No 14899, Wednesday 16 Sep 2026, Arden

Solution to 14D 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   Keep tab on for short (6) STUBBY {STUB}{BY}

4   Tough boss single-handedly crossing limit (2,6) AL CAPONE {AL{CAP}ONE}

9   Remote service brought back, not active (3-3) FAR-OFF {RAF<=}{OFF}

10 A religious sign in places with workers, mostly (8) APIARIES {A}{PI}{ARIES}

12 Loud noise over piece of rubbish (8) CLAPTRAP {CLAP}{PART<=}

13 First, pussy cat will jump (6) POUNCE {Pu..y}{OUNCE}

15 Champion gets support — is dead against moving outside (12) PROPAGANDIST {PROP}{D+AGAINST}* What's the role of 'outside'?

18 Dog sauntered out of the plant (6,6) ADDERS TONGUE*

21 Priest blessed the water fairy (6) SPRITE*

22 Americas rejuvenated earth (3,5)  NEW WORLD {NEW}{WORLD}

24 Realign correctly below a subject (8) ALGERIAN {REALIGN}*<=>{A}

25 Pitch for a work shoe (6) BROGUE [DD]

26 Capital providing cover — 11 expressed in words is sad (8) LONESOME {L{ONES}OME}

27 Love for teacher is considered divine (6) OSIRIS {O}{SIR}{IS}

DOWN

1   Forgiving the police years later for providing a digital document file (4,4) SOFT COPY {SOFT}{COP}{Y}

2   Nurse on a round — it's madness (8) UNREASON*

3   Harry stands by at first, but not regularly (2,4,3,6) BY FITS AND STARTS*

5   No small inclination, run using long strides (4) LOPE sLOPE

6   Analyse Star Wars — fools do become speechless (2,1,4,3,5) AT A LOSS FOR WORDS*

7   Align with China, perhaps (6) ORIENT [DD]

8   Consumer gets top service for festival (6) EASTER {EA{Se...e}TER}

11 Space made for one to introduce small eats (7) CANAPES {SPACE}* over {AN}

14 Epic journey — yes, went twice around indeed, finally (7) ?D?S?E? 

16 Politician twice rejected as China grass (4-4) AGAR-AGAR {RAGA}{RAGA}<=

17 Indicator on board not necessary (8) NEEDLESS {NEEDLE}{SS}

19 Repel Somalia's savage attack, somewhat (6) ASSAIL [T<=]

20 Daily wearing dress — a feature of Chinese ceremonial dance (6) DRAGON {D{RAG}ON}

23 Loving the action on first of May (4) WARM {WAR}{May}

Reference List

On = BY, Religious = PI, Dead = D, Years = Y, Small = S, Daily = RAG

Special, Tuesday 15 Sep 2026, NICE 26 South Zone Finals, On-Stage Round, Extra-C

TWO answers per commenter till 6 PM (Annotations compulsory) 

Please submit all your answers in one comment.  

(COMMENTS ENTERED WITH LESS THAN TWO ANSWERS/ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT NOTICE, UNLESS THE COMMENTER SPECIFIES THAT IT IS A COMPENSATION FOR A REPEAT)

Grid will be updated with solutions after 6 PM.

Enjoy.