No 14081, Friday 26 Jan 2024, Avtaar

REPUBLIC DAY GREETINGS

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS ON FRIDAYS ONLY

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ACROSS

1   Besieged by dystrophy? Sickness is natural (6) PHYSIC [T]

5   Fine grey cross-bred ducks seen in 5 Down (4,4) VERY GOOD {GREY}*{OO} in {V}{D}

9   Beneath one island close to Northern France, Russia evacuated mine (5,3) INFRA DIG {I}{N}{FR}{Ru..iA}{DIG}

10 Credit repeatedly starting to stifle small land holdings (6) CROFTS {CR}{OFT}{St...e}

11 Cutting edge tool for artists? (7,5) PALETTE KNIFE [CD]

13 Long bag, trimmed on either side (4) ACHE sACHEt

14 Spooner says, "Try dance bar" (4,4) BEER HALL {~ hear ball to beer hall)

17 Corner, perhaps, in steep ice rocks (3,5) SET PIECE*

18 Regular helpings of cream cake and cut of meat (4) RACK {cReAm+CaKe}

20 Hindi novel about a daring, dynamic woman leader (6,6) INDIRA GANDHI {HINDI}* over {A+DARING}*

23 One absconding European recalled by king (6) ELOPER {POLE<=}{ER}

24 Country detective arrests judge before international match (8) DJIBOUTI {D{J}I} and {I}<=>{BOUT}

25 Bright pink 2-wheel vehicle carrying a Frenchman and woman at the rear (8) CYCLAMEN {CYCL{A}{M}E}{w..aN}

26 Stylish shot over boundary (6) TRENDY {TR{END}Y}

DOWN

2   Spook killed a hound (4) HUNT HaUNT

3   Junkyard fight - the chap gets a punch at the start (9) SCRAPHEAP {SCRAP}{HE}{A}{Pu..h}

4   Clue about stealing theologian's pet (6) CUDDLE {CU{DD}LE*}

5   Where you may find heads of eggplant growing amidst very large beet and bananas (9,6) VEGETABLE GARDEN {Eg...t}{Gr...g} in {V+LARGE+BEET+AND}* Semi&lit 

6   Shot upwards, ends of the drills oscillated (8) ROCKETED {ROCKE{ThE}D}

7   Adult actress, completely nude, dons robe (5) GROWN {G{actRess}OWN}

8   Repaired pool faucet is not fitting (3,2,5) OUT OF PLACE*

12 Yes-man strangling nation's leader is part of murder script (10) SCREENPLAY {CREE{Na...n}P} in {SLAY}

15 Heading out from the Ob river, after getting muddied like an elephant (9) HERBIVORE {tHE+OB+RIVER}*

16 Small drink bottles, say, containing circa 10g (8) DECAGRAM {D{E{CA}G}RAM}

19 Commercial break without anchor (6) ADRIFT {AD}{RIFT}

21 Force India's leading politician to join Oriental league (5) IMPEL {In..a}{MP}{E}{L}

22 Boss in daze after note is sent out by head of Department (4) STUD {STUn}{De...t}

Reference List

5 = V, Down = D, Island = I, Northern = N, France = fR, Credit = CR, King = ER, etective = DI, Judge = J, International = I, Frenchman = M, Theologian = DD, Very = V, Circa = CA, Commercial = AD, Oriental = E, League = L, Note = N