No 14926, Saturday 17 October 2026, Arden

Artwork by Prasanna

 ACROSS

1 Building cool shelter — it's in one's blood (11) CHOLESTEROL*
7 Swindle exposed a country (3) GYP {eGYPt}
9 Reportedly stops marriage announcement (5) BANNS {~BANS}
10 Movie about an animal and plant (9) CELANDINE {C{ELAND}INE}

11 Bemoaning a fish-eating catkin (9) LAMENTING {L{AMENT}ING}
12 Bitter about free electricity to start with (5) ACRID {RID}<=>{AC}
13 Secure houses for worker in American city (5,2) SANTA FE {S{ANT}AFE}
15 Carry a shortened pole (4) TOTE {TOTEm}
18 A visitor loses way — gets fever (4) AGUE {A}{GUEst}
20 Uncovered intelligent plan for a busybody (7) MARPLOT {sMARt}{PLOT}
23 Party around bar (5) REVEL<
24 Attack a cricket side and mock in a way (9) ONSLAUGHT {ON}{S{LAUGH}T}
26 Kept woman to figure about copper container (9) CONCUBINE {CON{CU}{BIN}E}
27 Praise openly with some coffee (5) LATTE {fLATTEr}
28 She will turn into a litigant (3) SUE [DD]
29 Use starched pants for historic holy wars (3,8) THE CRUSADES*

DOWN
1 Taxi schedule to pick up a follower of tradition (8) CABALIST {CAB}{A}{LIST}
2 Special mention takes time before it is spread to give relief (8) OINTMENT {MENTION*}{T}
3 City contracts let border guards go (5) ESSEN {lESSENs}
4 Do wear a hat, it's tangible (7) TACTILE T{ACT}ILE
5 Stoke the girl artfully (7) RELIGHT*
6 Learn about players invited into the old house (9) LANCASTER {LEARN*} around CAST

7 Complaint about sex — there's blood all over (6) GOITRE {GO{IT}RE}
8 Pretended to work without a fee — rejected (6) PSEUDO {OP}< around {DUES<}

14 Criminal dealt with guns, also drug (5,4) ANGEL DUST*
16 Disrupted sunshine in the garden (8) BLIGHTED {B{LIGHT}ED}
17 Way one speaks haltingly (8) STUTTERS {ST}{UTTERS}
19 Hard rubber, close to ankle bone it is inserted (7) EBONITE {anklE}{BON{IT}E}
20 Feel sad about carrying bundle of rubber (7) MASSEUR {RUE<}<=>{MASS}
21 Briefly cross over copper plant (6) CROCUS {CRO{CU}Ss}

22 Way to identify a location (6) AVENUE {A}{VENUE}
25 An old sailor brought up the map (5) ATLAS {A}{SALT<}

REFERENCE LIST

Electricity=AC (alternating current), Way=St (Street), Cricket Side=On, Copper=Cu, Time=T, Sex (appeal)=It, Work=Op.

No 14925, Friday 16 Oct 2026, Crossant

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ACROSS

1   Is he this upset? Acting amateurish (6) TRAUMA {TRAUMA+IS+HE}*=AMATEURISH [CA]

4   Stick with this as a means of persuasion (6) CARROT [CD/GK]

9   Attendant's salary reduced by wife following suggestion of partner (4) PAGE {wAGE}<=>{Pa...r}

10 One supplying electrically operated switch controlling resistance (10) CONTRACTOR {CONT{R}ACTOR}

11 Spear cut head of African antelope (6) IMPALA {IMPALe}{Af...n}

12 One uses energy to mould polymer (8) EMPLOYER {E}{POLYMER*} 

13 And for us — loose baggy pants (4,5) PLUS FOURS {PLUS}{FOR+US}*

15 Backstage kisses? (4) PETS<=

16 Man in a city in an island nation (4) MALE [DD]

17 Man U is good or abysmal — one doesn't know (9) IGNORAMUS {MAN+U+IS+G+OR}*

21 A weapon is pulled by Lieutenant, creating panic (8) ALARMIST {A} and {ARM}{IS} in{LT}

22 10 animated epics — Beowulf to begin with (6) BICEPS {EPICS+Be...f}*

24 Trip is for a non-conformist (4,6) FREE SPIRIT {TRIP+IS}* [RA]

25 Leaders of Arab nations expecting war again (4) ANEW Acrostic

26 Artist comes back with suggestions for shows (6) ARRAYS {RA<=}{RAYS}

27 Father of British actor Gary? (3,3) OLD MAN {OLDMAN}

DOWN

1   Check tour — very short distance covering Vatican city (7) TRAMMEL {TRA(-v+mm)MMEL}

2   Real fan sadly leaves empty football stadium (5) ARENA {REAl+fAN}*

3   Model construction set in holy city now reduced (7) MECCANO {MECCA}{NOw} I still have pieces from this childhood set lying around at home

5   Hurried with a bit of bounce and reverse swing, nearly clipping top of pad (6) ABRUPT {A}{Bo...e}{T{Pad}URn<=}

6   Hair perhaps from a rope? (4,5) ROCK OPERA {A+ROPE}* [RA]

7   Throwing out husband's worthless, broken tools (7) TROWELS WORThLESs*

8   Questioning destruction of Goan territory (13) INTERROGATORY*

14 Royals are playing for 12 months (5,4) SOLAR YEAR*

16 Retro hit song — "Killer" maybe (7) MALARIA {LAM<=}{ARIA}

18 Said to cover part of moon's path (7) ORBITAL {OR{BIT}AL}

19 A large number of youth supporting University representative (7) UMPTEEN {TEEN}<=>{U}{MP}

20 Only female dropped from new spy film (6) SIMPLY {SPY+fILM}(

23 Please plan with time for bit of relaxation (5) CHARM ? Seems to be a faulty clue

Reference List

Wife = W, Resistance = R, Energy = E, Good = G, Lieutenant = LT, Artist = RA, Vatican = V, Husband = H, University = U, Representative = MP, Female = F