + I (one) in (in) OPEN (public view) | ||
| 3 | CHAUFFEUR |
One suited for driving below peak? (9)
|
| Cryptic definition with ‘peak’ referring to peaked caps. I was unsure about this and consulted Gemini on the matter. It told me, “The image of a chauffeur in a peaked cap is iconic”. | ||
| 4 | ELECTRIC GUITAR |
Power-driven axe? (8,6)
|
| Cryptic definition referring to the slang usage of ‘axe’ as a musical instrument (which is new to me) | ||
| 6 | RUMBA |
Ballerina exhausted after peculiar dance (5)
|
| RUM (peculiar) + B[allerin]A | ||
| 7 | APERITIF |
Blend of pear vermouth provided pre-prandial beverage (8)
|
| Anagram (blend of) PEAR + IT (vermouth) + IF (provided) | ||
| 8 | NUTRIENT |
That which sustains fanatic before Inter trips (8)
|
| NUT (fanatic) + anagram (trips) of INTER | ||
| 9 | PLASTIC SURGEON |
Theatre specialist working to support credit card escalation (7,7)
|
| PLASTIC (credit card) + SURGE (escalation) + ON (working) | ||
| 15 | ALEXANDER |
Great leader Times article probing American financier (9)
|
| A (American) + X(times) + A (article) in (probing) LENDER (financier) with the definition referring to Alexander The Great. | ||
| 16 | SCABBARD |
Steel casing periodically secured to protect Scandinavian group (8)
|
| ABBA (Scandinavian group) in (to protect) S[e]C[u]R[e]D | ||
| 17 | ASPIRANT |
Terribly partisan candidate (8)
|
| Anagram (terribly) of PARTISAN | ||
| 19 | DAKOTA |
Statistical info about fine revolutionary aeroplane (6)
|
| OK (fine) backwards (revolutionary) in (about) DATA (statistical info). The definition refers to the military version of the Douglas DC-3 which might just be the longest living aircraft in history. First made in the 1930s it was a plane I few on several times in the 1906s. And Wikipedia tells us that, “As of 2023, it was estimated about 150 were still flying.” | ||
| 20 | WHEEZE |
Funny trick goes on the radio (6)
|
| Homophone (on the radio) of “wees” (goes) | ||
| 22 | AMAZE |
Surprise advanced puzzle (5)
|
| A (advanced) + MAZE (puzzle) |
Thanks Julius and Pete. A couple of small points about the parsing:
13ac: I took “no1” as part of the indication for the final I. Although I agree that “Italy” on its own would be sufficient as the IVR code, I would argue that “conductor” on its own is a sufficient definition.
21ac: Here “British” must be indicating B not BR.
Julius is usually the master of the pithy clue, but he seemed to be struggling today with several clunky surfaces & obscurities. Similar to Pete, I spent some time in the bottom right quadrant.
I ticked RUMBA and ALABAMA
Thanks Julius and Pete
Thanks for the blog and the extra information on DAKOTA , very interesting .
Enjoyable puzzle with a good mix of clues and quite international .
I think of LAMBENT as subdued light but Chambers93 gives full cover in the sense of wit .
I bought my CHAUFFEUR a peaked cap but he refuses to wear it .
Never heard of REP for a material, but did know LACE so got the answer.
Looking at the clue for END ZONE for some reason I wondered if it might be an American sport so I looked up football teams and found the two birds as names of teams but then had to look up the sport to find the answer.
PERICLES was another word I didn’t know.
Liked: TOSCANINI, PIRACY, CHAUFFEUR, PLASTIC SURGEON (FOI), SCABBARD
Thanks Julius and Pete Maclean
Another super puzzle from Julius. I had the same favourites as Pete, with the addition of TOSCANINI, which I parsed as Pelham Barton did, LAMBENT (from the Latin verb ‘to lick’, usually describing (flickering) flames), CASH REGISTER and ENERVATE. I can’t believe my last two in were AWASH and WHEEZE.
DAKOTA brought back memories of my nervous first flight (unaccompanied) in 1963 (Pete, I think your digits got transposed!) from Belfast to Derby ‘Airport’, which I remember as a field, before it was superseded by East Midlands Airport.
Thanks, as always, to Julius and Pete.