No 14717, Saturday 14 Feb 2026, Vidwan

 

Rangoli by Gowri

ACROSS
8 Civil servant's inside job - a business! (4) BABU [T]
9 Officer Bruce, a universal criminal and traitor! (10) BUREAUCRAT {BRUCE A U}*{RAT}
10 Sleeping after completion of work? (10) RETIREMENT D&CD
11 Chinese Army's new stratagem (4) PLAN {PLA}{N}
12 Oddly, unborn child is not important! (3-5) NON-ISSUE {uNbOrN}{ISSUE}
15 Twisted arm to catch a small lump (6) NUGGET {GUN<}{GET}
16 Workers having a say (4) MEAN {ME{A}N}
17 Fly over large star (5) SOLAR {SO{L}AR}
18 Some fab band (4) ABBA [T] &Lit

20 Standard coin, one married men love trading (6) COMMON {CO(-i+M+M+O)N}
22 Judge donning a piece of underwear is mockery (8) TRAVESTY {TR{A}{VEST}Y}
24 Show how something works in working mode (4) DEMO*
25 Piper show arranged by royal lover (10) WORSHIPPER {PIPER SHOW}*{R}
28 Pass optional subject, without opening joint (10) COLLECTIVE {COL}{eLECTIVE}
29 Sister has ordinary name that could be proper, say (4) NOUN {N{O}UN}

DOWN
1 Break wind! Pay attention! (4,4) TAKE NOTE {TAKE}{NOTE} Take=break? Wind to be broken as Win d. Win=Take and D is note. See Comments.
2 Some Jazz uninitiated American (4) ZUNI [T]

3 Base by base, building monasteries (6) ABBEYS*
4 Losing power? Get rid of advocate! (4) URGE {pURGE}
5 Moving quicker over almost new belt (8) FASTENER {FASTE{NEw}R}
6 Reprobate criminal recces a gap (10) SCAPEGRACE*
7 Princess of Wales has a royal method of self-defence (6) KARATE {K{A}{R}ATE}

13 Local men endlessly loyal, sadly just for show! (2,4,4) IN NAME ONLY {INN}{MEN LOYAl}*
14 Success! Soar perhaps to get escalator! (5) ECLAT {SOAR+ECLAT}*=ESCALATOR [CA]
17 Smooth timeless enchantress's wrap (8) SANDWICH {SAND}{WItCH}
19 Pander to local revolutionary crushing state (6,2) BUTTER UP {PUB<} around {UTTER}
21 Small cat, perhaps coolest! (6) OCELOT {S+OCELOT}*=COOLEST [CA]

23 More shady than teller pilfering cents (6) ASHIER {cASHIER}
26 Losing power fast? Loot! (4) RAID {RApID}
27 Delinquent one goes for uniform colour (4) PUNK {P(-i+U)NK}

REFERENCE LIST

Universal=U, New=N, Large=L, Love=0=O, One=I, Married=M, Men=M, Royal=R, Ordinary=O, Power=P, Time=T, Small=S, Cents=C, Uniform=U.

No 14716, Friday 13 Feb 2026, Pixie Dust

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ACROSS

7   Middle letters from birdbrains I'd eliminate (6) INSIDE [T]

8   Returning last minute, accepting present? It's fine (8) ETHEREAL {LATE<=} over {HERE}

9   Rated settlement? (8) TRADEOFF {RATED}* [RA]

10 Lewd flier cycling around a liberal (6) RIBALD {(+d)DBIR(-d)<=} over {A}{L} Around on double duty?

11 So, this state broadcast rubs police? (8) REPUBLIC {REPUBLIC+SO}*=RUBS POLICE [CA]

12 Maxim and Carol circling a yard (6) SAYING {S{A}{Y}ING}

13 Beyond doubt, I register popular name at first (11) INDUBITABLE {I}{TABLE}<={IN}{DUB}

18 Every now and then they answer to China (3,3) TEA SET {ThEy+AnSwEr+To}

20 Assist old boyfriend with exercise and fluid diet (8) EXPEDITE {EX}{PE}{DIET*}

22 Steer clear of unlimited mess, aches? Eww! (6) ESCHEW{mESs}{aCHEs}{eWw}

23 Keep pace with components in vintage Qualis engines (8) EQUALISE [T]

24 Skin inflammations from contaminated buns and pots (8) SUNBURNS {BUNS*}{URNS}

25 Rodents returned in house I vacated (6) CAVIES [T<=]

DOWN

1   Hide! Harsh breathing sound's smothering king Lear at first (7) SNORKEL {SNOR{K}E}{Lear} Snorkel/Hide?

2   Catch daughter with boy? Can lead to this irritating condition (8) WINDBURN {WIN}{D}{B}{URN}

3   Move back from extremely repulsive snake (6) RECOIL {Re...vE}{COIL}

4   Is parent over maid's allure? (8) CHARISMA {IS}{MA}<=>{CHAR}

5   German massage, extremely bawdy and seedy (6) GRUBBY {G}{RUB}{BawdY}

6   Sailor brought up bar's ladder (7) RATLINE {TAR<=}{LINE}

8   Evict fans, exploited repeatedly for success? Use unconventional festive fences (13) EFFECTIVENESS*

14 Chewed up raw donut? Unfortunate (8) UNTOWARD*

15 Lovely ad about honey (8) LADYLOVE*

16 Spooner exclaims: "Look at waste matter in nourishing food!" (3,4) PEA SOUP (~ see poop to pea soup)

17 Stores scarves without original tags (7) STASHES {S{Tags}ASHES}

19 Persons of authority in New Delhi basically swaggering and haughty, intolerant, bossy, supercilious (6) SAHIBS Acrostic

21 Bob covering head, follows Prince in attack (6) POUNCE {bOUNCE}<=>{P}

Reference List

Yard = Y, Old boyfriend = EX, Exercise = PE, King = K, Daughter = D, Boy = B, German = G, Prince = P