No 14780, Wednesday 29 Oct 2026, Arden

Solution to 22A 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   Had returned in disarray - kept gunners hidden, undetected (5,3,5) UNDER THE RADAR {HAD+RETURNED}* over {RA}

10 Imprisoned leader disposed of as he was indisposed (5) AILED jAILED

11 Flow rate on board can be solved (9) TREATABLE {RATE}*{TABLE}

12 Find out why active retired men run away (9) DETERMINE {rETIRED+MEN}*

13 Initially some study and leave (5) SCRAM {Some}{CRAM}

14 Moors' short reply to catch a thief in Delhi (7) ANCHORS {AN{CHOR}Swer}

16 Fancy marketing mantra adopted by a group (7) SUSPECT {S{USP}ECT}

18 A recluse accepts money and distributes it among the poor (7) ALMONER {A}{L{M}ONER} Semi&lit

20 Operator's tool to climb over parking line (7) SCALPEL {SCAL{P}E}{L}

22 Manage to get initial guarantee from bank (5) R?D?E (Addendum - RIDGE {RID{Gu...e}E} - See comments)

24 Close call for new grounding (4,5) NEAR THING {N}{EARTHING}

26 Operation was successful initially on family corruption (4,5) SKIN GRAFT {Su...l}{KIN}{GRAFT}

27 Leaders in Masjids are mainly selected to lead the prayers (5) IMAMS Acrostic Semi&lit

28 Possibly repairing core of the old airmail system (7,6) CARRIER PIGEON*

DOWN

2   Belonging to a family of the languages spoken in Egypt, nothing pertains to the ear (7) NILOTIC {NIL}{OTIC}

3   Deride angrily and admit it keeps you warm (9) EIDERDOWN {DERIDE}*{OWN}

4   Model suit tailored for one in Kigali, perhaps... (5) TUTSI {T}{SUIT}*

5   ...besides eating balanced square meal (9) ELEVENSES {EL{EVEN}SE}{S}

6   Wagers earlier in Spain (5) ANTES {ANTE}{S}

7   Egg plant - not in French restaurant (7) AUBERGE AUBERGinE

8   Help lift car up and down - others get a heart attack (7,6) CARDIAC ARREST {CAR}{AID<=}{CAR}{REST}

9   Worried old-timers got a medical specialist (13) DERMATOLOGIST*

15 Over time psychiatrist gets depreciation (9) SHRINKAGE {AGE}<=>{SHRINK}

17 Bird takes time - that's astonishing (9) STARTLING {S{TAR{T}LING}

19 Admire a bubbly wine (7) MADEIRA* 

21 Compatriot has no money upfront in India (7) PAISANO {NO}<=>{PAISA}

23 Keen to get inside a German university (5) EAGER [T]

25 Misbehave with law, having state support (3,2) ACT UP {ACT}{UP}

Reference List

Gunners = RA(Royal Artillery), Run = R, Thief in Hindi = CHOR, Marketing mantra = USP, Money = M, Parking = P, Line = L, New = N, Model = T, Square = S, Spain = S, Time = T

No 14779, Tuesday 28 Apr 2026, Crossant

Solution to 17D 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   Want runs in the end (6) DEARTH {DEA{R}TH}

4   After headers of Cristiano Ronaldo, supporters start going crazy (8) CRACKERS {Cr...o}{Ro...o}{bACKERS}

9   Did without common parking for hotel (6) SPARED S(-h+p)PARED

10 Mumbai Indians celebrity, reportedly aggrieved, eventually moved (8) MIGRATED {MI}{(~great)GRATE}{a...eD}

12 Stink from bit of rotten, unopened vegetable (4) REEK {Ro...n}{lEEK}

13 Initially unacceptable terms also accommodated in complete reversal (10) SOMERSAULT {Un...e+TERMS+ALSO}*

15 Convey to American leader and escalate a crisis (5,2,1,4) BRING TO A HEAD {BRING}{TO}{A}{HEAD}

18 Instruction before young member of family takes foreign trip (12) PRESCRIPTION {PRE}{SCION} over {TRIP}*

21 Keeps returning to dock around Ukrainian port (10) SEVASTOPOL {SAVES}{TO}{LOP<=}

22 Nag about missing half of practice (4) CARP PRACtice<=

24 Associates with criminal types (8) CONSORTS {CON}{SORTS}

25 Eggs in bird cage, nearly hundred in the beginning (6) CAVIAR {AVIARy}<=>{C}

26 Banks maybe refusing loans, primarily pinching American customers (3,5) END USERS {lEND{US}ERS}

27 Insists on letting out front part of roadside property (6) ASSETS ASSErTS

DOWN

1   Give details of small rudimentary dwelling engulfed by river (8) DESCRIBE {DE{S}{CRIB}E}

2   He's learned something that has no practical value (8) ACADEMIC [DD]

3   Openings for trained, reliable, electrical engineers in plant (4) TREE Acrostic

5   One way to get more space in the attic - make a lot of noise (5,3,4) RAISE THE ROOF [DD]

6   Cheats and complains about suffering hard times in the end (4,6) CARD SHARPS {CARPS} over {HARD+t..eS}*

7   Consumes drug and drink after a bit of temptation (4,2) EATS UP {E} and {SUP}<=>{A}{Te...n}

8   Dignified boy staying away from heated debates (6) SEDATE DEbATES*

11 Vehicle perhaps comes to outskirts of Raipur too (5,7) MOTOR SCOOTER {COMES+TO+Ra..uR+TOO}*

14 Rage so often produces violent people (10) AGGRESSORS {RAGE+SO}* [Letter Bank]

16 Agree on disposal of files implicating popular American (8) FINALISE {FILES}* over {IN}{A}

17 Produces fire and smoke basically (8) ?N?P?R?S ()

19 Korean rapper, revolutionary soul (6) PSYCHE {PSY}{CHE}

20 Balanced playing eleven - left out MSD finally (6) EVENED {ElEVEN}*{msD}

23 Girl failing to finish drink (4) LASS LASSi

Reference List

Runs = R, Parking = P, Hotel = H, American = A, Hundred = C, American = US, Small = S, Drug = E, Boy = B, Left = L