Sunday 09 Mar 2025, IIT (M) WGC, IIT (M) Crossie Open

The Word Games Club, IIT Madras, is delighted to present our annual flagship cryptic crossword competition – Crossie Open with an exciting prize pool of 24k!

Date: March 9, 2025
Venue: CRC, IIT Madras Campus
Format: Prelims (written) + Finals 

Join us, in teams of 1-2 members, for an engaging test of wit and wordplay, where seasoned solvers and enthusiastic newcomers alike can challenge themselves in the art of cryptic crosswords. Register Now!

Please register for both members of your team. If you do not have a teammate, do not fill in any details for Member 2. Please add any queries you have at the end of the form.

Registration Form can be accessed at the following link

https://forms.gle/spSVpqc5ikzugZJm7

No 14427, Saturday 8 Mar 2025, Arden

Rangoli by Gowri

Artwork by Prasanna

ACROSS
6 No songs in new congress party on principle (5) CREDO {CongREss}{DO}
7 6 exposed, kept one in fixed deposit - visibly embarrassed (3-5) RED-FACED {cREDo}{F{ACE}D}
10 PM is not even chummy - maybe a little bit (7) MODICUM {MODI}{ChUmMy}
11 Bill happy with a bunch of flowers (7) NOSEGAY {NOSE}{GAY}
12 10 eaten by girl - a dish, perhaps (7) ANTENNA {AN{TEN}NA}
13 Extremely cautious with top of the gauze that is inside bandage (7) CAGIEST {CA{Gauze}{IE}ST}
14 Forcing someone on Ram? (3-8) ARM-TWISTING {RAM}* [RA]
19 Britain carries hardly any weight - tough to be one (7) BOUNCER {B{OUNCE}R}
21 Close to sunrise, just beginning (7) NASCENT {suN}{ASCENT}
23 Small place in the middle of a river - the banks, empty (7) DEPLETE {DE{PL}E}{ThE}
25 She gets hold of a new dress, is brave (7) SHAWNEE {SH{A NEW}*E}

26 Ship to incorporate model pendant (8) STREAMER {ST{R}EAMER}  Model=R?
27 Wine casks attract top investment capital (5) TUNIS {TUN{Investment}S}

DOWN
1 Complete overall check - that regularly follows retribution (8) VENDETTA {V{END}ET}{ThAt}
2 Account fudged - could start off with one with a large bill (6) TOUCAN {AcCOUNT}*

3 War crime - an appalling result of an old conflict (7,3) CRIMEAN WAR*

4 I'm right away from port (4) ADEN {ArDEN}
5 Hunter on land initially - becomes hunter in the sky (6) BEAGLE {Becomes}{EAGLE}

6 Doctor wearing coat in action (6) COMBAT {CO{MB}AT}
8 A small story on Indian missile (7) ASSAGAI {A}{S}{SAGA}{I}
9 Characters from Tokyo shifted to another city (5) KYOTO*
13 Some parts on a soccer field gave raise to criminal gangs (4,6) COSA NOSTRA [T]<
15 Friend possessing revolutionary weapon (7) MACHETE {MA{CHE}TE}

16 Learning German, having inclination (8) GLEANING {G}{LEANING}
17 Follow a call close to home (5) ABIDE {A}{BID}homE}
18 Like allowing later capital (6) ATHENS {A{THEN}S}
20 Arrogant tearing pages off for new coalition (6) UPPITY {U{+PP, -n}ITY}
22 Poor can be kept in very dirty surroundings (6) SCANTY {S{CAN}TY}
24 Equal means on both sides you find trees (4) ELMS {EquaL}{MeanS}

REFERENCE LIST

One=Ace, That is=I.E., Britain=BR, Place=Pl, Right=R, Doctor=MB, Indian=I, Revoutionary= Che (Guevera), German=G, Page=P, New=N.

No 14426, Friday 07 Mar 2025, Saral

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

7   Very old article about nice source of topic (7) ANCIENT {AN}{NICE*}{To..c}

8   Coat label pulled by the Spanish (6) ENAMEL {E{NAME}L}

9   Frank files crown of teeth (6) HONEST {HONES}{Te..h}

10 Dampness of extra covering around suit (8) MOISTURE {MO{SUIT*}RE}

11 Removed and dropped old matinee idol perhaps (10) ELIMINATED {MATINEE+IDoL}*

13 Clean top of yellow stone (4) RUBY {RUB}{Ye...w}

14 Sharp American detectives (4) ACID {Am...n}{CID}

16 Primate left bird with caretaker at last (5) LEMUR {L}{EMU}{c...eR}

18 At first composer looked elsewhere for key (4) CLEF Acrostic

19 Different skin colours (4) INKS*

21 Indian lecturer with judge describing passion in show (10) ILLUSTRATE {I}{L}{RATE} over {LUST}

23 Preparation of empty passage lined with damaged marbles mostly (8) PREAMBLE {Pa...gE} over {MARBLEs}*

25 Fixed new deal accepting interest basically (6) NAILED {N+DEAL}* over {In...t} Fixed on Double duty?

26 Run away! Police is finally approaching headland (6) ESCAPE {p...cE}{iS}{CAPE}

27 Country chaps not bright says Spooner (7) DENMARK (~men dark to denmark)

DOWN

1   Cried in bizarre dreams chasing enemy primarily (8) SCREAMED {DREAMS+Ch...g+En..y}*

2   Posted the Spanish under home guard (8) SENTINEL  {SENT} and {EL}<=>{IN}

3   Check stock (4) STEM [DD]

4   Duration of each ODI is changed (6) PERIOD {PER}{ODI*}

5   Closing coffee bar in the end (6) LATTER {LATTE}{baR}

6   Nasty loose mud scrubbed from spinning tumble drier (8) TERRIBLE {TumBLE+dRIER}*

7   Associate on duty in island (5) ATOLL {A}{TOLL}

12 To begin with, the address maybe in local language (5) TAMIL Acrostic

15 Cabbage dressing on essentially pungent diet (8) CONGRESS {C{ON}{punGent}RESS}

17 Strong snore disturbed worker (8) RESONANT {SNORE*}{ANT}

18 Main channel filled with extremely red iodine (8) CARDINAL {CA{ReD}{I}NAL} Extremes of Red would have been better

20 Wound on a black beetle (6) SCARAB {SCAR}{A}{B}

21 Heard hotel food is natural (6) INBRED (~ inn bread)

22 Model followed by puny jerk (5) TWEAK {T}{WEAK}

24 Completes cycling shoot (4) ENDS (-s)END(+s)S

Reference List

The in Spanish = EL, Old = O, American = A, Left = L, Indian = I, Lecturer = L, New = N, Home = IN, Associate = A, Black = B, Model = T

No 14425, Thursday 06 Mar 2025, Karaoke

Solution to 7D 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 solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

1   She went to spill the beans? (5,3,4) BREAK THE NEWS {SHE+WENT}* [RA]

9   Modified agenda, note goes without saying (5) ADAGE AGEnDA*

10 If duck goes back into uncommon way of asking questions in quiz (5,4) RAPID FIRE {IF}{DIP}<= in {RARE}

11 Change religion finally in secret (7) CONVERT {CO{r...oN}VERT}

12 Most effortless energy on cycling at rest (7) EASIEST {E}{(+a)ASIEST(-a)}

13 Setting up of green city abruptly in trouble (8) ERECTING {GREEN+CITy}*

14 Judge avoided court-fool in compound (5) ESTER jESTER

18 Pilots deplane hard clientele (5) USERS UShERS

20 Wrongly subtract nothing? Delete answer and check (8) OBSTRUCT {SUBTRaCT+O}*

24 Maybe squirrel harbored to resist primarily Brazil nuts (7) HOARDER HARbORED*

26 Must review to delete section after embarrassingly rare typing mistake (7) ERRATUM {MUsT<=}<=>{RARE}*

27 Spooner's nutcase may have a second job (9) MOONLIGHT (~loon might to moonlight)

28 Island's lecturer follows 1-12 characters (5) ATOLL {L}<=>{A TO L}

29 Flowers and rare gemstone for model (6-2-4)  FORGET-ME-NOTS {GEMSTONE+FOR+T}*

DOWN

1   Stupid initially bone dry (9) BRAINLESS {Bone}{RAINLESS}

2   English setter bound by advanced principles (7) ELEMENT {E}{LE{ME}NT}

3   They are fibrous - keep 50% foods, nothing excluded (8) KERATINS {KEep}{RATIoNS}

4   Extremely happy writer consumes hooch in the end and gets short stroke (6) HYPHEN {HappY}{P{h..cH}EN}

5   Daughter is abducted by crazy strippers (7) NUDISTS {NU{D}{IS}TS}

6   Husband enthralled by booze and beef (5) WHINE {W{H}INE}

7   Axe bowler and off spinner mainly from case (7) ?A?C?E? (Addendum - HATCHET {HAT}{CHEsT} - See comments)

8   Very quick to forget recipe for sauce (5) PESTO PrESTO

15 You must solve them to get answer in tricky question (9) EQUATIONS {EQU{A}TIONS*} Semi&lit

16 No show by a dramatist without head support (8) ABSENTEE {A}{iBSEN}{TEE}

17 Litmus blue and essential acids for shots in the arm (7) STIMULI {LITMUS}*{acIds}

19 Communist standard, a sign of no mercy (3,4) RED FLAG {RED}{FLAG}

21 Drunk ran around in excitement for crack cocaine (7) TORNADO {RAN}* in {TO DO}

22 It's intelligent integrated circuit storing multimedia primarily (5) CHIMP {CHI{Mu...a}P}

23 Cheerful bishop's cardinal friend leaves in shock (6) BRIGHT {B}{fRIGHT}

25 Used bad oil primarily with soy essence for Filipino dish (5) ADOBO {BAD+Oil}* {sOy}

Reference List

Note = N, Energy = E, Judge = J, Hard = H, Answer = A, Section = S, Lecturer = L, Model = T, English = E, Daughter = D, Husband = H, Recipe = R, Support = TEE, Bishop = B

No 14424, Wednesday 05 Mar 2025, Gussalufz

Solution to 16D 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 solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

How to get, How?

ACROSS

9   Cold drink course? (9) REFRESHER [DD]

10 Mindful of a fight starting to erupt (5) AWARE {A}{WAR}{Er..t}

11 Persevere and preserve, son, without ever straying (5,2) PRESS ON {PREServe+SON}

12 Quarrelling with signal guard about dropping lads off (7) ARGUING {sIGNal+GUARd}*

13 Rwanda Air regularly carries this detector (5) RADAR {RwAnDa+AiR}

14 Upon return, he said, "Freak hippo's killing every other marine creature" (9) SPIKEFISH {He+SaId+FrEaK+hIpPoS}<=

16 Now keep a bit of mash (i.e., beet puree) covered in asafoetida (3,3,4,5) FOR THE TIME BEING {FORT}{H{Mash+IE+BEET}*ING

19 Second authentication code: zero, ... one, ... a large number ending in eight? That's no longer valid (4,5) MOOT POINT {MO}{OTP}{0}{1}{N}{e..hT}

22 A breather, then the second part of filming, and that's a wrap (5) LUNGI {LUNG}{fIl...g}

24 Mythical creature is combination packing roc's tail and rhino's head (7) UNICORN {UNI{roC}O{Rh..o}N}

26 Dreams of ride (a Tesla) (7) IDEATES [T]

27 Catch girl and love (5) LASSO {LASS}{O}

28 Out playing golf? Beer at conclusion of game? (3,6) LEG BEFORE {GOLF+BEER}*{gamE}

DOWN

1   Cloth merchant: "Standard to have red border around" (6) DRAPER {RE{PAR}D}<=

2   Death in advance for criminal? (8) OFFENDER {OFF{END}ER}

3   Ban chess & porn wildly overwhelming India (10) CENSORSHIP {CHESS+PORN}* over {I}

4   Appreciation plummets after husband's input (6) THANKS {T{H}ANKS}

5   Whole party abruptly ends in schism over TV channel (8) ORGANISM {ORGy}{ANI}{SchisM}

6   Called line, scratching bottom (4) RANG RANGe

7   Deer saw a pit inside fencing (6) WAPITI [T]

8   The man hogged vulgarly — prickly creature (8) HEDGEHOG {HE}{HOGGED*}

15 Confident of shining when topless, sporting implant (10) EMBOLDENED {EMB{gOLDEN}ED}

16 Very well folks, voiding 25% of IOUs, keeping the rest (8) F?M?U?L?  (Addendum FAMOUSLY {FAM(-i+ous)OUSLY - See comments)

17 Complex relationship trouble involving no-good European (8) TRIANGLE {TRIA{NG}L}{E}

18 Top-rated metal soldier back-firing? (8) IGNITION {NO 1}{TIN}{GI}<=

20 Pointless life, so I took up boxing (6) OTIOSE [T<=]

21 Beg air travellers: "Bags on the counter, this is an inspection" (6) TRIAGE [T<=]

23 Broadcast is prosecuted (6) ISSUED {IS}{SUED}

25 Unpleasant smell in old electronic instrument (4) OBOE {O}{BO}{E}

Reference List

Keep = FORT, Second = MO, Number = N, India = I, Husband = H, No = N, Good = G, European = E, Smell = BO(Body Odour), Old = O, Electronic = E

No 14423, Tuesday 04 Mar 2025, Avtaar

Solution to 28A 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 solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

1   Nick trimmed perfect cut of meat (7) PURLOIN {PURe}{LOIN}

5   A dog taking out heroin in the old African capital (7) YAOUNDE {A}{hOUND} in {YE}

9   Skipping prayer with priest in club? (7) ROMPING {R{OM}{P}ING}

10 Bits of emerald and ruby on Miss Luxembourg's scarf (7) MUFFLER {Em...d}{Ruby}<=>{MUFF}{L}

11 Lone wolf Carol gave the game away (9) SINGLETON {SING}{LET ON}

12 Hear college contest lost money (5) CATCH {C}{mATCH}

13 Mark briefly bet 1000 (5) SPECK {SPEC}{K}

15 Powerful caucus controlling state of crude oil - cunning, extremely greedy groups (9) OLIGARCHY {OIL}* with {ARCH} in {Gr..dY}*

17 Preposterous cess on stocking individual parts of rockets (9) NOSECONES {CESS+ON}* over {ONE}

19 Fires rifles (5) SACKS [DD]

22 Wrong answer by young girl (5) AMISS {A}{MISS}

23 Epic tale about drowning island's extremity (9) TAILPIECE {EPIC+TALE}* over {I}

25 Blind dog removing top from soil (7) CURTAIN {CUR}{sTAIN}

26 Appears hotel's fencing the field in which I get audience (7) EARSHOT [T]

27 Women's shawl from India showed up at Tanzanian borders (7) DUPATTA [T]

28 Procession of fighters in New York? (7) F?Y?V?R (Addendum - FLYOVERS [CD] + See comments)

DOWN

1   Numbness starts to exhaust some getting entertained in French city (7) PARESIS {PAR{Ex...t}{Some}IS}

2   Rector and church groups land in court (7) ROMANCE {R}{CE} over {OMAN}

3   Recess in waffle iron fixed up (5) ORIEL [T<=]

4   Girl wearing fancy thing with private item of attire (9) NIGHTGOWN {G}<=>{THING*} and {OWN}

5   State of Avtaar overwhelmed by desire (5) YEMEN {YE{ME}N}

6   Executives reworked discounted cash flow mostly with future interest increases, to start with (9) OFFICIALS {CASh+FLOw+Fu...e+In...t+In...s}*

7   Essence of article on unusual lion from an African river basin (7) NILOTIC {arTICle}<=>{LION}*

8   Lathery, plastic material (7) EARTHLY*

14 Boot in bond vehicle described by Spooner (9) KICKSTART (stick cart to kickstart)

16 Enemy hints about following through, nevertheless (2,5,2) IN SPITE OF {FOE}{TIPS}<= after {IN}

17 Greek character moved to music topless with distinct changes in expression (7) NUANCED {NU}{dANCED}

18 Waken, pinching top of right ear's bone (7) STIRRUP {STIR{Ri..t}UP}

20 Russian who produced dramatic outcomes announced king is threatened and finished queen off (7) CHEKHOV (~check off) (Correction - {(~check) CHEKH}{OVer} - See comments)

21 Light outside officer's lodge (7) SHELTER {SHE{LT}ER}

23 Pacific island's Indian coach (5) TONGA [DD]

24 Do section 25/26 (5) PARTY {PART}{a...xYz}

Reference List

The old = YE, Prayer = OM, Priest = P, Luxembourg = L, College = C, Money = M, 1000 = K, Answer = A, Island = I, Rector = R, Church = CE, Girl = G, Queen = ER

No 14422, Monday 03 Mar 2025, Bruno

Solution to 13D 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 solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

1   Isolation of person and family trapped in liberal societies (10) LONELINESS {L}{ONE}{LINES}{S}

6   One's inclined to bring people up (4) RAMP [CD]

9   Downloads a bad smelly specimen (10) SANDALWOOD*

10 Open, switch hands, and run (4) FLEE F(-r+l)REE

12 Suspect witness aims to get sweetheart arrested - they need to be separated right away! (7,5) SIAMESE TWINS {WITNESS+AIMS}* over {swEet}

15 Husband and girl (French one) with a weapon (7) HANDGUN {H}{AND}{G}{UN}

16 Time wasted in depression almost always more difficult (7) ROUGHER {tROUGH}{'ER}

17 Dance record followed by one hundred thousand (7) ROLLICK {ROLL}{1}{C}{K}

19 Novice gridmaker cycles those in white squares (7) LETTERS {L}{(-s)ETTER(+s)S}

20 Slower than the best... it's secret? (3,3,6) OFF THE RECORD [DD]

23 Unacceptable to return, after hemming, posh coat (4) DAUB {B{U}AD<=}

24 Turn child on bed - else turning can result in haemorrhages (10) NOSEBLEEDS {SON<=}{BED+ELSE}*

25 Residual force yanks top off (4) REST wREST

26 Belatedly sad - after son's time of expiry (4-2,4) SELL-BY DATE {BELATEDLY}*<=>{S}

DOWN

1   Green and red, not blue (4) LUSH bLUSH

2   Time of day devoid of love and energy - not a bit (4) NONE {NOoN}{E}

3   Famous person - angel - hid guilt somehow, not for all to see (7,5) LEADING LIGHT {ANGEL+HID+GuILT}* 

4   Southern people follow contemporary TV personalities (7) NEWSMEN {S}{MEN}<=>{NEW}

5   Finance partners joining trail (7) SPONSOR {NS} in {SPOOR}

7   Politician finally boards a large boat for an extended period of work (3-7) ALL-NIGHTER {A}{L}{L{p...aN}IGHTER}

8   Force media Union to resist (10) PRESSURISE {PRESS}{U}{RISE}

11 Beginning to crumble, when surrounded by support, you finally fight back systematically (12) STRUCTURALLY {STRU{Cr...e}T}{yoU}{RALLY}

13 Fast food owner's on vacation - daughter's quicker to cover (5-5) ?H?R?-O?D?R (Addendum - SHORT-ORDER {SHORT{OwneR}{D}ER - See comments}

14 Crawling, falls on our ground (2,3,5) ON ALL FOURS*

18 Amateur artist with nothing, captured by kings, gets threats essentially, provides entertainment (7) KARAOKE {K}{A}{RA}{O}{K}{thrEats}

19 Milky yoghurt initially spurned by prowling alleycat (7) LACTEAL ALLEyCAT*

21 Fluid from ears, oozing (4) SERA*

22 One surrounded by water often dissolves (4) ISLE dIsSoLvEs

Reference List

Liberal = L, Societies = S, Husband = H, Girl = G, One in French = UN, Time = T, Hundred = C, Thousand = K, Novice = L, Posh = U, Son = S, Blue = B, Energy = E, For all to see = U, Amateur = A, Artist = RA, King = K

Special, Sunday 02 Mar 2025, M Manna

Three answers per commenter till 1 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 3347, Sunday 02 Mar 2025

 4078  

ACROSS

1   Hold together, split apart (6) CLEAVE [DD]

5   Prudent having tamed mammal before start of December (6) SHREWD {SHREW}{De...r}

8   Make huge amounts of faulty damp-courses (4-7) MASS-PRODUCE*

11 US novelist’s hideous neck bites (9) STEINBECK*

12 Dream job as described by croupier? (5) IDEAL {I DEAL}

13 Expresses disapproval, having a thing or two (7) OBJECTS [DD]

14 Egyptian kings heard in N Atlantic islands (7) FAEROES (~ pharaohs}

15 Shunning middle speed – cam faulty – makes off at speed (7) DECAMPS{SPeED+CAM}*

17 Stops when Democrat becomes Republican and fights (7) RESISTS (-d+r)RESISTS

20 Consume in haste – the result? (5) WASTE [CD]

21 Flight in which you might be still moving? (9) ESCALATOR [CD]

22 Poem Iris edited before the reader, Scout’s Honour (1,7,3) I PROMISE YOU {POEM+IRIS}*{YOU}

23 Heathen siege surrounds classical city (6) ATHENS [T]

24 Eased a temper? Only somewhat calm (6) SEDATE [T]

DOWN

2   Move with difficulty to raise either end of rear in this altered tartan item (10,5) LUMBERJACK SHIRT {LUMBER}{JACK}{SHI{reaR}T*}

3   As spelled out in full, one of Agatha’s poisons (7) ARSENIC [CD/GK]

4   States’ fast trains (9) EXPRESSES [DD]

5   Principally, such provision only requires knife! (5) SPORK Acrostic &lit

6   Banal comedian’s material (7) ROUTINE [DD]

7   Surgery query: ‘How red is he?’ … utter jerks (5,4,2,4) WHERE DOES IT HURT*

9   Regularly avoided collision reversing in capital city (4) OSLO {cOlLiSiOn<=}

10 Liverpool’s Mo snubbed: flipping shame (4) ALAS SALAh<=

14 Predicts California surrounded by trees (9) FORECASTS {FORE{CA}STS}

15 Morning: judo master drinks whiskey (4) DAWN {DA{W}N}

16 Tennis champ, twitching newcomer taking week off (7) MCENROE NEwCOMER*

18 Son competed, spread out (7) SPLAYED {S}}PLAYED}

19 Agricultural servant to get on board, you say? (4) SERF (~surf)

21 Everyman’s ultimately prizeless after Everyman’s up for awards (5) EMMYS {MY}{p...eS}<=>{ME<=}

Reference List

Democrat = D, Republican = R, Whiskey = W, Week = W, Son = S

No 14421, Saturday 1 Mar 2025, Hypatia

 ACROSS
7 Mother adopts flexible hours to grow quickly (8) MUSHROOM {M{HOURS*}OM}
9 Tree in the ground provides protection (6) HELMET {ELM inside THE*}
10 Jog behind park (4) BUMP {BUM}{P}
11 Request money to inspect sample for particular supervisor (10) TASKMASTER {T{ASK}{M}ASTER}
12 Uncovered moral stories that are productive (6) ARABLE {pARABLEs}
14 Crooked staff mint crores handling international school (8) CROSIERS {CRORES* over I}{S}

15 Glibness? It may be both good and bad (5,8) MIXED BLESSING {GLIBNESS}* [RA]
18 Say, atta is hard to sweep (8) FLOURISH {FLOUR}{IS}{H}
20 Most antique fragment of idol destroyed (6) OLDEST [T]

21 Free universal study about love god inspires sweetheart (10) UNOCCUPIED  {U}{CON<}{CUPI{swEet}D}
22 Union/ strike (4) CLUB [DD]
23 Characters regularly seen in alliance are mostly straight (6) LINEAR {aLlIaNcE}{ARe}
24 Visitor dropping a famous actor outside shooting spot (8) STRANGER {ST{RANGE}aR}

DOWN
1 German University's unusual tour of Agra, ignoring capital city (8) GURUGRAM {G}{U}{RU{aGRA}M}
2 Wide and fashionable belt (4) WHIP {W}{HIP}
3 Courage of old American killed in war (6) BOTTLE {B{-a+O}TTLE}
4 Cleaners collecting meat and waste material on board (8) SHAMPOOS {S{HAM}{POO}S}
5 Cold drink nursed holds one secret (10) CLASSIFIED {C}{LASSI}{F{I}ED}
6 Heavenly body's heavier, when picked up? (6) METEOR {~MEATIER}

8 Such a similar tactic finally used in stand-out party game? (7,6) MUSICAL CHAIRS {SUCH A SIMILIAR tactiC}*
13 Spooner secures groups for prepacked meals (3,7) BOX LUNCHES {Spoonerism of LOCKS BUNCHES} 
16 Pump air without opening liquid cocktail (8) DAIQUIRI {AIR lIQUID}*

17 Doctor greets us and waves (8) GESTURES*
19 Clothing for men lifting some design ultimately (6) LUNGIS [T<]
20 Rules /for/ fraternities (6) ORDERS [DD]
22 100 + 1 - A solid figure (4) CONE {C}{ONE}

REFERENCE LIST

Park=P, Money=M, International=I, School=S, Hard=H, Universal, University=U, German=G, Wide=W, Old=O, American=A, On board=SS(Steam Ship), Cold=C, One=I.

No 14420, Friday 28 Feb 2025, 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

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Regular solvers/Veterans can post 1 answer each, but after 11 AM only.

Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.

ACROSS

8   Notice American eating Australian fruit (6) SAPOTA {SPOT}{A} over {A}

9   Verified Google maps, for one and drove around (8) APPROVED {APP}{DROVE*}

10 Big picture of cover guy, per Spooner (6,4) MASTER PLAN (~plaster man to master plan)

11 Dull poet's retrospective (4) DRAB<=

12 Artisan touring English Church in a frenzy (8) MECHANIC {M{E}{CH}ANIC}

14 Light coal without lead (6) IGNITE lIGNITE

15 Monsters almost gobble and injure son (7) GORGONS {GORGe}{SON*}

17 Flexibility of girl replacing bachelor in faculty (7) AGILITY A(+g-b)GILITY

20 Parades potentially showcasing tyrant (6) DESPOT [T]

22 Optimistic article boring mad genius (8) SANGUINE {S{AN}GUINE*}

24 Basically happy or lively Indian celebration! (4) HOLI Acrostic Semi&lit

25 Initially Rio cycles to join friend after drink (10) ORIGINALLY {(+o)ORI(-o)} with {ALLY}<=>{GIN}

27 Regularly learned Watkins was revolting in some way (2,2,4) AS IT WERE {lEaRnEd+WaTkInS+wAs}<=

28 Doctor had given genetic material in agitation (6) DHARNA {HAD*}{RNA}

DOWN

1   Aha! Ban erotica to suppress hot stuff (8) HABANERO [T]

2   Keep supporting Tesla (4) FORT {FOR}{T}

3   Alert engineers blocking complex network (6) WARREN {WAR{RE}N}

4   Store installing awfully old security device (7) PADLOCK {PA{OLD*}CK}

5   Broadcasting about president's expense (8) SPENDING {S{P}ENDING}

6   Master Chef's coloured bourbon - extremely fancy (6,4) CORDON BLEU {COLOURED+Bo...oN}*

7   Department renewing this academic's term (6) PEDANT {PEDANT+TERM}*=DEPARTMENT [CA]

13 Stop in best parts (4,6) HIGH POINTS {STOP+IN}* [RA] 

16 N/n: Get 1 or n - it's complicated (8) NITROGEN* 

18 Knotting a piece of twine before fishing (8) TANGLING {Tw..e}{ANGLING}

19 Dreams of snakes controlling anger (7) ASPIRES {ASP{IRE}S}

21 Say nothing at first to narcissist (6) EGOIST {EG}{O}{1ST}

23 Early signs of numerous aquatic insects acquiring wings of dragonflies! (6) NAIADS {Nu...s}{Aq...c}{In...s}{Ac...g}{Dr...eS} Semi&lit

26 Unfortunately like to entertain the French (4) ALAS {A{LA}S}

Reference List

American = A, Australian = A, English = E, Church = CH, Girl = G, Bachelor = B, Tesla = T, Engineers = RE(Royal Engineers), President = P, The in French = LA

No 14419, Thursday 27 Feb 2025, Dr. X

Solution to 17D 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 solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

1   Analysed patient finally - allergic to peanuts (8) PITTANCE {PATIENT+a...iC}*

5   Brown bag contains Asian money (6) SATANG {SA{TAN}G} 

10 Try dance moves to maintain figure (7) DECAGON {DECA{GO}N*}

11 Disregard info about the French model consuming cocaine (7) NEGLECT {GEN<=}{LE}{C}{T}

12 Most love new ornament (5) ADORN {ADORe}{N}

13 Fruit in a tin, green bananas (9) TANGERINE*

14 Matter of girl involved in immorality with one's betrothed outside club (12) SIGNIFICANCE {SI{G}N}{I}{FI{C}ANCE}

18 What assassin will do to earn a large profit (4,1,7) MAKE A KILLING [DD]

21 Punishes boys trapping cat in compound (9) SANCTIONS {S{CAT+IN}*ONS}

23 Entomb Italy's foremost sister after welcoming Rector (5) INURN {It..y}{NU{R}N}

24 Pomade from Rio used in shower (4,3) HAIR OIL {HAI{RIO*}L}

25 Bull beginning to amble behind compound (7) OXALATE {OX}{Am..e}{LATE}

26 Came back with good, large electronic switch (6) TOGGLE {GOT<=}{G}{L}{E}

27 Troublemaker, say, carrying case of pills with Ecstasy (8) UPSETTER {U{PillS}{E}TTER}

DOWN

1   Vendor unwrapped large boxes (6) PEDLAR [T]

2   Extremely tricky criminal squeezing old industrialist (6) TYCOON {Tr..kY}{CO{O}N}

3   Criminal at Iran smuggling dope to South American country (9) ARGENTINA {AT+IRAN}* over {GEN}

4   Fixed broken pole in ancient city (14) CONSTANTINOPLE {CONSTANT}{POLE+IN}*

6   Crook's scheme to get rid of wife (5) ANGLE wANGLE

7   Distressed painter taking drug, one relieving constipation (8) APERIENT {PAINTER}* over {E}

8   Picked up gun and drove to arrest rogue finally (8) GATHERED {GAT}{HER{r..uED}

9   Lone wolf! Ponies go berserk all at once (2,3,4,5) IN ONE FELL SWOOP*

15 Is princess able to go out with suitor? (9) CANDIDATE {CAN}{DI}{DATE}

16 Principle of homotopy in applied maths is a huge, widespread success (5,3) SMASH HIT {Ho...y} in {MATHS+IS}*

17 Heartily sloshed star outside bar is stripping (8) ?K?N?I?G (Addendum - SKINNING {sloShed}{K{INN}ING} - See comments)

19 Hold-up after United Kingdom backed Middle Eastern country (6) KUWAIT {WAIT}<=>{UK<=}

20 Charm of European getting close to cuddle date (6) ENDEAR {E}{N{D}EAR}

22 Nordic monster beginning to throw rock (5) TROLL {Th..w}{ROLL}

Reference List

Info = GEN, The in French = LE, Model = T, Cocaine = C, New = N, Girl = G, Club = C, Rector = R, Good = G, Large = L, Electronic = E, Ecstasy = E, Old = O, Dope = GEN, Wife = W, Drug = E, Gun = GAT, Princess = DI, European = E, Date = D