No 14794, Friday 15 May 2026, Hypatia

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS FOR FRIDAY ONLY

All those who are not regular commenters but who are rookie commenters or silent followers of the blog are requested to post answers with annotations in the comments section. In your own interest please avoid looking up the answers from the interactive version. Don't hesitate to post your annotations, in case you make a mistake in the annotation someone will correct it with the right annotation.

PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

Each commenter is requested to post only 5 answers thereby giving others also a chance to participate. Please provide all your answers in one comment.

Regular solvers/Veterans can post 1 answer each, but after 11 AM only.

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

ACROSS

7   Cycles poorly to hospital in rough vehicle (8) RICKSHAW {(-s)ICK(+s)S}{H}{ in {RAW}

9   Active local touring old destinations initially on a ship (6) ABOARD {A}{B{O}AR}{De...s}

10 Personally crafted project, say - a lamp (4) DIYA {DIY}{A}

11 Cancelling out filling NYU rolls (10) NULLIFYING*

12 Intolerant people in scraps about match (6) BIGOTS {BI{GO}TS}

14 Whip gooey substances coating ordinary fruits (8) TANGELOS {TAN}{GEL{O}S}

15 Terribly upsetting hater (13) HEARTBREAKING [HATER}* [RA]

18 The Reverend Harry's condition in decline (8) STAGNATE (~nag state to stagnate)

20 Sanskrit scholar drinking hot water in Delhi (6) PANINI {PAN{IN}I}

21 The only option for an ultimate holiday spot? (4,6) LAST RESORT {LAST}{RESORT}

22 Middle Eastern port finally closed to North America (4) DOHA Tail Acrostic

23 Surprisingly last to answer on the buzzer? (6) HORNET {a...eR+ON+THE}*

24 African from Western part of Ghana is in Utah (8) TUNISIAN [T<=]

DOWN

1   Drop vessel, eating very little (8) DIMINISH {DI{MINI}SH}

2   Fine bits of radish alongside vegetable (4) OKRA {OK}{Ra...h}{Al...e}

3   Conservative husband in old style baggy trousers (6) CHINOS {C}{H}{IN}{O}{S}

4   Spanish ranch house had a nice complex (8) HACIENDA*

5   Say, Hawaiian acting in one's play (10) POLYNESIAN*

6   Supporting books - starting from Othello, immediately (6) PRONTO {PRO}{NT}{Ot...o}

8   Smart new tutor led extremely unusual careers (4-6-3) WELL-TURNED-OUT {NEW+TUTOR+LED+Un...aL}*

13 Oscar called you and me to protect brown animals (10) ORANGUTANS {O}{RANG}{U{TAN}S}

16 Touchy about party reduced to a caricature (8) TRAVESTY {T{RAVe}ESTY}

17 Girl with bhai jaan, not oddly pacifist by principle (8) GANDHIAN {G}{AND}{bHaI+jAaN}

19 Item of crockery the camp lost frequently (6) TEAPOT {ThE+cAmP+lOsT}

20 Part of expat in American film (6) PATINA [T]

22 Whack fly (4) DASH [DD]

Reference List

Hospital = H, Old = O, Ordinary = O, Hot = IN, Conservative = C, Husband = H, Style = S, Books = NT(New Testament), Oscar = O, Girl = G

No 14793, Thursday 14 May 2026, Dr. X

Solution to 8A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered 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   Bans pesticide, nasty stuff (4,3,6) BITS AND PIECES*

8   Dim lights entirely at first in pub (5) B?E?R (Addendum - BLEAR {B{Li...s}{En...y}AR} - See comments)

9   Dribbling with energy in east European arena (9) SLAVERING {E} in {SLAV}{RING}

11 Be very surprised by awful heat on set around afternoon (3,4,3) EAT ONES HAT {HEAT+ON+SET}* over {A}

12 Beat culprit stealing bags in retreat (4) STIR [T<=]

14 Father is captivated by a master's art movement (7) DADAISM {DAD}{A}{IS}{M}

16 Kitchen item with good sieve (7) GRIDDLE {G}{RIDDLE}

17 American chap is badly affected by a language disorder (7) APHASIC {A+CHAP+IS}*

19 Overwhelmed by drink, member has terribly serious accident (5-2) SMASH-UP {S{M}{HAS*}UP}

21 Trouble after king's murder (4) KILL {ILL}<=>{K}

22 Hero in rave turned intoxicated (10) ADVENTURER*

25 Repaired terminal's railway tracks (9) TRAMLINES*

26 Extremely unruly fool interrupting concert (5) UNITY {Unr{NIT}ulY}

27 Clear-cut kind of film (5-3-5) BLACK-AND-WHITE [DD]

DOWN

2   Thought creatively and edited a novel (7) IDEATED*

3   Most resilient secret agents collaring gang leader in tunnel (10) SPRINGIEST {SP{RING}IES}{Tu...l}

4   Bags filled with special egg holders (5) NESTS {NE{S}TS}

5   Girl transported by plane has broken bones (9) PHALANGES {G} in {PLANE+HAS}*

6   Wife entertained by show about sheep (4) EWES {SE{W}E<=}

7   Victory secured by deceit, rogue's expelled (7) EVICTED {E{V}ICTED*}

8   Stabbed with rake, ripping the stomach (11) BREADBASKET {STABBED+RAKE}*

10 Start to roll joint with member in merry social event held on lawn (6,5) GARDEN PARTY {Roll}{DEN}{PART} in {GAY}

13 One inspired by macho stud's unusual knack of making money (5,5) MIDAS TOUCH {1} in {MACHO+STUD}*

15 Revolutionary plan to catch brilliant Mafia boss in European region (9) MACEDONIA {AIM<=} over {ACE}{DON}

18 Ancient chamber containing large bag (7) HOLDALL {H{OLD}ALL}

20 Musician in Paris, playing in hotel bar (7) HARPIST {H}{PARIS*}{T}

23 Take a sedative to stay relaxed (5) EASED [T]

24 Starts to beat leader of cocaine cartel (4) BLOC Acrostic

Reference List

Energy = E, Afternoon = A, Master = M, Good = G, Member = M, King = K, Special = S, Girl = G, Wife = W, Victory = V, Hotel = H, Bar = T