We start our FT blogging with a nice and easy puzzle from Highlander. I’m not the world’s quickest solver but I think I managed this in something like 7-8 minutes. I haven’t commented on many clues as most of them are self-explanatory.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 4 | R in SPOUT |
| 8 | (ENTER)*,A,L |
| 11 | BROAD’S,WORD |
| 12 | TAN,GO – “get Brown to leave” is another way of saying “Tan – go!” |
| 18 | NO(t)MAD |
| 21 | (SOAPS ELDER)* – well, you learn something every day. I filled in LEOPARDESS immediately but it seemed odd that it was defined as “panther’s mate” – I thought a leopard and panther were completely different things. Turns out, that a panther is just another for leopard, especially a black one, although in the US it’s a puma or jaguar. |
| 23 | FO,(AGILE)* – the definition (“leaves”) is nicely disguised and I liked the wordplay but the surface reading is a bit unconvincing – why would leaving the Foreign Office make you agile? |
| 24 | (DIGS TIN)* |
| 26 | IN,FAN,T |
| Down | |
| 2 | (TRAINER)* |
| 3 | TOADS,LOOT (going up) |
| 7 | T,RA,VERSED – if you’re “experienced”, you might say you’re well versed. |
| 10 | A in (LOCATION)* |
| 13 | THRESH,OLD |
| 17 | I’M< in CHEST |
| 19 | MADE,IRA |
| 21 | LA,GER – “the French” is almost always going to be either LE or LA. |
| 22 | SIGHT – “site” |