No 14747, Saturday 21 Mar 2026, Vidwan

 

Artwork by Prasanna

ACROSS

8 Inflame and captivate royal for good! (6) ENRAGE {EN(-g+R)RAGE}
9 Wheels for hire arranged near cart (4-1-3) RENT-A-CAR*
10 Bond's report (8) RELATION [DD]
11 Rub me! I do soak in blood! (6) IMBRUE*
12 Love to bat in ground net (6) OBTAIN {O}{BAT IN*}
14 Large and small soldiers, compatriots (8) LANDSMEN {L}{AND}{S}{MEN}
15 Slice of French tea, rolls and cheese (4) FETA {French}{TEA*}
17 Gag poor thing with leaves (5) RETCH  {wRETCH}
18 Work on small ebbing form of precipitate (4) SNOW {W}{ON}{S}<
20 Something that starts meal over a beer at times (8) LAUNCHER {L{A}UNCH}{bEeR}
22 Interlocks trenches around a city (6) PLAITS {P{LA}ITS}
24 Most unhinged fellow from Edinburgh, wasting time, painting (6) FRESCO {FREe}{SCOt}

25 Charity programme, say mostly on the broadcast (8) TELETHON {TELl}{ON THE*}
27 Judge in the style of writer, with love for spice (8) JALAPENO {J}{A LA}{PEN}{O}

28 Lady disregarding a new club creature (6) WOMBAT {WOM(-a, -n +BAT)BAT

DOWN

1 Permit fee for a drain (8) ENFEEBLE {EN{-a+FEE)FEEBLE}
2 Father cultivated a yard for a tropical fruit (6) PAPAYA {PAP{A Y*}A}
3 Half of South European spy agency (4) SEMI {S}{E}{MI}
4 Sir, let Tarantino start to render in different script (15) TRANSLITERATION* 
5 English knight features in a junior posting in American Navy (10) ENSIGNSHIP {E}{N}{SIGNS}{HIP}
6 Coaches chasing one and a million metrical feet (8) IAMBUSES {BUSES}<=>{I}{A}{M}
7 World is new and bit anarchic? Sadly true! (6) NATURE {N}{Anarchic}{TRUE*}
13 King or a throne representing a state (5,5) NORTH KOREA {K OR A THRONE}*

16 Main case about loss of hard disk? (8) AMNESIAC* Nice definition!
19 Ordinary friend having one in hundred non-obligatory choice (8) OPTIONAL {O}{P{T{I}ON}AL}
21 Channels of supply from heart of America! Gold with unlimited stash! (6) AORTAS {A}{OR}{sTASh}
23 Allergy syndrome that hampers man's aspirations basically (6) ASTHMA [Acrostic] &LIT
26 Dirty work, replacing a clue! (4) LEWD {LE(-a+W)WD}

REFERENCE LIST

Royal=R, Good=G, Love=0=O, L=Large, Small=S, With=W, Work=W, Judge=J, New=N, Yard=Y, South=S, European=E, English=E, Knight=N, Ordinary=O, One=1=I, America=A, Gold=OR.

No 14746, Friday 20 Mar 2026, Vidwan

Rangoli by Gowri

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS FOR FRIDAY ONLY

All those who are not regular commenters but who are rookie commenters or silent followers of the blog are requested to post answers with annotations in the comments section. In your own interest please avoid looking up the answers from the interactive version. Don't hesitate to post your annotations, in case you make a mistake in the annotation someone will correct it with the right annotation.

PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

Each commenter is requested to post only 5 answers thereby giving others also a chance to participate. Please provide all your answers in one comment.

Regular solvers/Veterans can post 1 answer each, but after 11 AM only.

Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.

ACROSS

9   A militarist NATO resulting in dictatorship (15) TOTALITARIANISM*

10 House girl used to be hot? Nonsense! (7) HOGWASH {HO}{G}{WAS}{H} House/Ho?

12 Not under current coverage of France, Greece island gets evacuated (3-4) OFF-GRID {OF}{F}{GR}{Is..nD}

13 Assortment of best retreats with religious instruction after rain (9) POTPOURRI {TOP<=} and {RI}<=>{POUR}

14 Mother! Clear the decks! (5) EARTH [T]

15 Bit unusual! Guys coming before time! (7) ODDMENT {ODD}{MEN}{T}

18 Cosy retreats in heavily armed chopper (7) GUNSHIP {SNUG<=}{HIP}

21 Sharp strong beer? Right! (5) ALERT {ALE}{RT} Why 'strong'?

23 Father! Clean Spooner's line carrying vital liquid! (5,4) WATER PIPE (pater wipe to water pipe)

25 Get discouraged as pride crumbles (7)  DESPAIR*

26 Test pile, lacks one for instance (7) EXAMPLE {EXAM}{PiLE}

29 Entertaining team and broken records for those following basics too literally! (15) FUNDAMENTALISTS {FUN}{TEAM+AND}*{LISTS}

DOWN

1   Impress and get without force (4) ETCH fETCH

2   Bachelor's field is endless (4) STAG STAGe

3   Bare cola cocktail for a tuna (8) ALBACORE*

4   Some sweet cherries for one making good impressions! (6) ETCHER [T] Why 'good'?

5   Moody sibling, ignoring cold, writing software (8) BROODING {BRO}{cODING}

6   Draw feminine force in real shapes (6) RAFFLE {RA{F}{F}LE*}

7   Shifted her chair for high priest (8) HIERARCH*

8   Like having thick raised joint at centre of a vessel (8) AMIDSHIP {A{DIM<=}S}{HIP}

11 Form of ordinary emptiness (5) OVOID {O}{VOID}

15 Fitfully switch positions (2,3,3) ON AND OFF [C&DD]

16 Dead urgent! Prince going out for a dip! (8) DRESSING {D}{pRESSING}

17 Stopped advancement of abnormal growth in the delta (8) THWARTED {WART} in {THE}{D}

19 Up early in the day all year, as usual (8) NORMALLY {MORN}*{ALL}{Y}

20 First politician to regularly deal and push (5) IMPEL {1}{MP}{dEaL}

22 The AA regularly talk about something that creates immersive drinking experience (3,3) TEA BAG {ThE}{aA}{GAB<=}

24 Compact essay about Hoover (6) TREATY {TR{EAT}Y}

27 Present state (4) POSE [DD]

28 Some cite as example of simplicity (4) EASE [T]

Reference List

Girl = G, Hot = H, France = F, Greece = GR, Religious Instruction = RI, Time = T, Righ = RT, Force = F, Cold = C, Feminine = F, Thick = DIM, Ordinary = O, Dead = D, Prince = P, Delta = D