Puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 8, 2026
I found this puzzle a bit different from the typical Julius. I think that Ia (STEVIE WONDER) is a masterpiece of word-hiding and I am also impressed with 8 (UMBRAGE). Other favourites are 3 (INELEGANT), 7 (SUPERSTITION) and 24 (NARWHAL). My first-in was 9 (IN UTERO) and I quickly finished the right half but then found the left half to be a challenge.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | STEVIE WONDER |
Artist’s somewhat chauviniste view on Derrida (6,6)
|
| Hidden words (somewhat) | ||
| 8 | UMBRAGE |
Bank Holiday crossword: unlimited fury and resentment (7)
|
| [j]UMB[o] (Bank Holiday crossword unlimited) + RAGE (fury) | ||
| 9 | IN UTERO |
Routine fluttering within the womb? (2,5)
|
| Anagram (fluttering) of ROUTINE | ||
| 11 | EARLOBE |
Each gown fitted with large area for hanging jewellery (7)
|
| E (each) + L (large) in (fitted with) ROBE (gown) | ||
| 12 | TORCHED |
Burnt toast or cheddar sandwiches (7)
|
| Hidden word (sandwiches) | ||
| 13 | STAIR |
Celeb boarding international flight (5)
|
| I (international) in (boarding) STAR (celeb) | ||
| 14 | ASH BLONDE |
Hair tint? No… he’s bald, unfortunately (3-6)
|
| Anagram (unfortunately) of NO HES BALD | ||
| 16 | INSPECTOR |
Examiner returned rubbish porcini to Northern Italy (9)
|
| ROT (rubbish) + CEPS (porcini) + N (northern) + I (Italy) all backwards (returned) | ||
| 19 | DEPOT |
Daughter knocked back drink in storehouse (5)
|
| D (daughter) + TOPE (drink) backwards (knocked back) | ||
| 21 | IMMERSE |
Son runs off, poaches English duck (7)
|
| [s]IMMERS (poaches, son runs off) + E (English) | ||
| 23 | OPOSSUM |
American pouched very large amount after work (7)
|
| OP (work) + OS (very large, i.e. outsized) + SUM (amount) | ||
| 24 | NARWHAL |
Wife ran around chased by Prince Harry, the horny beast (7)
|
| W (wife) + RAN (ran) backwards (around) + HAL (Prince Harry) | ||
| 25 | IRON MAN |
Comic character of golf club member’s first article (4,3)
|
| IRON (golf club) + M[ember] + AN (article) | ||
| 26 | KINDERGARTEN |
Rent Grade I building in outskirts of Kingston where there’s little development (12)
|
| Anagram (building) of RENT GRADE I in (in) K[ingsto]N | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SIBERIA |
Peninsula south of sierra where it can get pretty cold (7)
|
| S (sierra) + IBERIA (peninsula) | ||
| 2 | ENAMOUR |
Inspire love for Romanesque works without title (7)
|
| Anagram (works) of ROMAN[esq]UE | ||
| 3 | INELEGANT |
Gauche, popular character such as Nellie leaves pub for good (9)
|
| IN (popular) + ELEPHANT (character such as Nellie) with the ‘PH’ (pub, i.e. Public House) changed to ‘G’ (good). If you are unfamiliar with Nellie, please see this. | ||
| 4 | WHIST |
Game with husband starts to interrupt Sunday tea (5)
|
| W[ith] H[usband] + I[nterrupr] + S (sunday) + T (tea) | ||
| 5 | NEUTRAL |
Rather colourless, tight at the back, tailored Lauren trousers (7)
|
| [tigh]T in (trousers) anagram tailored) of LAUREN | ||
| 6 | EREWHON |
Molière, who never pens a novel (7)
|
| Hidden word (pens). The novel in question was a work of the British satirist Samuel Butler. | ||
| 7 | SUPERSTITION |
First appearance of Sidney Poitier, nuts about bogus religion (12)
|
| Anagram (about) of S[idney] POITIER NUTS | ||
| 10 | OLD TESTAMENT |
The eleven-plus for one meant revising a set of books (3,9)
|
| OLD TEST (the eleven-plus for one) + anagram (revising) of MEANT | ||
| 15 | HARMONICA |
Instrument, according to Spooner, to damage old DDR leader (9)
|
| Spoonerism of “mar Honecker” (damage old DDR leader). Erich Honecker was leader of East Germany 1971–1989. | ||
| 17 | SAMURAI |
South American spirit upset first-class fighter (7)
|
| S (south) + A (American) + RUM (spirit) backwards (upset) + AI (first-class) | ||
| 18 | EARTHED |
Our home base dad finally insulated (7)
|
| EARTH (our home) + E (base, of natural logarithms that is) + [da]D. I hope I am wrong but I wonder about the definition here. It seems to me that being insulated is the exact of opposite of being grounded. | ||
| 19 | DROP OUT |
Failed student doctor on strike stuck with operation (7)
|
| OP (operation) in (stuck with) DR (doctor) OUT (on strike) | ||
| 20 | POSTMEN |
Woodward & Bernstein? They’ll deliver! (7)
|
| POST MEN ([Bob] Woodward) and [Carl] Bernstein) of The Washington Post | ||
| 22 | EULER |
Brainy Swiss the French detained in their street heading north (5)
|
| LE (the French) in (detained in) RUE (their street) backwards (heading north). Leonhard Euler was a Swiss polymath known mostly as a mathematician. |
Pete’s opening summed it up nicely for me. As always with Julius, it was a pleasure.
Thanks Julius and Pete
I really enjoyed this as always with a Julius puzzle and also thought that the hidden STEVIE WONDER was amazing.
Favourites were: NARWHAL, EARLOBE, OPOSSUM, EREWHOM, HARMONICA, POSTMEN
Thanks Julius and Pete
Sparkling wit from Julius this Saturday starting with 1a; not just a great hidden answer – especially seen in conjunction with 7d – but a fine surface too as Derrida’s work called into question cultural bias.
I ticked EREWHON for the use of Molière (whose oeuvre I found infinitely more entertaining at uni than Derrida’s).
IN UTERO was another neat surface read while the ‘little development’ of
KINDERGARTEN was wonderfully misleading.
ASH BLONDE and INELEGANT were also fun.
Happily, the word play for the nho EULER was fair.
I appreciate the wide variety of setters in the FT stable but this sort of puzzle is just what I enjoy most of a weekend.
Thanks Julius and Pete for the blog.
I know this is always debatable, but the wordplay for 13a seems reversed to me. The I is boarding STAR, not the other way round, indeed the blog says as much.
Thanks Julius for the weekend entertainment. I had a slew of favourites including UMBRAGE (great surface), IN UTERO, ASH-BLONDE, INSPECTOR, NARWHAL, WHIST, NEUTRAL, and SUPERSTITION, the latter being one of STEVIE WONDER’S biggest hits. In IMMERSE, there are two ‘sons’ in SIMMERS so purists might say the clue should have read ‘first son runs off’ but I wouldn’t necessarily say that myself. I couldn’t parse HARMONICA but all else made sense. Thanks Pete for the blog.
Loved it – though ‘jUMBo’ beat me!
Superstition and Stevie Wonder!
Yes, great hidden and surface at 1ac (Diane @3, dyu know about the Sokal hoax?), and lots else to amuse, ta Julius and Pete.
My top picks:
STEVIE WONDER, UMBRAGE, ASH BLONDE, IMMERSE,
ENAMOUR, HARMONICA and POSTMEN.
EARTHED
Agree with the blogger’s comment on the def.
Did the setter mean that earthing insulates/protects you
from electric shocks when a live wire touches an earthed metal
part?
It’s a stretch, I know.
A couple of nanopoints:
EARLOBE
EA typo
SUPERSTITION
The first S is outside the anagram fodder.
Thanks Julius and Pete.
[Ha Grant @7, I love it!
I can’t say I did: I didn’t always welcome the philosophical intrusions into my literature/language studies (excepting Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau) for just this reason. Ripe for the plucking, I’d say.]
Thanks for the blog , you write a clue like STEVIE WONDER and follow it with SUPERSTITION (plus HARMONICA) then you can take the rest of the day off . So many nice touches throughout the clues as noted by Diane @3 .
IN UTERO you do feel fluttering long before the kicking , it is like hosting a butterfly .
STAIR , boarding can mean providing accomodation so think it is okay .
EULER forever associated with the base e from EARTHED . e^ipi + 1 = 0 contains the 7 most important symbols in one line .
[ For KVa@8 , you have the right idea for EARTHED = insulated . For an earthed appliance like an iron , the user is insulated from electric shock if a live wire inside detaches and touches the case . ]