The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday No 80, Sunday 01 Nov 2026, Bruno

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ACROSS

1   Section of University gets first test (4) UNIT {UNI}{T}

3   Prominent old bishop gets help to recruit a lawyer (10) OBSERVABLE {O}{B}{SERV{A}{BL}E} POS issue

9   Actually, the Federal Reserve repealed law on overdraft to begin with (2,5) DE FACTO {FED<=}{ACT}{Ov...t}

11 Record ending in symphony - often called one of three Rs... (7)  RECYCLE {REC}{s...nY}{CaLlEd}

12 Yard party with alcoholic drink's about to be joined by man to give new life (8) REEMBODY {Y}{DO}{BEER} over {M}

13 Louvre has no right to move egg (5) OVULE*

15 Starving, endured hours in exercises (14) UNDERNOURISHED*

17 Opening in wall with plaster covering a piece of stone to get breeze - out west (8,6) CASEMENT WINDOW {C{A}{St..e}EMENT}{WIND}{O}{W}

21 Awake... about to follow shy animal (5) COYPU {UP<=}<=>{COY}

22 Ring with stylish cut on girl's top (8)  OUTCLASS {O}{CUT*}{LASS}

24 Apply uniform tiles decoratively to cover interior of pit (7) UTILISE {U}{TILES*} over {pIt}

25 Nerveless soldiers turned up, pulled out crocodile's nuts (3-4) ICE-COLD CroCODILE*

26 Very small youth took years to go to big city (5-5)  TEENY-WEENY {TEEN}{Y}{WEE}{NY} 

27 Boss' analysis finished early (4) STUD STUDy

DOWN

1   Tenderloin's rough and bloody up in the middle (8) UNDERCUT {UN{RED<=}CUT}

2   One doesn't believe daughter moved all the way south for place of action (7) INFIELD INFI(-d)EL(+d)D

4   Amoral earnings can attract demon, perhaps by vices (5,5) BLOOD MONEY {LOO}DEMON*} in {BY}

5   Nobleman's gemstone quietly stolen (4) EARL pEARL

6   Cleric's problematic situation... (7,6) VICIOUS CIRCLE {CLERIC}* [RA]

7   ... the reason being ecstasy and cocaine abuse, sadly (7) BECAUSE {E+C+ABUSE}*

8   Area surrounded by water said to be a hole (6) EYELET (~islet)

10 Bury city erects building without bar for protection (13) CYBERSECURITY {BURY+CItY+ERECTS}*

14 One could be extending out for support shortly at home, overcoming remorse, at heart (10) PROTRUSION {PRO}{TRUSt}{I{remOrse}N}

16 Bilateral treaty's prologue's broad, covering old Southern dispute's origin (3-5) TWO-SIDED {Tr...y}{W{O}{S}IDE}{Di...e}

18 Not starting crazy relationship spanning months at your convenience (7) ANYTIME {zANY}{TI{M}E}

19 Prolong disease after doctor's medications essentially (4,3) DRAG OUT {GOUT}<=>{DR}{m...cAt...s} 

20 Supernatural and lacking volume, with ugly legs and three heads? (6) OCCULT {O}{CC}{Ugly}{Legs}{Th..e}

23 Main character energy suppressing love now (4) HERE HER(+e-o)E

Reference List

Old= O, Bishop = B, Lawyer = BL, Yard = Y, Party = DO, Man = M, Out = O, West = W, Soldiers = OR, Years = Y, Daughter = D, Can = LOO, Quietly = P, Ecstasy = E, Cocaine = C, Bar = T, At home = IN, Southern = S, Months = M, Energy = E

No 14937, Saturday 31 October 2026, Dr. X

 ACROSS
1 Stuttering? We got heartily drunk - it's difficult to articulate (6,7) TONGUE TWISTER {STUTTERING WE gOt}*
8 Wife enthralled by knocking back European beverages (5) BREWS {S{W}ERB}<
9 Transports ecstasy across Spain by a stretch of water ( 6,3) BERING SEA {B{E}RINGS}{E}{A}

11 Instruct crew to move closer to check railway accident (5,5) TRAIN WRECK {TRAIN}{CREW*}{checK}
12 Come up against fine champion (4) FACE {F}{ACE}
14 Baron, touch irritated by prince's bungle (5,2) BOTCH UP {B}{TOUCH*}{P}
16 A bag containing note with extremely unusual ring (7) ANNULET {A}{N{N}{UnusuaL}ET}

17 Detached portion of old, broken tile in ancient city (7) OUTLIER {O}{U{TILE*}R}
19 Cher is zesty at opening, playing lively compositions (7) SCHERZI {CHER IS Zesty}*
21 King survives, grabs queen's Malayan dagger (4) KRIS {K}{R}{IS}

22 Lacking width - saw's not working (3,2,5) OUT OF WHACK {OUT OF}{W}{HACK}
25 Slow-cooked cut of beef and drink for a soprano and tenor (4,5) RUMP ROAST {RUM}{PRO}{A}{S}{T}
26 Beginning to tipple in the middle of the day? That's unacceptable (3,2) NOT ON {NO{Tipple}ON}
27 Cheetahs ran berserk outside oriental college? It's likely (3,7,3) THE CHANCES ARE {CHEETAHS RAN}* around {E}{C}

DOWN
2 Soft drug in full moon rave is producing effects (7) OPERANT {P}{E} in {O}{RANT}
3 Cured his dengue on time - bless you! (10) GESUNDHEIT {HIS DENGUE}*{T}
4 Stop in English pub across motorway (5) EMBAR {E}{M}{BAR}
5 Line deleted from outstanding part of speech (4,5) WORD CLASS {WORlD}{CLASS
6 Shoot second goal (4) SEND {S}{END}
7 Tangle with nobleman protecting extremely notorious nationalist (7) ENSNARL {E{NotoriouS}{N}ARL} 
8 One treating cardiovascular problem caused by drink outside club's retro bar (4,7) BETA BLOCKER {BEER} outside {BAT<}{LOCK}
10 Stunned by associate spreading news about fraud by head of establishment (11) AWESTRICKEN {A}{NEWS*} about {TRICK}{Establishment}
13 Where airplane's fuel is // readily available (2,3,5) IN THE WINGS [DD]
15 Reckless ultra caught by policeman around atomic plant (9) PORTULACA {ULTRA*} inside {COP<}+A

18 Conquest by US president to seize island near northern side of Hormuz (7) TRIUMPH {TR{I}UMP}{Hormuz}
20 Cooking appliance in a resort malfunctioned (7) ROASTER*
23 Work on twitch relating to the eye (5) OPTIC {OP}{TIC}
24 Reptile amongst metamorphic rocks (4) CROC [T]

REFERENCE LIST

Wife=W, Ecstasy=E, Spain=E, Fine=F, Baron=B, Prince=P, Note=N, Old=O, Ancient City=Ur, King=K, Queen=R (Regina), Width=W, Soprano=S, Tenor=T, Oriental=E (Eastern), College=C, Soft=P (Piano), Drug=E, Full Moon=O, Time=T, English=E, Motorway=M, Line=L, Second=S, Nationalist=N, Associate=A, Atomic=A, Island=I, Work=Op(us).