No 14858, Wednesday 29 July 2026, Gussalufz

Artwork by Prasanna

Solution to 19A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

Open for anyone to answer, if not solved by 1 PM.

The Truth, Eric?

ACROSS

1   Everybody who's ruled regularly (5) WORLD {WhOs+RuLeD}

4   Piano finale in Sholay, amidst Gabbar getting shot and beheaded (4,5) BABY GRAND {s...aY} in {GABBAR}*{aND}

9   Salamander all too excited about kiss (7) AXOLOTL {ALL+TOO}* over {X}

10 Sorcerers with headless reptiles (7) WIZARDS {W}{lIZARDS}

11 I'll tell Betty it's cooked slowly (6,2,6) LITTLE BY LITTLE*

12 Standard from Ronaldo—scored on both sides upon returning (4) NORM [T<=]

13 Fruit vending station software on phone essentially stalled and rejected touch (5-4) APPLE-CART  {APP}{staLled}{TRACE<=}

17 They hurt refusers badly, inspiring a dash of fear (9) SUFFERERS {REFUSERS}* over {Fear}

19 Main man in the woman's heart (4) ?E?O ()

22 What someone said, as reported in bleak court records backing filed copy (8,6) INDIRECT SPEECH {IN}{DIRE}{CT}{EPS<=}{ECHo} 

25 Was easy to relocate shipping routes (7) SEAWAYS*

26 Perhaps one by poet Eliot? No withdrawing in front of audience! (7)  ONSTAGE {AGE}{TS}{NO}<=

27 Feral spy moving around quietly with thin, attractive agents of death (9) FLYPAPERS {FERAL+SPY}* over {P}

28 Procedure decimated pests (5) STEPS*

DOWN

1   Wife in lake, swimming next to grandsons on vacation (they're not very strong) (9) WEAKLINGS {W}{IN+LAKE}*{Gr...nS}

2   Bird in kangaroo's territory (7) ROOSTER [T]

3   Meadow-grazer eating weathered old drawing (6) DOODLE {DO{OLD*}E}

4   With two lips, a bit able, somehow, to hold beedi's end (9) BILABIATE {A+BIT+ABLE}* over {b..dI} 

5   Joint recycling and waste processing centre? (5) BOWEL (+el)ELBOW(-el) 

6   Watch test while skimming newspapers (8) GAZETTES {GAZE}{TEST}*

7   Trailer, U/A-certified, reviewed: shows harmless jellyfish (7) AURELIA [T<=]

8   Record example of single-hop Caesar cipher mapping? (4) DISC [DD] (Addendum D is C - See comments)

14 Places medicines outside upwardly mobile infants' limits (9) POSITIONS {PO{In...tS<=}TIONS}

15 Let's shoot randomly? That's ineffective (9) TOOTHLESS*

16 Adventures in a tavern featuring Greek wine (8) RESINATA [T]

18 Dream lover, stay through storm! (7) FANTASY {FAN}{STAY}*

20 Cheer a tense, boring cricket team, mostly (7) ELEVATE {A}{T} in {ELEVEn}

21 Resorts to extremes of malicious attacks (6) SPASMS {SPAS}{Ma...uS}

23 Follow Peruvian river around American country to the north (5) ENSUE {E{US}NE}<=

24 Former Kent captain, Iqbal from Pakistan? No chance! (2,2) AS IF {ASIF}

Reference List

Kiss = X, With = W, Quietly = P, Wife  = W, Tense = T

No 14857, Tuesday 28 Jul 2026, Avtaar

Solution to 26A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

Open for anyone to answer, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

1   Relatives rejected incentives to accept work (7) SPOUSES {SOPS<=} over {USE}

5   Cataract patient stabbed by rogue (7) CASCADE {CAS{CAD}E}

9   Bottega in Florence had couch in front of reception (7) ATELIER {ATE}{LIE}{Re...n}

10 Bond's race to arrest KGB's head free of violence, ultimately (7) LINKAGE {LINe{Kgb}AGE}

11 Possibly informal document reflecting on media losing power in Delaware (5,4) DRESS CODE {DOC<=}<=>{pRESS} in {DE}

12 Hassle to get rid of phosphorus compound found in perfumes (5)  ESTER pESTER

13 Civilian lawyer in Saudi? (5) MUFTI [DD]

15 Body in the open - alarming murder? (9) SCARECROW {SCARE}{CROW}

17 What removes moisture from soiled soft rinsed clothing rapidly after draining? (4,5) SPIN DRYER {P+RINSED}* over {Ra...lY} Semi&lit

19 Swimmers going back to get a bit of practice and rest (5) SLEEP {EELS<=}{Pr...e}

22 Perhaps Indian sent back from China economising (5) OCEAN [T<=]

23 Fabric 's restyling cut most of return (9) STRUCTURE {'S}{CUT+RETURn}

25 Sustained energy of revolutionary instigates killing spree at the end (7) STAMINA ANIMATeS<=

26 Take rook with rook conceding lead (7) D?C?I?E ()

      Kid daughter let in, breaking rule (7) DECEIVE (-r+d)DECEIVE - See comments   

27 Company backs probing fellow escaping from spare suite (7) RETINUE {UNIT<=} in {fREE}

28 Prepare to visit old East European religious scholar (7) EXEGETE {GET} in {EX}{E}{E}

DOWN

1   Cool sneakers boosted hero's state (7) STARDOM {MOD}{RATS}<=

2   Feel son evolved without help (7) ONESELF*

3   Big shot turned up aboard in loafers (5) SPIVS {S{VIP<=}S}

4   Extremely old is surely exotic (9) SERIOUSLY  {O+IS+SURELY}*

5   Split iceberg left in pit (5) CALVE {CA{L}VE}

6   They cut below in sequence avoiding edges of icicle (9) SUNDERERS {UNDER} in {SERieS}

7   Electrical accessory in a mobile device mounted behind avoiding poles (7) ADAPTER {A}{PAD<=}{sTERn}

8   I caught crook hiding rupees in frontal arch close to temple? (7) EYEBROW {(~i)EYE}{B{R}OW}

14 Space at the beginning I intend to change before working (9) INDENTION {I}{INDENT}*{ON}

16 Flight link from peak in adjacent island to hill spanning British river (3,6) AIR BRIDGE   {Ad...t}{I} and {RIDGE} in {B}{R}

17 Surety's bankrupt charged by completely heartless nieces (7) SPONSOR {'S}{PO{Ni..eS}OR}

18 Muddled divorced spouse stopping in front (7) INEXACT {IN}{EX}{ACT}

20 Unique cross and clubs going missing - difficult to spot (7) ELUSIVE ExcLUSIVE

21 Introduce promotion covering start of exciting race on the radio (7) PRECEDE {PR}{Ex...g}{(~seed)CEDE}

23 Small step above room (5) SPACE {S}{PACE} What's the role of above?

24 Suspicion of theft dismissed by corner drug store (5) CACHE {CAtCH}{E}

Reference List

Couch = LIE, Power = P, Soft = P, Daughter = D, Rule = R, Fellow = F, Old = EX, East = E, European = E, Left = L, Rupees = R, Island = I, British = B, River = R, Divorced spouse = EX, Clubs = C, Promotion = PR, Small = S, Drug = E