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.

No 14947, Friday 13 Nov 2026, Vidwan

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ACROSS

1   Arriving quietly, displacing millions for surviving (6)  COPING CO(-m+p)PING

5   Digital version of post, curiously lacking in content perhaps (4,4) SOFT COPY {OF+POST+Cu...lY}*

9   Casting Director - one who makes advances! (8) CREDITOR* 

10 Adore choreographer, every bit from the rear! (6) REVERE [T<=]

11 It's most certainly played by model player (12) CLARINETTIST {ITS+CERTAINLy}*{T}

13 Try India's public transport (4) TAXI {TAX}{I}

14 Continental public transport routes are most exciting (8) EUROSTAR*

17 Heads out with one working for support (8) ADHESION {HEADS*}{1}{ON}

18 No small joke for comrade (4) ALLY sALLY

20 Gold embedded in the leather! Our cute dresses represent high quality fashion! (5,7) HAUTE COUTURE {H{AU}TE*}{OUR+CUTE}*

23 Caribbean city seizes Britain, leaves USA tormented (6) NASSAU {NAbS}{USA*}

24 Tsetse! It can be most nettlesome! (8) TESTIEST*

25 Extremely small first lady avoiding a broadcast (8) SEVERELY {S}{EVE}{RELaY}

26 Most pay attention to faceless British playright's bray (3-3) HEE-HAW {HEEd}{sHAW}

DOWN

2   Part of progress for monster (4) OGRE {HIPS]

3   Causing magnetic effect, kind of divine and almost cute! (9) INDUCTIVE {DIVINE+CUTe}*

4   Georgia beverage with slice of Ukrainian cake (6) GATEAU {GA}{TEA}{Uk...n}

5   Sector of economy scrutinised very casually (7,8) SERVICE INDUSTRY*

6   Withhold leading magazine covering a resistance (8) FORBEARS {FORBE{A}{R}S}

7   I've exchanged a cat for another cat! (5) CIVET {C(-a+ive)IVET

8   Agent from the south is hot, fit and easily spoilt! (10) PERISHABLE {REP<=}{IS}{H}{ABLE}

12 Held apart, a fixed part of mouth (4,6) HARD PALATE*

15 Tide waste, spread across the province (9) STATEWIDE*

16 Medicine can heal over time (8) TINCTURE {TIN}{CURE} over {T} 

19 Violent uprising arising out of Rajput schisms (6) PUTSCH [T]

21 Oddly that's outside the experience (5) TASTE {ThAtS}{ThE}

22 America is also partly backward continent (4) ASIA [T<=]

Reference List

Quietly = P, Millions = M, Model = T, India = I, Small = S, Britain = B, Resistance = R, Agent = REP, Hot = H, Time = T