Puzzle from the FT of April 19, 2026
It is a pangram. It has some interesting wordplay. Must be a Zamorca. My favourite clues are 1a (INCREASE), 3 (EARTHY), 7 (ON AND OFF), and 9 (CHEERS UP). I do not fully understand the wordplay of 18 (OVER-THE-TOP).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | INCREASE |
Popular line-up (8)
|
| IN (popular) + LINE (crease) | ||
| 5 | JOYOUS |
Glad judge has zero qualms finally imprisoning second person (6)
|
| YOU (second person) in (imprisoning) J (judge) + O (zero) + [qualm]S | ||
| 9 | CHEERS UP |
Hurrah! Drink lifts the spirits (6,2)
|
| CHEER (hurrah) + SUP (drink) | ||
| 10 | CLEAVE |
Chef regularly overcooked veal chop (6)
|
| Anagram (cooked) of VEAL in (over) C[h]E | ||
| 11 | MERCHANT |
Trader encountered fencing round restructured ranch (8)
|
| Anagram (restructured) of RANCH in (fencing round) MET (encountered) | ||
| 12 | BANDIT |
Evacuated neighbourhood inspires temptation for robber (6)
|
| N[eighbourhoo]D in (inspires) BAIT (temptation) | ||
| 14 | KEEPING FIT |
Working out reportedly essential code with which gift’s ordered (7,3)
|
| KEE (homophone of “key”) + PIN (code) + anagram (ordered) of GIFT | ||
| 18 | OVER-THE-TOP |
Open to ambassador stopping President going too far (4-3-3)
|
| OVERT (open) + HE (ambassador, i.e. His/Her Excellency) + TOP (???) | ||
| 22 | RATIFY |
Confirm if a try’s converted (6)
|
| Anagram (converted) of IF A TRY | ||
| 23 | UGLINESS |
Grotesque quality of government policies in America (8)
|
| G (government) + LINES (policies) together in (in) US (America) | ||
| 24 | BRAZEN |
Cheeky underwear and top reduced by 50% (6)
|
| BRA (underwear) + ZEN[ith] (top reduced by 50%) | ||
| 25 | MAXIMISE |
Make the most of Miami trip including times by shore on vacation (8)
|
| X (times) in (including) MIAM[i] backwards (???) + S[hor]E | ||
| 26 | EVER SO |
Free verse’s prose at heart really (4,2)
|
| Anagram (free) of VERSE + [pr]O[se] | ||
| 27 | ASBESTOS |
A most piercing cry for help to contain toxic stuff (8)
|
| A (a) + BEST (most) in (piercing) SOS (cry for help) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | INCOME |
Nice move securing instant rise in salary (6)
|
| MO (instant) backwards (rise) in (securing) anagram (move) of NICE | ||
| 2 | CHERRY |
With spicy dish not suitable for all, man’s brought in fruit (6)
|
| HE (man) in (brought in) C[u]RRY (spicy dish not suitable for all) | ||
| 3 | EARTHY |
What about paintings by Lowry — ultimately unsophisticated? (6)
|
| ART (paintings) in EH (what) backwards (about) + {Lowr]Y. This is a new meaning of ‘earthy’ to me. | ||
| 4 | SQUANDERED |
Team grabs pole before second of advantage wasted (10)
|
| N (pole) in (grabs) SQUAD + ERE (before) + [a]D[vantage] | ||
| 6 | OIL PAINT |
Record AI breaking into work with traditional art material (3,5)
|
| LP (record) + AI (AI) together in (into) anagram (work) of INTO | ||
| 7 | ON AND OFF |
Sometimes old granny gets day out (2,3,3)
|
| O (old) + NAN (granny) + D (day) + OFF (out) | ||
| 8 | SPECTATE |
Watch small cat maybe caught inside a hollow tree (8)
|
| S (small) + C (caught) in PET (cat maybe) + A (a) + T[re]E | ||
| 13 | UP FOR GRABS |
Finished fine gold bags, now available (2,3,5)
|
| UP (finished) + F (fine) + OR (gold) + GRABS (bags) | ||
| 15 | HORRIBLE |
Awful hotel’s boiler repair overruns (8)
|
| Anagram (repair) of H BOILER + R (runs) | ||
| 16 | HEAT WAVE |
Saved uncovered spring wheat ahead of inclement weather (4,4)
|
| Anagram (spring?) of WHEAT + [s]AVE[d] | ||
| 17 | STIFFENS |
Sets up positions on wetlands (8)
|
| FITS (positions) backwards (up) + FENS (wetlands) | ||
| 19 | DIVINE |
Try to find water that’s holy? (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | DESIST |
Discontinue introduction of digs on building sites (6)
|
| D[igs] + anagram (building) of SITES | ||
| 21 | ASSETS |
Value of company when fixed by dollar (6)
|
| AS (when) + SET (fixed) + S (dollar) |
HE (ambassador) inside (stopping) {OVERT (open) + TO} + P (President)
25A: trip indicates anagram
For once knowing a pangram was coming up helped me with the Q and K clues. I could not work out the other 50% of “top” in BRAZEN, otherwise all parsed. No ticks today
I knitted my brows at the yoda grammar for “up positions” = STIF, and “to contain” as a fill word in ASBESTOS. And, unfortunately for a puzzle in the FT, it is not accurate to say ASSETS are the “Value of Company” – there is much more to it than that.
I thank Zamorca for the puzzle and Pete Maclean for the great blog.