The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday No 4, Sunday 18 May 2025, Dr. X

ACROSS

1   Doctor offering lung surgery initially for patient (4-9) LONG SUFFERING {OFFERING+LUNG+Su...y}*

8   See 20 Down

9   Prince chatters after consuming ecstasy, makes overtures (9) PREAMBLES {P}{R{E}AMBLES}

11 New beach manor, at a bargain price in France (1,3,6) A BON MARCHE*

12 Lives large on vacation in Capri, say (4) ISLE {IS}{La.gE}

14 Shines in tussle, easily crushing resistance (7) LUSTRES {LUST{R}ES*}

16 Excel in covert operation (7) OVERTOP [T]

17 Worker in NHS, a sad person who is no longer of significance (3-4) HAS-BEEN {BEE} in {NHS+A}*

19 Maiden in bed, extremely eager for enthusiastic kiss (7) SMACKER {S{M}ACK}{Ea.eR}

21 Standard part of oven or microwave (4) NORM [T]

22 Cook sent in more soup (10) MINESTRONE*

25 Thoroughly envy rich English rogue (5,4) EVERY INCH {ENVY+RICH+E}*

26 Favourite student describing a part of a flower (5) PETAL {PET}{A}{L}

27 Outrageous clip with nude belle gets censored (4-9) BLUE-PENCILLED*

DOWN

2   Old fare turned sour and pungent (7) ODOROUS {O}{DO}{SOUR*}

3   Meet to catch ultimately shady character in unofficial trading place (4,6) GREY MARKET {GRE{s..dY}{MARK}ET}

4   Penny enthralled by remarkably pure stimulant (5) UPPER {UP{P}ER*}

5   Fine hot topless dancing in places of lascivious entertainment (9) FLESHPOTS {F}{H+TOPLESS}*

6   Crash close to steep slope (4) RAMP {RAM}{s..eP}

7   Empty group in maths final keeps university students a little stupefied (4,3) NULL SET {N{U}{LL}{St...d}ET}

8   Little difference in coins of low value (5,6) SMALL CHANGE [DD}

10 Get approval for catching extremely loathsome creep running clandestine unit (7,4) SLEEPER CELL {S{Lo...mE}{CREEP*}ELL}

13 Briefly look at huge swimming pool in city on the Black Sea (10) SEVASTOPOL {SEe}{VAST}{POOL*}

15 Awareness of judge grasping crux of testimony (9) SENTIENCE {SENT{testImony}ENCE}

18 Unusual stamp featuring ancient city's queen (7) SURREAL {S{UR}{R}EAL}

20 & 8A Be aware of what is going on, like a tennis umpire? (4,3,5) KNOW THE SCORE [DD]

23 Moral principle in quote about capturing hearts (5) ETHIC {CI{H}TE<=}

24 Promotion in class hotel for model (4) HYPE (-t+h)HYPE

 

Reference List

Prince = P, Ecstasy = E, Resistance = R, Maiden = M, English = E, Student = L, Old = O, Penny = P, Fine = F, University = U, Ancient city = UR, Queen = R, Hearts = H, Hotel = H, Model = T