No 14932, Monday 26 Oct 2026, Incognito

Solution to 12A 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

8   Meet, by accident, vagrant with piebald horse (Continued in 10 Across) (4,4)  BUMP INTO {BUM}{PINTO}

9   One shaping lawn is a relative by marriage (2-3) IN-LAW {1}{LAWN}*

10 See 8 (4)

11 Excited pooch carrying new garment (6) PONCHO {PO{N}CHO*}

12 Musical composition, that to some extent, is fake (8) S?M?H?N? (Addendum - SYMPHONY SYM{PHONY} - SYM from? See comments)

13 Mark goes around one premier tech institute and produces sword (8) SCIMITAR {SC{1}{MIT}AR}

15 Come out, European, and join (6) EMERGE {E}{MERGE}

17 Movement from trains running on time (7) TRANSIT {TRAINS*}{T}

19 Sinatra danced... He is skilled at his work... (7) ARTISAN*

22 German father's wish (6) DESIRE {DE}{SIRE}

24 Shake... shake own beaky facial feature (4,4) HAWK NOSE*

26 Spring-loaded hatch, perhaps, made from rotor pad (4,4) TRAP DOOR*

28 Well known Hun expelling nob in battalion restructuring (6) ATTILA {bATTALIon}* 

30 Honey... it's expensive! (4) DEAR [DD]

31 Girl with anchor is a spectral creature (5) GHOST {G}{HOST}

32 Robs drinking vessels (4) MUGS [DD]

DOWN

1   Small vehicle from Australia starts to teeter oddly (4) AUTO {AU}{Te...r}{Od..y}

2   Menaces horribly, capturing initially pacific astronauts (8) SPACEMEN {MENACES}* over {Pa...c}

3   Abstain from drink having iodine (3,3) SIT OUT {S{I}TOUT}

4   Erratic source around lake results in shutdown (7) CLOSURE {C{L}OSURE*}

5   West, with armies, destroyed Bikini, for example (8) SWIMWEAR {W+W+ARMIES}*

6   Fruit from Chile, perhaps, with energy (6) LICHEE {CHILE*}{E}

7   Hastening, carrying a gun (4) STEN [HIPS]

14 Swear, "Dog's excited initially" (5) CURSE {CUR'S}{Ex...d}

16 Girl chased by running ants and other insects (5) GNATS {G}{ANTS*}

18 "Rock" handling equipment in bar (3,5) ICE TONGS [CD]

20 Excitedly, I mention, "Immediately" (2,2,4) IN NO TIME*

21 Company possesses musical instrument and lightweight Indian bed (7) CHARPOY {C{HARP}OY} 

23 Meaning get from another country (6) IMPORT [DD]

25 Anger about one spirit (6) WRAITH {WRA{1}TH}

27 Bird from Jaipur he aided (4) RHEA [T]

29 Bingo's 11 pairs of supporters (4) LEGS [GK/DD]

Reference List

New = N, European = E, Time = T, German = DE, Girl = G, Australia = AU, Drink = STOUT, Iodine = I, Lake = L, West = W, With = W, Energy = E

The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday No 79, Sunday 25 Oct 2026, Afterdark

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)

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

ACROSS  

8   AI introduced in Vietnam is worthless (4) VAIN {V{AI}N}

9   Forced the crowd (5) DROVE [DD]

10 Employs American warship around central Nigeria (4) USES {US{nigEria}S}

11 Regional Engineering Colleges uses intellectual property to expose system (6) RECIPE {REC}{IP}E Efrom?

12 Described dog? Indeed (8) DETAILED {DE{TAIL}ED}

13 Engineer may bless convention (8) ASSEMBLY*

15 Clears tracks (6) STRIPS [DD] 

17 Temporarily uses first bus at golden lines (7) BORROWS {Bus}{OR}{ROWS}

19 Understands that time is redundant for these people (7) ?S?I?O?  Error in the clue

22 Energetic Kazakhstanis discard khakis and produce a poem, say (6) STANZA {kAZakhSTANis}*

24 Criminal Ellis hid in brae (8) HILLSIDE*

26 Precious stones kept in suit (8) DIAMONDS [DD]

28 Having uninterrupted power supply in Delhi East initially is an advantageous aspect (6) UPSIDE {UPS}{In}{De..i}{East}

30 Boy with golden spoon ultimately was brought to life by birth (4) BORN {B}{OR}{s..oN}

31 Indicate time (5) SPELL [DD]

32 Send son to guard borders (4) ENDS [T]

DOWN

1   Cook bass and koi first adding spice at the end (4) BAKE {Bass}{And}{Koi}{s..cE}

2   Technician in England shakes and has beer after removing lid (8) ENGINEER {IN+ENG}*{bEER}

3   Say, quickly debar first voter that's fraud (6) ADVERB {DEBAR+Vo..r}*

4   Farewell to leave with first daughter, boy, 4th wife on tour (7) GOODBYE {GO}{Da...r+BOY+wifE}* 

5   Doctors for depression? First session in the beginning (8) DENTISTS {DENT}{1ST}{Se...n}

6   Coach on line, beginning to go as it is more occupied (6) BUSIER {BUS}{tIER}

7   Female, stranger at England seen at fair (4) FETE {F}{ET}{E}

14 Fire bolt (5) SHOOT [DD]

16 To encourage to stay outside University is noble (5) PROUD {PRO{U}D}

18 Infirmity comes from fitful wakefulness, having flu (8) WEAKNESS {WAKEfulNESS}*

20 Demanded sibling shortened visit to India (8) INSISTED {IN{SISTEr}D}

21 How his personality is helping to make a rumour (7) WHISPER [T]

23 Baptizing Amin inside's not good (6) NAMING {N}{AMIN}{G}

25 Dolly sauntered around university noisily (6) LOUDLY {LO{U}DLY*}

27 Metal found in the environment (4) IRON [HIPS]

29 For fathers, daughters are darlings surely, from the beginning (4) DADS Acrostic

Reference List

Golden = OR, Boy = B, Female = F, Stranger = ET, England = E, University = U, India = IND, Not good = NG