Puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 29, 2026
Another clever puzzle from Mudd. My first-in was 13 (HOG) and last was 26 (HIDE). My favorites are 1d (SCOTCH), 8 (CHESS SET) and 26 (HIDE).
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | CONFUSION |
Chaos in party merger? (9)
|
| CON (party) + FUSION (merger) | ||
| 10 | MUNCH |
Eat lots, unknown amount consumed (5)
|
| N (unknown amount) in (consumed) MUCH (lots) | ||
| 11 | TRAIPSE |
March, time on vacation: Apr is, unfortunately, coming in (7)
|
| Anagram (unfortunately) of APR IS in (coming in) T[im]E | ||
| 12 | SUNLESS |
Last of horses, except for grey (7)
|
| [horse]S + UNLESS (except for) | ||
| 13 | HOG |
Pig with no crackling, ultimately (3)
|
| [wit]H [n]O [cracklin]G | ||
| 14 | HIPPOCRATES |
Old medic, doctors as prophetic! (11)
|
| Anagram (doctors) of AS PROPHETIC | ||
| 17 | SPROG |
Opening of sweeties for good kid (5)
|
| S[weeties} + PRO (for) + G (good) | ||
| 18 | POT |
Rejection of first prize (3)
|
| TOP (first) backwards (rejection of) | ||
| 19 | SCENT |
Perfume launched for one’s ears? (5)
|
| Homophone (for one’s ears) of “sent” (launched) | ||
| 21 | MATINEE IDOL |
Ideal time on wandering star (7,4)
|
| Anagram (wandering) of IDEAL TIME ON | ||
| 23 | ELF |
Spirit guzzled by scoundrel, firewater (3)
|
| Hidden word (guzzled by) | ||
| 25 | WEST HAM |
Clobber dressing fashionable set, outfit in claret and blue (4,3)
|
| Anagram (fashionable) of SET in (dressing) WHAM (clobber) with the definition referring to West Ham Football Club. | ||
| 27 | ROTATOR |
Turner has to put in something black after gold brushed over (7)
|
| RO (gold brushed over) + TO (to) in (put inside) TAR (something black). ‘Rotator’ is a term I learned a while ago when a friend suffered a rotator-cuff injury. A rotator-cuff tear happens when one or more tendons in one’s shoulder detaches from the bone. It causes pain, weakness, and trouble lifting the arm. | ||
| 28 | AHEAD |
Each winning (5)
|
| A HEAD (each) | ||
| 29 | NARROWING |
Moving swiftly past supposition, finally getting to the point (9)
|
| [suppositio]N + ARROWING (moving swiftly) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SCOTCH |
Stop for a drink? (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 2 | ENLARGER |
General shot right for photographic device (8)
|
| Anagram (shot) of GENERAL + R (right) | ||
| 3 | JUMP THE GUN |
Go early and take legs over arm? (4,3,3)
|
| JUMP (take legs over) + THE GUN (arm) | ||
| 4 | WINE |
Obtain energy drink (4)
|
| WIN (obtain) + E (energy) | ||
| 5 | UNESCORTED |
Don’t rescue drunk by yourself (10)
|
| Anagram (drunk) of DONT RESCUE | ||
| 6 | AMEN |
A crew without a doubt (4)
|
| A (a) + MEN (crew) | ||
| 7 | INSECT |
Crawler under Svengali’s influence? (6)
|
| IN SECT (under Svengali’s influence?) | ||
| 8 | CHESS SET |
All The King’s Men (in black and white?) (5,3)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 15 | PEPPERMINT |
Riddle, perfect sharp flavour (10)
|
| PEPPER (riddle) + MINT (perfect) | ||
| 16 | RESOLUTION |
Working out like that, learner in new routine (10)
|
| SO (like that) + L (learner) together in (in) anagram (new) of ROUTINE | ||
| 17 | SOMEWHAT |
How teams played, up to a point (8)
|
| Anagram (played) of HOW TEAMS | ||
| 20 | ELECTRIC |
Exciting – as some guitars? (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 22 | TASTER |
Sample first of steaming potato jackets (6)
|
| S[teaming] in (jackets) TATER (potato) | ||
| 24 | FORAGE |
Engineer outlining a search (6)
|
| A (a) in (outlining) FORGE (engineer) | ||
| 26 | HIDE |
Disguise alter ego on the phone? (4)
|
| Homophone (on the phone) of “Hyde” (as in Jekyll and Hyde) | ||
| 27 | RARE |
Piece of ephemera, remarkably unusual (4)
|
| Hidden word (piece of) |
Very approachable, Muddy and enjoyable. There seemed a lot of anagrams to help lighten the load, the best of which I felt were HIPPOCRATES, SOMEWHAT, and UNESCORTED. I also thought FORAGE, SCOTCH and WINE had nice surfaces.
All parsed. It was nice to learn the WEST HAM colours, I guess, and the clue showed that almost anything, even fashionable, can be an anagrind.
Thanks Mudd and Pete