The monthly News puzzle, with clues and solutions relating to the topics and events of August. Find it to solve online or download and print at ft.com/crossword
A relatively gentle and enjoyable puzzle from Neo, packed with topical references. Thanks, Neo!
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | NOTTING HILL |
Romcom where carnival in full swing now (7,4)
|
| Two definitions
The annual Notting Hill Carnival is indeed happening this weekend |
||
| 7 | PEA |
Sort of green crocodile’s tail daddy grabs (3)
|
| PA (daddy) contains (grabs) last letter (tail) of crocodilE | ||
| 9 | AWARE |
Alive to fighting in NHS department (5)
|
| WAR (fighting) in A&E (NHS department) | ||
| 10 | SPINNERET |
Web developer in film by Shoaib Bashir? (9)
|
| ET (film) by SPINNER (eg Shoaib Bashir)
England bowler Shoaib Bashir isn’t playing in the current Test against Pakistan |
||
| 11 | SHELLFIRE |
The woman will dismiss bombardment in Kyiv? (9)
|
| SHE’LL (the woman will) FIRE (dismiss)
Another 37 people were killed in Kyiv in the latest Russian bombing according to this morning’s news |
||
| 12 | LOOKS |
Glances? Dolly certainly had them (5)
|
| Two definitions
Reference to Dolly Parton who died this week aged 80 |
||
| 13 | DEAD AIR |
Radio silence as very bright female thrown out (4,3)
|
| DEAD (very) + [f]AIR (bright) with F (female) thrown out | ||
| 15 | SAVE |
Action from Pickford or Hampton in bar? (4)
|
| Two definitions
Jordan Pickford and Hannah Hampton are goalkeepers for Everton and Stoke respectively, and both are current picks for the England national teams |
||
| 18 | SCUP |
Carney’s first in to consume fish (4)
|
| First letter of Carney in SUP (to consume)
A type of fish commonly found in the Atlantic off the North American coast, also known as the northern porgy |
||
| 20 | MADNESS |
Megan out with Duke and two sons no good in folly (7)
|
| Anagram (out) of ME[g]AN + D (duke) + SS (two sons) less G (good)
Harry and Meghan (Duke and Duchess of Sussex) and their two sons have recently returned from the US to live in the UK, having bought a house in the Cotswolds |
||
| 23 | SPEED |
Start to harness pressure in bomb (5)
|
| SEED (start) contains (to harness) P (pressure) | ||
| 24 | RARE EARTH |
Element from extraordinary planet under threat (4,5)
|
| RARE (extraordinary) + EARTH (planet under threat)
Comment on the climate crisis |
||
| 26 | INFANTINO |
FIFA boss elected separating child from ball (9)
|
| IN (elected) separating INFANT (child) from O (ball)
Gianni Infantino seems to have headed off challenges to his position as boss of FIFA with UEFA withdrawing its boycott threat |
||
| 27 | BRONX |
Burnham initially right on Musk’s platform in borough (5)
|
| First letter (initially) of Burnham + ON + X (Musk’s platform) | ||
| 28 | EWE |
Dolly — the one cloned — FT News solver picked up (3)
|
| Sounds like “YOU” (FT News solver)
Dolly was a sheep produced by cloning in Scotland in the 90s |
||
| 29 | SAUDI ARABIA |
Oil-rich state artist in Asia, Dubai, sloshed (5,6)
|
| RA (artist) in an anagram (sloshed) of ASIA DUBAI | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | NEARSIDE |
Possibly see Iran recruiting 500 on left in UK? (8)
|
| Anagram (possibly) of SEE IRAN containing D (500) | ||
| 2 | TRADE WAR |
Say US vs Canada in conflict of duty? (5,3)
|
| Cryptic definition – duty in the tax sense
For some reason, Trump has decided to destroy relations with the US’s biggest trading partner |
||
| 3 | IDEAL |
Model banker at table can say this (5)
|
| “I DEAL” is something the banker in card games might say | ||
| 4 | GUSTIER |
More windy surge with it in storm (7)
|
| Anagram (in storm) of SURGE + IT
The heatwave has been replaced across large parts of the UK with wind and storms |
||
| 5 | ICINESS |
Hostile attitude heatwave may dissipate? (7)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 6 | LONG-LIVED |
Want Satan risen like Tim Curry? (4-5)
|
| LONG (want) + DEVIL (Satan) reversed (risen)
Actor Tim Curry died this week aged 80 |
||
| 7 | PARTON |
Role applied to Dolly (6)
|
| PART (role) + ON (applied to)
Another reference to the late singer |
||
| 8 | AUTISM |
A must I fancy with which ADHD may co-occur (6)
|
| Anagram (fancy) of A MUST I | ||
| 14 | ACCIDENTS |
Distance to travel round about in car crashes (9)
|
| Anagram (to travel) of DISTANCE round C (about)
There was one notably horrific car crash in the news recently, in which seven people including two police officers died |
||
| 16 | TEAR BOMB |
Bromate exploding with boron in gas grenade (4,4)
|
| Anagram (exploding) of BORATE + B (boron) | ||
| 17 | ASPHYXIA |
Team in high pay has stoppage CO2 may cause? (8)
|
| XI (team) in an anagram (high) of PAY HAS | ||
| 19 | PURLIEU |
Border stitch that is first to unravel (7)
|
| PURL (stitch) + IE (that is) + first letter of Unravel | ||
| 20 | MARCONI |
First broadcaster to ruin Tory Independent (7)
|
| MAR (to ruin) + CON (Tory) + I (Independent) | ||
| 21 | ASPIRE |
Have lofty aims in reforming Persia (6)
|
| Anagram (reforming) of PERSIA
Persia being the old name for Iran, still very much in the news with ongoing negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz |
||
| 22 | SELFIE |
Small Brownie one earl used for personal pic (6)
|
| S (small) + ELF (brownie) + I (one) + E (earl)
The Brownie was an early model of camera |
||
| 25 | EMBER |
Glower from beheaded MP (5)
|
| [m]EMBER (MP) with the first letter removed (beheaded) |
Got SCUP from wordplay then googled to find out it’s a fish thanks blogger for Neo
Thank you for this, Neo and Widdersbel.
I suspect Carney in 18A is Mark Carney and it’s a reference to the trade deals or not being negotiated with the USA, see also 2D.
(20A The Sussexes have a son and daughter – Archie and Lilibet. At one point they were coming back because Meghan had an acting role in a Guy Ritchie series, but the press coverage was so adverse, that job is no more. One would have hoped that the press would have learned something from the Jason Arday coverage, but it seems not.)
28A – Dolly the sheep was named after Dolly Parton – because the cloned cell came from a mammary gland.
SAUDI ARABIA and Iran are sadly in the news following Trump’s attempt to change the regime in Iran, and take over the Strait of Hormuz, and the widening conflict resulting (29A, 1D and 21D)
6D – Tim Curry was amazing – I saw him twice on stage, in The Rocky Horror Show when it was on stage on the Kings Road (as a very innocent 17 year old – it was eye opening) and in the Pirates of Penzance (the production with Bonnie Langford, Pamela Stephenson, George Cole, Michael Praed and Tim Curry). There is a clip of Tim Curry as the Pirate King at the 1982 Royal Variety Show online, but no much else survives from that show.
14D – not just the Middlesborough crash but one in Northern Ireland too – a TikTok craze of filming cars doing dangerous things, including driving the wrong way down A roads and ghosting (driving without lights).
17D – ASPHYXIA is in the news following the death of a 16 year old girl, strangled during sex by her 16 year old boyfriend. There has been a huge increase in strangulation during intercourse as porn educates young people in their sexual activities.
I am always amazed at setters ability to produce these news puzzles. I feel it is a shame there aren’t more people to appreciate them, the blog, and Shane’s insights.
Nice puzzle and blog. Tx both. Hadn’t picked up the reference to the Brownie camera. I now think that was a great clue.