Saturday, 28 February 2026

No 14729, Saturday 28 Feb 2026, Incognito

 ACROSS
1 Hold under restraint in vehicle, with energy and speed, consuming carbon (11) INCARCERATE {IN}{CAR}{C}{E}{RATE}
9 Tender by alien for toilet fitting (5) BIDET {BID}{ET}
10 Slate tile manufactured in orbiter (9) SATELLITE*
11 & 15 Marketing staff's maleness (10,8) TRAVELLING SALESMEN {MALENESS}* [RA]
12 Gas outlet in Coventry (4) VENT [HIPS]
13 Vice? Top class in peninsula! (5) SINAI {SIN}{AI}
15 See 11
17 In long time, young lady has one release of gas for example (8) EMISSION {E{MISS}{I}ON}
19 Call on six and take seat (5) VISIT {VI}{SIT}
22 Remove gum from homburg made for scientist (4) BOHR {HOmBuRg}*
23 Fierce apes scrambled for exit from inferno (4,6) FIRE ESCAPE*
26 Mammal consumes minced sole in large quantities (9) WHOLESALE {WHALE} around {SOLE}*
27 Swallows and gulls leaving second lake for Portugal (5) GULPS {GUL(-l+P)PS}
28 Person displaying dextrality bending third hanger (5-6) RIGHT-HANDER*

DOWN
1 "My country and I" on radio! (5) INDIA [DD] I is the NATO ( Radio) alphabet for India
2 Charlie and boy leaving energy storage units in feline care institutions (9) CATTERIES {C}{bATTERIES}
3 Consequence of lustre being spoilt? (6) RESULT*
4 Is a note rewritten in country? (7) ESTONIA*
5 Fit a bell like emblem for starters (4) ABLE [ACROSTIC]
6 Part of skin from European spider running across highway (9) EPIDERMIS {E}{SPIDER}* around {MI}
7 Sailor eats in a disorderly manner and reduces (6) ABATES {AB}{EATS*}
8 Wife, accompanied by nurse having container, entered (4,2) WENT IN {W}{EN}{TIN}
14 Make a sound like a horse, boy, with our next door resident (9) NEIGHBOUR {NEIGH}{B}{OUR}
16 Anticipated face appearing in final (9) ENVISAGED {EN{VISAGE}D}
17 Bends damaged bowlers after removing rim initially (6) ELBOWS {BOWLErS}*
18 Animal DNA mutated in it, a chemical like sulphuric acid (7) OXIDANT {OX}{I{DNA*}T}
20 Tiny adolescent, perhaps, with sexy exterior (6) TEENSY {TEEN}{SexY}
21 General accompanying Ms Braun to city (6) GENEVA {GEN}{EVA}
24 Read wrongly about first lady character appearing in Sherlock Holmes story (5) ADLER {READ}* around {Lady}
25 Barge crashed in absence of a floating mass of ice (4) BERG {BaRGE}*

REFERENCE LIST
Energy=E, Carbon=C, Alien=ET( Extra-Terrestrial), Top Class= A1=AI, Six=VI (Roman numeral), Lake=L, Portugal=P, Charlie=C, Boy=B, European=E, Sailor=AB (Able-Bodied Seaman), Wife=W, Nurse=EN (Enrolled Nurse), General=Gen.

Sunday 08 Mar 2026, IIT (M) WGC, IIT (M) Crossie Open, KrisKross



Announcing the Crossie Open 2026 - Cryptic Crossword competition conducted by the Word Games Club of IIT Madras. It is on March 8th, 2026 at the IIT Madras campus, and I will be hosting it this year.

Registrations are now open - please use this link (google form) to register.

https://forms.gle/eZivoahrNcwt3pTdA