Puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 31, 2026
Following Pete Maclean’s “retirement” last week and before we wheel in a new team of bloggers. This week you’ve got me.
I don’t do the FT very often but I found this one quite approachable. Leonidas’s clues remind me very much of Tramp in The Guardian and, if I didn’t know better, I’d think they were the same person. I always like good surface reading and I think that every clue has a beautiful surface.
Lovely, delightful puzzle. And now, over to the team who’ll, hopefully do Pete Maclean proud.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | WARRANT |
Call for Republican colonist at end of conflict (7)
|
| WAR (conflict)+Republican+ANT (worker) | ||
| 5 | SQUALL |
Small bird avoiding isle before large storm (6)
|
| Small+QUA[i]L (bird)+Large | ||
| 8 | INTERLUDE |
Break tile under fitting (9)
|
| TILE UNDER (anag: fitting) | ||
| 9 | DRAPE |
Dora periodically scrubbed mirror cover with cloth (5)
|
| D[o]R[a] (periodically scrubbed)+APE (mirror) | ||
| 11 | TRIAD |
Criminal outfit using diamonds not left in case (5)
|
| TRIA[l] (case) with Left replacing Diamonds | ||
| 12 | HINDRANCE |
Female hare skirting northern block (9)
|
| HIND (female)+Northern+RACE (hare) | ||
| 13 | EXACTING |
Diff icult playing with former partner at the front (8)
|
| EX (former partner)+ACTING (playing) | ||
| 15 | SEADOG |
Salt rolled leaves Bill’s stuff ing (3,3)
|
| GOES (leaves; rev: rolled) around AD (bill) | ||
| 17 | LOCKER |
Stevedores maybe exposed on middle of unlit key (6)
|
| [un]L[it] (middle of)+[d]OCKER[s] (stevedores; exposed) | ||
| 19 | OUTRIGHT |
Direct cycling tout taking apparatus back to Bath (8)
|
| TOUT (anag: cycling) around RIG (kit)+[bat]H (back to) | ||
| 22 | WOLFSBANE |
Nick’s run around European plant (9)
|
| NABS (nicks)+FLOW (run) rev: around + European | ||
| 23 | MANIC |
Hysterical male boss? (5)
|
| MAN (bale)+IC (in charge; loosely boss, which explains the question mark)) | ||
| 24 | RUPEE |
Some from the East keep urbanising bit of Goa (5)
|
| keEP URbanising (hidden: some; rev: from the east) | ||
| 25 | SCEPTICAL |
Muddled tale PC Charlie is questioning (9)
|
| TALE PC Charlie IS (anag: muddled) | ||
| 26 | TOMTOM |
Instrument volume reduced twice (3-3)
|
| TOM[e] (volume)+TOM[e] (volume) | ||
| 27 | ROOKERY |
Castle close to Spain tracks where eggs are laid (7)
|
| ROOK (castle, in chess)+Española (Spain)+RY (tracks; short for RailwaY) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | WHISTLEBLOWER |
Game insurgent recalled catching mean man in black? (7-6)
|
| WHIST (game)+REBEL (insurgrnt; rev: recalled) around LOW (mean)
Cryptic definition; a football referee blows a whistle and often wears black |
||
| 2 | RETSINA |
Drink clarets in ancient bottles (7)
|
| claRETS IN Ancient (hidden: bottles) | ||
| 3 | ACRID |
Starters from alehouse come with free bitter (5)
|
| Alehouse Come (starters from)+RID (free) | ||
| 4 | TOUGHENS |
Strengthens layers beneath oxygen aboard boat (8)
|
| TUG (boat) around Oxygen+HENS (layers) | ||
| 5 | SIENNA |
Harry’s aunt is climbing in shade (6)
|
| (Princess) ANNE (Prince Harry’s aunt)+IS rev: climbing | ||
| 6 | UNDERWEAR |
Boxers perhaps running around were missing the ring? (9)
|
| AR[o]UND WERE minus O (ring); anag: running | ||
| 7 | LEARNED |
Thin journalist compressing river sage… (7)
|
| LEAN around River+EDitor (journalist) | ||
| 10 | ENERGETICALLY |
…chopped celery and gelatin with zest (13)
|
| CEKERY GELATIN (anag: chopped) | ||
| 14 | TEENSIEST |
Most diminutive youths sleep during the day unclothed (9)
|
| TEENS (youths)+[s]IEST[a] (sleep during the day) | ||
| 16 | MULETEER |
Setter pinning university permit on returning driver (8)
|
| University+LET (permit) inside ME (setter)+RE (on; rev: returning) | ||
| 18 | CALYPSO |
Last of classic plays about old Homeric character (7)
|
| [classi]C PLAYS (anag: about)+Old | ||
| 20 | GANACHE |
Sweet mixture in grand case of Austrian pine (7)
|
| Grand+A[ustria]N (case of)+ACHE (pine) | ||
| 21 | RANSOM |
Leaderless country’s raised second extortionate demand (6)
|
| [i]RANS (country’s; leaderless)+MO (second; rev: raised) | ||
| 23 | MOTTO |
Saying too much in half of memo (5)
|
| [me]MO (half of) around OTT (over the top: too much) |
Gave up on 22a and didn’t enter the answer for 16d as it was a NHO, although would have got it right with a gun to my head. Those 2 kind of stood out to me as distinctly difficult, and WOLFSBANE particularly as, for me at least, the wordplay although absolutely fine, was not the most straightforward. I guess anyone who knows the word would write it in with the checking letters completed, but it foxed me unfortunately.
Thanks v much Ken for the blog and Leonidas for the puzzle.
Thanks Leonidas and kenmac for filling in this week. I just have one minor point on the parsing of 19ac, where I took “cycling tout” as indicating specifically one of OUTT, UTTO, or TTOU, rather than allowing any anagram of “tout”.
A nice puzzle and, in my humble opinion, a quality blog. I wrote “several nice surfaces”, although I am not sure I agree that every clue was such. I best liked RETSINA and ENERGETICALLY.
The TRIAD clue read as a clue for TRAIL to me, and thank you for help with the parsing of HINDRANCE.
Thanks Leonidas and kenmac
Some splendidly chewy wordplay and great clues all round.
I often think it would be fair to include ‘mean’ (low) in the definition for 1d!
Thanks Leonidas and Kenmac (agree with your comment on the blog, Martyn.