No 14746, Friday 20 Mar 2026, Vidwan

Rangoli by Gowri

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS FOR FRIDAY ONLY

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PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

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ACROSS

9   A militarist NATO resulting in dictatorship (15) TOTALITARIANISM*

10 House girl used to be hot? Nonsense! (7) HOGWASH {HO}{G}{WAS}{H} House/Ho?

12 Not under current coverage of France, Greece island gets evacuated (3-4) OFF-GRID {OF}{F}{GR}{Is..nD}

13 Assortment of best retreats with religious instruction after rain (9) POTPOURRI {TOP<=} and {RI}<=>{POUR}

14 Mother! Clear the decks! (5) EARTH [T]

15 Bit unusual! Guys coming before time! (7) ODDMENT {ODD}{MEN}{T}

18 Cosy retreats in heavily armed chopper (7) GUNSHIP {SNUG<=}{HIP}

21 Sharp strong beer? Right! (5) ALERT {ALE}{RT} Why 'strong'?

23 Father! Clean Spooner's line carrying vital liquid! (5,4) WATER PIPE (pater wipe to water pipe)

25 Get discouraged as pride crumbles (7)  DESPAIR*

26 Test pile, lacks one for instance (7) EXAMPLE {EXAM}{PiLE}

29 Entertaining team and broken records for those following basics too literally! (15) FUNDAMENTALISTS {FUN}{TEAM+AND}*{LISTS}

DOWN

1   Impress and get without force (4) ETCH fETCH

2   Bachelor's field is endless (4) STAG STAGe

3   Bare cola cocktail for a tuna (8) ALBACORE*

4   Some sweet cherries for one making good impressions! (6) ETCHER [T] Why 'good'?

5   Moody sibling, ignoring cold, writing software (8) BROODING {BRO}{cODING}

6   Draw feminine force in real shapes (6) RAFFLE {RA{F}{F}LE*}

7   Shifted her chair for high priest (8) HIERARCH*

8   Like having thick raised joint at centre of a vessel (8) AMIDSHIP {A{DIM<=}S}{HIP}

11 Form of ordinary emptiness (5) OVOID {O}{VOID}

15 Fitfully switch positions (2,3,3) ON AND OFF [C&DD]

16 Dead urgent! Prince going out for a dip! (8) DRESSING {D}{pRESSING}

17 Stopped advancement of abnormal growth in the delta (8) THWARTED {WART} in {THE}{D}

19 Up early in the day all year, as usual (8) NORMALLY {MORN}*{ALL}{Y}

20 First politician to regularly deal and push (5) IMPEL {1}{MP}{dEaL}

22 The AA regularly talk about something that creates immersive drinking experience (3,3) TEA BAG {ThE}{aA}{GAB<=}

24 Compact essay about Hoover (6) TREATY {TR{EAT}Y}

27 Present state (4) POSE [DD]

28 Some cite as example of simplicity (4) EASE [T]

Reference List

Girl = G, Hot = H, France = F, Greece = GR, Religious Instruction = RI, Time = T, Righ = RT, Force = F, Cold = C, Feminine = F, Thick = DIM, Ordinary = O, Dead = D, Prince = P, Delta = D

No 14745, Thursday 19 Mar 2026, Vidwan

Solution to 15A 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

8   Unveil jersey for professional horse rider (10) SHOWJUMPER {SHOW}{JUMPER}

9   Fail to cut and fall (4) FLOP {F}{LOP}

10 Most splendid, model kind of hair damage (5,3) SPLIT END {SPLENDId+T}*

11 Lifeless and completely overwhelmed by depression after retiring (6) PALLID {ALL} in {DIP<=}

12 A strong hand stretched to gratify (4,4) LONG SUIT {LONG}{SUIT}

15 Solicitor spending time on good turns occasionally to excel (6) O?T?U? (Addendum - OUTGUN {tOUT}{G}{tUrNs} - See comments)

16 Stop or cap it subtly for making chip (6,5) POTATO CRISP*   

22 Kid involved in urban terrorism (6) BANTER [T]

23 Genetics deciphered it? Yes, internally! (8) HEREDITY [T]

26 Make something neat! It's possibly stupidity! (4,2) TIDY UP {TIDY+UP+ITS}*=STUPIDITY

27 Use nice grand solution for upgrading race (8) EUGENICS {USE+NICE+G}*

28 India's first scam superstar (4) ICON {In..a}{CON}

29 Mirth rating possibly for Italian Vermouth (10) EVALUATION  {EVALUATION+MIRTH}* = ITALIAN VERMOUTH

DOWN

1   Juvenile worker's small trip with ruffian, going north (4,3) SHOP BOY {S}{HOP}{YOB<=}

2   Absconding fellow grovelling for shelter (6) AWNING fAWNING

3   Lover welcomes your company (6) BUREAU {B{UR}EAU}

4   Personal article in Europe Daily (2-2) OP-ED [T]

5   Software security flaw is bit about disheartened doctor (4,4) TRAP DOOR {PART<=}{DOctOR}

6   Inspiration for a poet - a loud set from America (8) AFFLATUS {A}{F}{FLAT}{US}

7   Firm and devoted liberal (7) COPIOUS {CO}{PIOUS}

13 Regularly sweat to get established (3) SET {SwEaT]

14 Canine is also half of this! (5) TOOTH {TOO}{THis}

17 Cold, dishonest and isolated (8) OUTLYING {OUT}{LYING}

18 See rapid changes in jet's pace (8) AIRSPEED*

19 Rage, without feminine passion (3) IRE fIRE

20 Gujarat river, essential internally for cassava root product (7) TAPIOCA {TAPI}fOCAl}

21 Boy getting parasite label that clings (5-2) STICK-ON {S{TICK}ON}

24 Fix our suffering (6) RIGOUR {RIG}{OUR}

25 Mark of French-English School on head (6) DENOTE {DE}{ETON<=}

27 Kind of lean style (4) ELAN*

Reference List

Fail = F, Model = T, Time = T, Good = G,  Grand = G, Small = S, Fellow = F, Loud = F, Firm = CO, Feminine = F, Of in French = DE