Special, Sunday 16 Mar 2025, IIT(M) Word Games Club Prelim, Dr. X

THREE answers per commenter till 6 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)

Enjoy.

The Sunday Crossword No 3349, Sunday 16 Mar 2025,

ACROSS

1   Tree resins in health facilities sent back (4) SAPS<=

3   Common insects: audience hurries away (10) HOUSEFLIES {HOUSE}{FLIES}

9   What’s in jug? Lichee fruit (4) UGLI [T]

10 Messed around with ease, I might be on a roll (6,4) SESAME SEED {MESSED+EASE}*

11 Bureaucrat to avoid waterfowl (8,4) MANDARIN DUCK {MANDARIN}{DUCK}

15 Pine marten perhaps leading in distance raced (7) FURLONG {LONG}<=>{FUR}

16 Ignoring some affront, he got busy (2-3-2) ON-THE-GO [T]

17 Everyman initially nags deputies: they fill the cells (7) INMATES {I}{Nags}{MATES}

19 Corroborate order for Paddington to go? (4,3) BEAR OUT {BEAR}{OUT}

20 Writhing, hurt, rocks or reels at first, filled with dread (6-6) HORROR STRUCK {HURT+ROCKS+OR+Re..s}

23 According to Spooner, not one youngster or the other is to wed (3,3,4) TIE THE KNOT (~neither tot to tie the knot)

24 In den, with stomach churning, peddler of falsehoods (4) LIAR {L(A<=>I)R}

25 Records rugby highlights in woven illustrations (10) TAPESTRIES {TAPES}{TRIES}

26 Empire invaded by Spanish finding home by Central America (4) INCA {IN}{C}{A}

DOWN

1   Miss embraced by oiled nudist hunk (4,6) STUD MUFFIN {MUFF} in {NUDIST}* 

2   Race car, for example – or kayak! (10) PALINDROME Definition by Example

4   Job available in Gap (7) OPENING [DD]

5   Creep showing how to describe what’s average in two words? (2-3-2) SO-AND-SO [DD]

6   Egg on this: santé! (6,5) FRENCH TOAST [DD]

7   Notion, almost perfect (4) IDEA IDEAl

8   Scandalous author – disturbing eroticist, principally? (4) SADE {SAD}{Er...t}

12 Characters seen in Britain’s Got Talent and The Winter’s Tale? (11) APOSTROPHES Def by Example

13 Rising gyration (10) REVOLUTION [DD]

14 Alternative adopted by disruptive shakeout somewhere on the Yellow Sea (5,5) SOUTH KOREA {OR} in {SHAKEOUT}*

18 Attacking footballer, one with brilliant match? (7) STRIKER [DD]

19 Read aloud Howl, poem: will it scan? (7) BARCODE {(~ bark)BARC}{ODE}

21 Piece of info, ASAP! (4) STAT [DD]

22 Look furtively – in both directions? (4) PEEP <=>

Reference List

Central = C, America = A