Crossword editor’s update: meet the setter Ariel, AKA Angela Barnes

A new name appears above today’s cryptic – discover how a comic’s lockdown hobby led to a clue-packed debut

Every so often, I’m listening to someone and I think: this person – this is a crossword person. Most recently, the person was comedian Angela Barnes. And this time, I did what an American would describe as “reaching out” to see whether she’d ever entertained the idea of writing a puzzle.

Angela, it transpired, had been to an online solving session hosted by Paul during the pandemic and had “try to set a cryptic” on her bucket list:

When I was given an opportunity to have a go at setting a puzzle for the Guardian – well, I bit the editor’s hand off.

The switch from a solver’s brain to a setter’s brain feels quite subtle, but I really like the reversal, working backwards, where there are myriad correct possibilities instead of just one.

I know that F1 is a sport that divides people. It divides me. After all, I’m a woolly lefty who likes a sport with a ginormous carbon footprint – but what are human beings if not hypocritical contradictions?
F1 is not just a display of exceptional focus and reflexes; it’s also a masterclass in engineering, fluid and aerodynamics, material science and sheer maths and physics. Something for everyone!

Six answers are modified, with one part of each replaced by itself.