No 14885, Saturday 29 Aug 2026, Hypatia

 ACROSS
1 Anguished cry about president joining American country (6) CYPRUS {CRY* about{P +US}

4 Complied with rule in charge of measurement system (6) METRIC {MET}{R}{IC}
9 Teacher giving us recognition, chiefly at University (4) GURU {Giving}{Us}{Recognition}{U}
10 Sympathetic hospital section working with debt obligations (10) HARMONIOUS {H}{ARM}{ON}{IOUS}
11 Novel has article about fine emperor (6) ASHOKA {HAS*}{OK}{A}
12 Play game with turn in row (8) ARGUMENT*
13 Hypatia had set clue earlier and had to explain (9) ELUCIDATE {I'D}<=>{CLUE*}+ATE
15 Approve lying about animal close to zoo (4) OKAY {YAK<}<=>{zoO}
16 Prize art regularly gathering support (4) PIER {PrIzE aRt}
17 Spooner's gambler secures mail collector (6,3) LETTER BOX Spoonerism of BETTER LOCKS
21 Advocate flipping cronies in friendly gesture (8) BACKSLAP {BACK}{PALS<}
22 Port city (6) MUSCAT [DD]
24 A wine almost subduing angry, sick and prickly animals (10) ARMADILLOS {A}{ROSe} around {MAD}{ILL}

25 Can't steal? (4) LOOT {LOO}{T} Can't to be separated as CAN+T
26 He believes that he is truthful to some extent (6) THEIST [T]
27 Caught monkeys earning rupees in stunts (6) CAPERS {C}{APE{R}S}

DOWN
1 Crazy old uncle nicking second brief (7) COUNSEL {O+UNCLE}* around {S}
2 Philosopher taking tips from practices learnt usually through observations (5) PLUTO [Acrostic] Pluto or Plato?

3 Ignored in dark ages, Hindus revolted every now and then (7) UNHEARD {DaRk AgEs HiNdUs}<
5 Hug one in trouble? It's all you need (6) ENOUGH*
6 Managed to take one month to recruit oddly keen miracle worker (9) RAINMAKER {RA{I}N}+{MAR}around {KeEn}
7 Relish slice filled by husband with rising desire (7) CHUTNEY {C{H}UT}{YEN<}

8 Get help. Let's stop the curse! (5,3,5) BREAK THE SPELL {HELP LET'S*} [RA]
14 What one can do in dating sites to outwit someone? (9) CHECKMATE {CHECK MATE}
16 Pick up hint about artist and kings in language (7) PRAKRIT {TIP<} around {RA}{K}{R}
18 Yet am ashamedly concealing fuss (7) TAMASHA [T]
19 Speakers occasionally sort out patriot from the South (7) ORATORS {SoRt OuT pAtRiOt<}
20 Cash limit unfortunately hit these entitlements (6) CLAIMS {CLAIMS+HIT}*=CASH LIMIT [CA]
23 Loves nuts to crack (5) SOLVE*

REFERENCE LIST

President=P, American=US, Rule=R, In Charge=IC, University=U, Hospital=H, Debt Obligations=IOUs, Article=A, Fine=OK, Caught=C, Rupees=R, Old=O, Second=S, One=1=I, Month=MAR(ch), Husband=H, King=K/R.

No 14884, Friday 28 Aug 2026, Dr. X

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ACROSS

1   Reckless cheater's cool, having hot mistress (13) SCHOOL TEACHER {CHEATERS+COOL}* over {H}

8   Injured crossing small, wooded area (5) HURST {HUR{S}T}

9   Bishop made a psalm - it's relating to a Christian rite (9) BAPTISMAL {B}{A+PSALM+IT}*

11 Gosh! Feel so nervous - it's a result of fear (10) GOOSEFLESH* 

12 Catch small bug (4) SNAG {S}{NAG}

14 Batting star behind victory (7) WINKING {KING}<=>{WIN}

16 Australian knocked back drink, having devoured ham (7) AMATEUR {A}{{RUM<=} over {ATE}

17 Ordered meat loaf, wanting fine breakfast dish (7) OATMEAL {MEAT+LOAf}*

19 Have a snack in shed around 4 pm in Britain (7) TEATIME {EAT} in {EMIT<=}

21 Brought back superior adhesives (4) GUMS <=

22 Mighty unpleasant American making a bloomer (10) POTENTILLA {POTENT}{ILL}{A}

25 Sentry in compound tackling a bully (9) TYRANNISE {SENTRY+IN}* over {A}

26 Tell a gang to secure goods at bottom of sea (5) LAGAN [T]

27 Compose tune for girl and propose - that's impressive (13) UNFORGETTABLE {TUNE+FOR+G}*{TABLE}

DOWN

2   Box contains old comic strip (7) CARTOON {CART{O}ON}

3   Where one in bathroom might be having a lively night out (2,3,5) ON THE TILES [DD]

4   Falsehood about bachelor and lady is defamation (5) LIBEL {LI{B}E}{L}

5   Fool under pressure after knight's captured by awfully neat chess move (2,7) EN PASSANT {ASS}<=>{N}{P} in {NEAT}*

6   Crack in bottom of pelvic joint (4) CHIP {p..iC}{HIP}

7   Individual cuddling model under tree in Californian city (2,5) EL MONTE {ON{T}E}<=>{ELM}

8   Drunk women getting noisy, tense and agitated (11) HIGHWROUGHT {HIGH}{W}{ROUGH}{T}

10 Dexterous trickery by crafty gem dealer at home (11) LEGERDEMAIN {GEM+DEALER}*{IN}

13 Dance in rave on Ecstasy, high around afternoon (10) TARANTELLA {RANT}{E} in {TALL}{A}

15 Dashing girl on clip, breaking record (9) GALLOPING {GAL}{LO{PIN}G}

18 Monkey in tree, killing a little dove (7) TAMARIN TAMARINd

20 Support associate crushed by evil criminal (7) ILLEGAL {LEG}{A} in {ILL}

23 Use axe essentially to cut conifer in retreat (5) EXERT {TRE{aXe}E<=}

24 Aware of revolting idiot nobbling rings (2,2) ON TO [T<=]

Reference List

Hot = H, Small = S, Bishop = B, Australian = A, Fine = F, American = A, Girl = G, Old = O, Bachelor = B, Lady = L, Knight = N, Pressure = P, Model = T, Women = W, Tense = T, Ecstasy = E, Afternoon = A, Associate = A