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
Thanks Mudd for an entertaining crossword full of clever clues. My top picks included SUNLESS, MATINEE IDOL, SCOTCH, SOMEWHAT, TASTER, and FORAGE. The only clue I couldn’t solve was WINE, which is ironic because I was drinking a Falanghina from Campania while working on this crossword. Thanks Pete for the blog.
A fun puzzle. Nice anagrams. I will note there were two Mudds in a week. One on Monday and this one.