Sunday, 15 November 2026

The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday No 82, Sunday 15 Nov 2026, Dr. X

Three answers per commenter till 4 PM (Annotations Compulsory)
Please submit all your answers in one comment.

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

ACROSS
1   Have to break up, crushed by ultimately cruel, abusive type of relationship (4-4)
5   Recognises leader of ultras leaving stadium slyly (6)
10 Reasonable plan to tour Spain and Norway (7)
11 Lasted longer than rum-drinking wino on vacation (7)
12 Paper screen in small house on Japanese island (5)
13 Juvenile is excited about band's first electronic track (9)
14 Misunderstand what inept lineman might do? (Continued in 24 Across) (3,4,5,7)
18 Back pain overwhelms player, finally getting substitute (6,6)
21 Lack of content in doctored Epstein files ultimately saves many (9)
23 Plant on the counter in abbey, exotic (5)
24 See 14 (7)
25 I beg crew frantically to avoid wide hazard at sea (7)
26 Madness perhaps, wasting millions for saloon-cars (6)
27 Troublemaker is dressed to a T in a revolutionary outfit (8)

DOWN
1   Halt is unexpected, getting rather delayed (6)
2   Hawker roved all over the place around noon (6)
3   Scottish islander and hot European go into bar (9)
4   Complete final tasks and sleep outside on ground (3,2,5,4)
6   Turning despondent about extremely terrible times (5)
7   I attempt to achieve a certain equality of measure (8)
8   The Spanish model in a little sexy undergarment is most lissom (8)
9   Winning nothing? Big scoundrel's slyly cheating (6-8)
15 Most delectable brew in some stylish bottles (9) 
16 Qualities of Jewish ascetics adopting principle of celibacy (8)
17 Chap is extremely old, breaks bone (8)
19 Be ashamed of English prince involved in rift (6)
20 Part of former German alliance (6)
22 Revolutionary heroine's biopic enthrals Norwegian playwright (5)

Saturday, 14 November 2026

No 14948, Saturday 14 November 2026, Gridzilla

 ACROSS
6 One may help in identifying Spooner's gentle horse (7) NAMETAG {Spoonerism of Tame Nag}
7 Make use of a screen in the auditorium (5) AVAIL {A}{~VEIL}
9 Trauma is caused by shock, mainly (4) SCAR {SCARe}
10 A place one barely enjoys? (6,4) NUDIST CAMP [CD]
11 Frequently goes abroad, for nothing (5-3) GOOSE EGG [Letter Bank of GOES]
13 & 16D That Ola stopped moving (6,2,1,4) GROUND TO A HALT {THAT OLA}* [RA]
15 For starters, it usually takes eons to withdraw case (4) ETUI [Acrostic<]
17 Grinder is good, after directions are switched (5) MOLAR {MO(-r+L)LA(-l+R)R} Moral with R and L interchanged.
18 Not the first to hang up? (4) OVER {hOVER}
19 Way from podcaster's house (6) MANNER {~MANOR}
20 Annoyed? No (6,2) GRATED ON {NO*} [RA]
23 Gets ready for a shooting? (4,6) SAYS CHEESE [CD]
26 Work quota doubles around lunchtime (4) TOIL {LOT<} around I
27 A prickly plant from south or north (5) THORN [T]
28 Take that drunkard in! (2,5) SO THERE {SOT}{HERE}

DOWN
1 Caricature of senior MP is funny (10) IMPRESSION*
2 Catholic chaps reconcile immediately (2,4) AT ONCE {ATON{C}E}
3 Old footage deceived cops (4) AGED [T]
4 Superintendent taking guards for a little nightly stress buster (8) MASSAGER {MA(-n+SS)SSAGER} Manager with N replaced by SS
5 Secular man essentially hired by Indian insurance company (4) LAIC {L{mAn}IC}
6 A child shares no snack (5) NACHO {N{A}{CH}O}
8 Daily in Paris, one avoids drink (2,5) LE MONDE {LEMONaDE}
12 Extremely unusual silence surrounds labour camp (5) GULAG {UnusuaL} in {GAG}
14 Where a pedicurist should focus, being alert? (2,4,4) ON ONE'S TOES [C&DD]
16 See 13A
17 I'm prone casually after consuming heroin and another drug (8) MORPHINE {IM PRONE}* around H
21 Least bothered about reading notifications? (6) ALERTS {LEAST}* around R
22 Friendly dogs love chilling (2,3) ON ICE {NICE}<=>{O}
24 Out to kill, for the most part (4) SHOO {SHOOt}
25 Tongue, by itself, has no trace of pathology (4) ERSE {pER SE}

REFERENCE LIST
R and L=Directions (Right and Left), Catholic=C, Guards=SS, One=A, Heroin=H, Reading=R, Love=0=O.