No 14920, Saturday 10 October 2026, Vidwan

ACROSS

8 Dressed and scented, one who succeeds (10) DESCENDANT*

9 Going past one time (4) EXIT {EX}{I}{T}

10 Pressure on borders of Turkey! Turkey in revolt and distressed! (15) POVERTYSTRICKEN {P}{OVER}{TurkeY}+{TR} in {SICKEN} The word should be hyphenated

11 Official is bit earnest and ardent (8) STANDARD [T]

14 Upset about party position on the ground (3-3) MID-OFF {MI{DO}FF}

16 Fair fellow Peter,after robbing banks (4) FETE {F}{pETEr}

17 Large creature like gorilla with large fold (5) LAPEL {L}{APE}{L}

18 Shreds of oddly plain note (4) LINT {pLaIn NoTe}

19 Showing no interest,committed theft,mostly Identity Card! (6) STOLID {STOLe}{ID}

20 A US market index study with Judge operating on English system originally (3,5) DOW JONES {DO}{W}{J}{ON}{E}{System}

21 Progressive leaning district going to fine royal man (15) FORWARDTHINKING {FOR}{WARD}{THIN}{KING} Ditto 10A. Hyphenated word

26 Dread female attention (4) FEAR {F}{EAR}

27 British secure China's new data security technology (10) BLOCKCHAIN {B}{LOCK}{CHINA*}

DOWN

1 Extradition Office gaining nothing for Leader of America (10) DEPORTMENT {DEP(-a+O)ORTMENT

2 Hurt every head to tail (4) ACHE (-e)ACH(+E)E

3 Native American lost heart, called out dead and signed (10) INITIALLED {INuIT}{dIALLED}

4 Acts funny! Was chasing First Lady! (4) LAWS WAS*<=>Lady

5 Father mostly checking time to move (4) STIR {S{T}IRe}

6 Ice-cold lap dancing is wrong (10) PECCADILLO*

7 Mention it in church (4) CITE {C{IT}E}

12 Born fool donning most loose embroidery (10) NEEDLEWORK {NEE}{D{LEWd}ORK}

13 Cheated fellow pushed back date over suspicion of permissiveness (5) DUPED {DU(-d)E(+D)} over Permisiveness

14 My walk, this alters! (4,6) MALT WHISKY* &Lit

15 Good restricted by good, complain about new digital growth (10) FINGERNAIL {FIN{G}E}{R{N}AIL}

22 Done in open mainly (4) OVER OVERt

23 Polish unknown gem (4) RUBY {RUB}{Y}

24 Time to run to love? Yes! To Paris and Hector's place! (4) TROY {T}{R}{O}{Y}

25 Legendary goalkeeper Harry Hank (4) KAHN*

REFERENCE LIST

One=I,Time=T, Fellow=F, Large=L, Judge=J, English=E, Female=F, British=B, Nothing=0=O, Dead=D, Church=CE, Date=D, Good=G, New=N, Unknown=Y, Run=R, Love=O, Yes=Y. 

No 14919, Friday 09 Oct 2026, Pixie Dust

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS FOR FRIDAY ONLY

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PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

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

ACROSS

7   Oh! This dessert funnily got a hole! (6) GELATO {GELATO+OH}*=GOT A HOLE

8   Study substitute with a bit of terrifying condescension (8) CONTEMPT {CON}{TEMP}{Te...g}

9   Essentially Jacob must stick to this kind of musical instrument (8) ACOUSTIC {jACOb}{mUSt}{sTICk}

10 Scoundrel cycling around Henry, sniffles (6) WHINES {(-s)W{H}INE(+s)S}

11 Master stroke acquiring one British Bar (8) PROHIBIT {PRO}{H{1}{B}IT}

12 Losing face, lamenting and suffering (6) AILING wAILING

13 Live on...smitten! (5,2,4) MADLY IN LOVE {LIVE+ON}* [RA]

18 Authorise a manager to disclose rating in London (6) SEAMAN [T]

20 Perhaps stay fit accepting rule to classify according to a graded scale (8) STRATIFY {STAY+FIT} over {R}

22 Mate regularly ignoring Bishop's corrupt scheme (6) SPOUSE {biShoPs+cOrrUpt+SchEme}

23 Swell! Here batter is safe! (8) INCREASE {IN CREASE}

24 Look, Sir! ET's are to a certain extent backing star? (8) ASTERISK [T<=]

25 Penny chases husband out and hammers (6) POUNDS {P}{hOUNDS}

DOWN

1   Happy boxing copper element (7) MERCURY {MER{CU}RY}

2   Old Russian woman's headscarf (8) BABUSHKA [DD]

3   Spooner's child (middle) in steam bath? (3,3) HOT TUB (~tot hub to hot tub)

4   Blizzard? Fellow is beginning to breakdown and explode (8) SNOWBALL SNOW(-f+b)BALL

5   Delivered grain soap (6) SERIAL (~cereal)

6   Special transparent material protecting primarily exposed organs (7) SPLEENS {SP}{LE{Ex...d}NS}

8   Frequently used tack oils for cylindrical skewer? (8,5) COCKTAIL STICK {TACK+OILS}* [Letter Bank]

14 Hang on! Don't start to tell a story in undies (8) LINGERIE {LINGER}{lIE}

15 Corrupted virtue...so like glass! (8) VITREOUS* 

16 Experiment involving English politician leads to commotion (7) TEMPEST {T{E}{MP}EST}

17 Harry dies of mainly fatigue in part of a cricket field (3,4) OFF SIDE {DIES+OF+Fa...e}*

19 Guy goes around university with date and gets attacked (6) MAULED {MA{U}LE}{D}

21 For starters, roast eggplant chunks in parmesan emulsion (6) RECIPE Acrostic Semi&lit

Reference List

Study = CON, Henry = H, British = B, Rule = R, Penny = P, Husband = H, Fellow = F, Special = SP, English = E, Politician = MP, University = U, Date = D