No 14546, Friday 25 Jul 2025, Pixie Dust

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ACROSS

7   Partly miss our celebrity author (6) SOURCE [T]

8   Drunk and beaten (8) HAMMERED [DD]

9   Capital of Finland's impressing and enchanting (8) FETCHING {Fi...d}{ETCHING}

10 Oppose somewhat difficult sis, erratically backtracking (6) RESIST [T<=]

11 To raise money, boy is married the next day (8) TOMORROW {TO}{(-b+m)MORROW}

12 Look Noel lay oddly withdrawn (6) LONELY {LoOk+NoEl+LaY}

13 Broken nails, yet used often substantially? (11) ESSENTIALLY {NAILS+YET}* Letter Bank

18 Hired help's extremely lonesome here (6) TEMPLE {TEMP}{Lo...mE} Definition not clear?

20 Ruled as monarch over decades, finally stepped down (8) RESIGNED {RE{d...sS}IGNED}

22 Stu and Zan missed last letters in verse (6) STANZA {STu}{ANd}{ZAn}

23 Accommodating Bill, performing without Charlie around 3rd of September (8) ADAPTING {AD}{Ac{sePt...r}TING}

24 Log from Spooner's craft corner? (8) NOTEBOOK (boat nook to notebook) 

25 First signs of respite is seen in North Gujarat revolt (6) RISING Acrostic

DOWN

1   Thus build home with wife by hook or crook (7) SOMEHOW {SO}{HOME+W}*

2   Short path to hills in vehicles (8) TRACTORS {TRACk}{TORS}

3   Major sore in pants (6) SENIOR*

4   Rain check? (8) UMBRELLA [CD]

5   Almost bare model (6) LESSON {LESS ON}

6   Boisterous teens, extremely lively in a nervous way (7) TENSELY {TEENS}*{Li..lY}

8   Market war at peak? (4-5,4) HIGH-WATER MARK {MARKET+WAR}* [RA]

14 Leave crazy conservative missing the last lift (8) ELEVATOR {LEAVE*}{TORy}

15 Most fair polygraph picked up (8) LIGHTEST (~lie test)

16 Notices corrupt department (7) SECTION*

17 Shrinking wife leaves following the French in tendency (7) LEANING {wANING}<=>{LE}

19 Small animals pose in disguise (6) PONIES*

21 In audition looks fixedly at steps (6) STAIRS (~stares)

Reference List

Boy = B, Married = M, Bill = AD, Charlie = C, Wife = W, The in French = LE