Sunday, 26 July 2026

The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday No 66, Sunday 26 Jul 2026, Vidwan

Three answers per commenter till 4 PM (Annotations Compulsory)
Please submit all your answers in one comment.

(COMMENTS ENTERED WITH LESS THAN THREE ANSWERS/ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT NOTICE, UNLESS THE COMMENTER SPECIFIES THAT IT IS A COMPENSATION FOR A REPEAT)

ACROSS
8   Reveal it, without small act (6)
9   Help! Miss! Help! (8)
10 Fudge made with rare sugar from the Caribbean (8)
11 Dissidence as a result of this small British trading (6)
12 One who teaches baroque art deco outside university? (8)
13 Country crossing line for Spain and Portugal (6)
4 Hardback? (5)
16 Most sensible thing about a barbarian (5)
21 Criticises and pans! Could be snappiness! (6)
23 Just an international body located outside India (8)
25 Revolutionary shine and spirit (6)
26 Victory for Norway! Five Star perhaps for creative discipline! (4,4)
27 Victory to India’s ruling coalition! Alcohol regularly relished in Goa! (8)
28 Millions wanting rock singer with  high pitch (6)

DOWN
1   Old sweetheart has an inclination for stretches (7)
2   Sulk over team lying about current shutdown (5,3)
3   Mostly take care of a Bible holder (6)
4   Setting a model in that place (7)
5   Preserve energy, note and run into light (8)
6   Issue schemer generally covers (6)
7   Ties of blood and skin, first to finish in style! (7)
15 US Midwest bluster withered over time (4,4)
17 Audience notice better looking sailor (8)
18 In essence, lunch ain’t free! (7)
19 Discharge pimp wasting time on backsliding womaniser (7)
20 Drunk pal kept giving motivational address (3,4)
22 Standard publicity over electronic display (6)
24 Bad smell surrounding old lousy egg fish (6)

Saturday, 25 July 2026

No 14855, Saturday 25 July 2026, Hypatia

 ACROSS
8 Martial art in UK, from East spreading good fun (4,2) KUNG FU {UK<}{G FUN}*
9 Tickets in Universal cover O. Henry's plays (not old) (8) VOUCHERS {U CoVER O H'S}*
10 Censor sports during nice bull fights (4-6) BLUE-PENCIL PE in {NICE BULL}*
11 Couple in noisy clip (4) PAIR {~PARE}
12 Fine priest caught in romantic outing (8) DELICATE {ELI}{C} in DATE
14 Mother's sister lacking a day free (6) UNTIED {aUNTIE}{D} 
15 Animals having five enzymes originally in stomachs (7) BEAVERS BEARS around {V+Enzymes}
17 City in America choked by modern progress (7) CHICAGO {CHIC}{A}{GO}
20 About laymen saving expenses (6) OUTLAY [T]
22 Excuse for party (8) OCCASION [DD]
24 Extremely grateful and cheerful (4) GLAD {GratefuL}{AnD}
25 Brown girl stealing diamonds after greeting's unreliable (3-3-4) HIT-AND-MISS {TAN}{D}{MISS}<=>{HI}
27 Camel train meandering behind Persian taxi (8) BACTRIAN {CAB<}{TRAIN*} Persian=from right to left
28 Forces subordinates moving leader four steps ahead (6) POWERS {-l+P}POWERS L,M,N,O,P.

DOWN
1 Two students boarding vehicle look sweet (5,3) BULL'S EYE {BU{LL}S}{EYE}
2 Beginners in athletics generally use exercise to get fit (4) AGUE [Acrostic]
3 Triumphant cry frequently coming up in park near Pune (6) EUREKA {pArK nEaR pUnE}<
4 Booted new device taking time (7) EVICTED {DEVICE}* around T
5 Leave four rocks around line roughly in the middle (8) FURLOUGH {FOUR}* around L+{roUGHly}
6 Spooner checks birds - they are picked up for Chinese food (10) CHOPSTICKS Spoonerism of Stops Chicks
7 Entrance of road closed by small change becoming flatter (6) PRAISE {P{Road}AISE}
13 Revoke TADA in live broadcast (10) INVALIDATE*
16 Regular Trichy building surrounding every other home (8) RHYTHMIC {TRICHY}* around {HoMe}
18 Associate writing in shiny dictionary (8) GLOSSARY {GLOSS{A}{R}Y}
19 Satisfaction's // something internalised (7) CONTENT [DD]
21 Would app. supply drop quietly with transfer to cloud? (6) UPLOAD {wOULD APp}*
23 Appetiser in saucepan accidentally overturned (6) CANAPE [T<]
26 Catcalls from the show haters ultimately (4) MEWS [Tail Acrostic]

Reference List
Good=G, Universal=U, Old=O, Sports=PE (Physical Exercise), Caught=C, Day=D, Five=V, America=A, Diamonds=D, Student=L, Time=T, Associate=A, Writing=R, Quietly=P, With=W.