NICE 25 South Zone Finals, 02 Aug 25, Chennai

No 14552, Friday 01 Aug 2025, Arden

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ACROSS

1   Fancy act, expose everything inside (7) CABARET {CA{BARE}T*} &lit

5   Horse gets crabby at regular intervals - it's horrible (7) MACABRE {MA{CrAbBy}RE}

9   Sent a criminal behind (5) NATES*

10 Essentially halt in place for an abrupt evolutionary change (9) SALTATION {S{hALt}TATION}

11 Retain collection - agree to entertain a complaint (9) EYESTRAIN {E{YES}TRAIN*}

12 It was decreed that butter was short (5) FATWA {FAT}{WAs}

13 Sprinkles half of them by dropping (4) SCAT SCATters

15 Badly disillusioned dudes leave the state (8) ILLINOIS dISILLusIONed* 

18 Glad at heart to increase value (8) APPRAISE {hAPPy}{RAISE}

19 One follows hard grind (4) HONE {ONE}<=>{H}

22 Openly corrupt - people finally withdrew support (5) PYLON OPeNLY*

24 Discontented landlord pockets potential earning in city (9) LENINGRAD {La...rD} over {EARNING}*

26 European boy in China upset with hot dish (9) ENCHILADA {E}{NCHI{LAD}A*}

27 Money in box returned to banks (5) RAMPS {SP{M}AR<=}

28 Regularly resells product like fish (7) EELPOUT {rEsElLs+PrOdUcT}

29 Broken twit reveals duplicity (7) TREASON {T}{REASON}

DOWN

1   Caught up with Ayrton on the French Riviera (6) CANNES {C}{SENNA<=}

2   Ramstein gets cut flower (9) BUTTERCUP {BUTTER}{CUP}

3   Start from zero again as others receive a point (5) RESET {RES{E}T}

4   Conductor contains alternative current (9) TOSCANINI {CONTAINS}*{I}

5   Italian PM is short but sweet (5) MELON MELONi

6   About 12.5 mm, in other words not large bird (9) CHAFFINCH {C}{(~half inch)HAFFINCH}

7   Suitably contrived, don't say constructed (5) BUILT sUITaBLy*

8   Perhaps need an answer to Nina from Carolina (6) ENNEAD* 

14 American actor combining nation and art somehow (9) TARANTINO {NATION+ART}*

16 Bide one's time till criminal in law caught - that's it (3,2,4) LIE IN WAIT {IN+LAW}* over {IE} with {IT}

17 Funny or amusing? One doesn't know (9) IGNORAMUS*

20 Extremely sharp - he is on a round (6) SPHERE {SharP}{HE}{RE}

21 No side-stepping initially for him to come up with an invention (6) EDISON [T<=] Semi&lit

23 Resident in Kargil - a cold place going up north (5) LOCAL [T<=]

24 Minimum is close to five in the final (5) LEAST {L{fivE}AST}

25 Doctor, surgeon go away as one tends to patients (5) NURSE SURgEoN*

Reference List

Hard = H, European = E, Money = M, Caught = C, Ram = BUTTER, Stein = CUP, Point = E, Current = I, About = C, Large = L, On = RE