No 14946, Thursday 12 Nov 2026, Vidwan

Solution to 20A 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   Committed detectives taking out time for event (8) INCIDENT {IN{+cid-t)CIDENT

9   Like keeping presented plants (6) AGAVES {A{GAVE}S}

10 Mountain range in Spain is surprisingly rare somehow (6) SIERRA {IS*}{RARE*}

11 Test car by turning it on (8) AUDITION {AUDI}{IT+ON}*

12 Mount finest steer (8) BESTRIDE {BEST}{RIDE}

13 No love? Girl's retreating to place like Venice! (6) LAGOON {NO}{O}{GAL}<=

14 Cruelly pick out and turn a man's colon as an illustration (11,4) PUNCTUATION MARK {PICK+OUT+TURN+A+MAN}*

18 So pain reliever works for basic ego! (3,3) ICE BAG {ICE+BAG+SO}*=BASIC EGO

20 Uses one incessantly in works of little consequences (3-5) N?N-?S?U? (Addendum - NON-ISSUE {USES+ONe+IN}* - See comments)

23 Lady's cryptic clues for macho man (8) HERCULES {HER}{CLUES*}

24 Alien trapped in prey's germ cell (6) GAMETE {GAM{ET}E}

25 Company guy makes sense (6) COGENT {CO}{GENT}

26 A right time and one small endeavour leads to creativity (8) ARTISTRY {A}{R}{T}{1}{S}{TRY}

DOWN

1   Charlie kicked right out in full draw (6) ENTICE ENTI(+c-r)CE

2   Water pill - It cured one's suffering (8) DIURETIC {IT+CURED+1}*

3   Genuine pal, Indian holds as neighbour! (6) NEPALI [T]

4   A tiny slave tends sick when love is celebrated by the world (2,10,3) ST VALENTINES DAY*

5   Devious UCLA idol and Spanish leader (8) CAUDILLO*

6   Makeshift robe, possibly for Greta Garbo (6) RAGTAG {RAGTAG+ROBE}*=GRETA GARBO [CD]

7   Oh! It is moment of truth! (4,4)  ZERO HOUR {0}{H}

15 Cut melon supply to Black American who is too friendly with whites (5,3) UNCLE TOM*

16 Colt's an example of sporting gun suitable for everyone old! (8) UNGULATE {GUN}{U}{LATE}

17 Married his hairy maiden, has turned into quite a mess! (8) MISHMASH {M}{HIS*}{M}{HAS*}

19 Bold cyber-criminal wanting hot sponsor (6) BACKER {B}{hACKER}

21 Revoke work breaks in modern port (6) NEGATE {NEw}{GATE}

22 Put up with bad run leading to positive change in fortune (6) UPTURN {PUT*}{RUN*}

Reference List

Time = T, Alien = ET, Right = R, Small = S, Charlie = C, 0 = Zero, H = HOUR, Suitable for everyone = U, Married = M, Maiden = M, Bold = B, Hot = H, Work = W

No 14945, Wednesday 11 Nov 2026, Pixie Dust

Solution to 23A 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

7   Bit of torn slip leads to panic (6) TERROR {Torn}{ERROR}

8   Does this rigged deal upset Poet Judo's Pub? (3-2,3) PUT-UP JOB {PUT UP JOB+DOES}*=POET+JUDOS+PUB [CA]

9   One key? (8) CARDINAL [DD]

10 Section of Noble Antony's outhouse (4-2) LEAN-TO [T]

11 Say 25 sheets describing early signs of a General Manager's predicament (8) QUAGMIRE {QU{A}{Ge...l}{Ma...r}}IRE}

12 A teen behind every other Roman Epic? (6) AENEID {A+tEeN+bEhInD}

13 Option via net? (11) ALTERNATIVE {VIA+NET}* Letter Bank

18 Fabricate greasepaint (4-2) MAKE-UP [DD]

20 Witness (butler) led by old bishop (8) OBSERVER {SERVER}<=>{O}{B}

22 Evil spirit consuming Rector's soulmate (6) FRIEND {F{R}IEND}

23 Ancient history about the sly one in flood (8) O?E?F?O? 

24 Begad! Get rye sandwiches! Works? (8) GADGETRY [T]

25 Some nickname citizens circulating for thief (6) ICEMAN [T<=]

DOWN

1   Control extremely ambiguous American spyware (7) PEGASUS {PEG}{Am...uS}{US}

2   Reckless champ like Pacino, for one (8) PRODIGAL {PRO}{DIG}{AL}

3   Urbanite mysteriously losing a Tesla in country (6) BRUNEI URBaNItE*

4   Dependable celebrity going around breaking law, finally caught (8) STALWART {ST{LAW*}AR}{c...hT}

5   Hurt after model left of capital of Portugal in anxiety (6) SPRAIN {S(-t+p)PRAIN}

6   Buffalo! I cannot accommodate (7) CONTAIN*

8   Openly tag repeatedly to find Friend Geller's interest? (13) PALAENTOLOGY {OPENLY+TAG}* Letter Bank

14 Hurry! Shortly reject horrible diet (8) EXPEDITE {EXPEl}{DIET*}

15 Truly curt, I fire criminal checker (8) VERIFIER {VERy}{I+FIRE}* 

16 The Reverend asks for Pixie in part of golf course? (7) FAIRWAY (~where fay to fairway)

17 Female adores fancy headwear (7) FEDORAS {F}{ADORES}*

19 Come out and enjoy moonlit evenings, romantic, gloriously enchanting to begin with (6) EMERGE Acrostic Semi&lit

21 Bet that is small change (6) SPECIE {SPEC}{IE}

Reference List

Old = O, Bishop = B, Rector = R, Model = T, Female = F, Bet = SPEC