No 14854, Friday 24 Jul 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

8   Picked up a date in full-body suit (6) ONESIE (~ one see)

9   Essential food items for adolescents delivered (8) PROTEINS {PRO}{(~teens)TEINS}

10 Rock music without / with metal (8) SCANDIUM {SC{AND}IUM*}

11 Frequently reviewed math, sci though I understand you (6) GOTCHA {mAtH+sCi+ThOuGh<=}

12 Jailbird to assist guard (8) CONSERVE {CON}{SERVE}

13 Local travel mostly arranged before noon (6) TAVERN {TRAVEl}*{N}

14 Bohemian robe at Nike stores (7) BEATNIK [T]

17 Empty building housing most ancient astronomer (7) PTOLEMY {PT{OLd}EMY*}

20 Chiefly unselfish bonding using nobility to unify humanity (6) UBUNTU Acrostic Semi&lit

22 A tear circled face reflecting heated exchange (8) ARGUMENT {A}{R{MUG<]ENT}

25 Fair leader squirming in this scared reel (6) AFRAID  {AFRAID+REEL}*=FAIR LEADER [CA]

26 Initiates deals (5,3) LEADS OFF {DEALS}* [RA]

27 Retired soldier with army worn by death and rivalry (8) VENDETTA {VET}{TA}over {END}

28 Fancy student amidst new hires (6) RELISH {RE{L}ISH*}

DOWN

1   Cast enacted absorbing love story (8) ANECDOTE {ANECD{O}TE*}

2   Positions article controlled by likes (6) ASANAS {AS}{AN}{AS}

3   First Hispanic gent touring India (6) SENIOR {SEN{I}OR}

4   Junk mailer left rotting in jail for pigs primarily (7) SPAMMER S(-l+p)PAMMER

5   Some puff or get itchy? No way! (6,2) FORGET IT [T]

6   Siva left crackers for Diwali, perhaps (8) FESTIVAL*

7   Secure host for a TV show (6) ANCHOR [DD]

15 Regularly trains KIA's rides for liquid transporters (8) TANKARDS {TrAiNs+KiAs+RiDeS}

16 United Nations entering current engagement in flood (8) INUNDATE {IN}{UN}{DATE}

18 Clear display (8) MANIFEST [DD]

19 Spooner's put meat as ingredient in pulao (3,4) BAY LEAF (~lay beef to bay leaf)

21 One required to polish floor cushion (6) BUFFER  [DD]

23 Hard navigating grand city in skirt (6) GHAGRA {H} in {G}{AGRA}

24 Bits of mixed assorted spices adding lingering aroma! (6) MASALA Acrostic &lit

Reference List

Noon = N, Retired soldier = VET, Army = TA, Student = L, India = I, Current = IN, Hard = H, Grand = G

No 14853, Thursday 23 Jul 2026, Dr. X

Solution to 12A 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

1   Swilling hooch with boss in empty cubicle? There's no alternative (7,6) HOBSONS CHOICE {HOOCH+BOSS+IN}*{Cu...lE}

8   Controlled bronco finally in event for cowboys (5) RODEO {RODE}{b...cO}

9   One disparaging rebellious socialist penning essay on principle of ownership (9) DETRACTOR {RED<=} over {TRACT}{Ow...p}

11 Brilliant rounds against member in bridge (10) CANTILEVER {C{ANTI}LEVER}

12 Spirits in Japanese bar (4) ?I?N (Addendum - JINN {J}{INN} - See comments)

14 Holds member overwhelmed by drinks (7) ALLEGES {AL{LEG}ES}

16 Way to enthral date with excellent stir-fried noodle dish (3,4) PAD THAI {PA{D}TH}{A1}

17 Correctly limiting operation by Indigo, ultimately it's a form of market dominance (7) DUOPOLY {DU{OP}{i...gO}LY}

19 Remarking about hotel's mediocrity (7) NOTHING {NOT{H}ING}

21 Bond in tuxedo at hotel (4) OATH [T]

22 Meeting couple of criminals to secure Ecstasy before start of rave (10) CONFERENCE {CON}{F{E}{Rave}ENCE}

25 File, one with bugs primarily found in search for potentially harmful software (5,4) LOGIC BOMB {LOG}{1}{C{Bugs}OMB}

26 Declared independence, inspired by a revolutionary (5) AIRED {A}{I}{RED}

27 Meme is on mercurial leader of America — accurate to a certain extent (2,4,7) IN SOME MEASURE {MEME+IS+ON}*{Am...a}{SURE}

DOWN

2   First perhaps in viva about noise (7) ORDINAL {OR{DIN}AL} 

3   Extremely sexy maiden and old ruler in snap (7,3) SMOKING HOT {S{M}{O}{KING}HOT} Semi&lit

4   Jog naked after consuming bhang finally (5) NUDGE {NUD{b..nG}E}

5   Protect pants with stylish fastener (6,3) COTTER PIN {PROTECT}*{IN}

6   S. American wood sorrels in ordinary, round bag (4) OCAS {O}{SAC<=}

7   Online deceiver chats artfully, ensnaring female on island (7)  CATFISH {CHATS}* over {F}{I}

8   Musicians at centre in Akron playing funny genre of music (4,3,4) ROCK AND ROLL {m..iCi..s} in {AKRON}*{DROLL}

10 One seen at top of each page is boss of company organising marathons? (7,4) RUNNING HEAD [DD]

13 Opinion pieces in different dailies about mounting corruption (10) EDITORIALS {DAILIES}* over {ROT<=} Semi&lit

15 Groom may snore after drinking alcohol heartily! Understood (3,2,4) SAY NO MORE {MAY+SNORE}* over {alcOhol}

18 Old cheat captivating model with a good figure (7) OCTAGON {O}{C{T}{A}{G}ON}

20 One who disregards forger in building passing francs (7) IGNORER {fORGER+IN}*

23 Sack contains black thread (5) FIBRE {FI{B}RE}

24 Clone obtained by hi-tech operation (4) ECHO [T]

Reference List

Socialist = RED, Date = D, Operation = OP, Hotel = H, Ecstasy = E, Independence = I, Revolutionary = RED, Maiden = M, Old = O, Ordinary = O, Female = F, Island = I, Model T, Good = G, Francs = F, Black = B