No 14564, Friday 15 Aug 2025, Afterdark

INDEPENDENCE DAY GREETINGS

Rangoli by Gowri

Artwork by Prasanna

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ACROSS

9   Flying feat of king exceptional (7) TAKEOFF {FEAT+OF+K}*

10 Arrogant petty officers escort member to America (7) POMPOUS {PO}{M}{PO}{US}

11 Nobleman accepts charged particle from inventor (7) PIONEER {P{ION}EER}

12 Princess's argument leads to conflict (7) DILEMMA {DI}{LEMMA}

13 Calm cats? Yell primarily, running around. Disaster (9) CATACLYSM {CALM+CATS+Yell}*

15 Arab found in a line reportedly gathering mustard seeds in Delhi (5) IRAQI {1}{RA{(~queue)Q}

16 Discarded cats (4-3) CAST-OFF {CATS}* [RA]

19 Neighbour's nieces running across hotel (7) CHINESE {C{H}INESE*}

20 Bordered fabric almost destroyed at the corner (5) LINED {LINEn}{d...eD}

21 Different groups bat for a bar serving food (9) GASTROPUB*

25 Seize criminal at Quebec holding rand (7) CONQUER {CON}{QUE}{R}

26 Aggressive lion and zebra's tails cut off by composer (7) BERLIOZ {LIOn+ZEBRa}*

28 An issue following trouble returns in communication (7) LIAISON {1}{SON}<=>{AIL<=}

29 Plant is liable in a commotion to store oxygen (7) LOBELIA {LIABLE*} over {O}

DOWN

1   Right away, apricot should be thrown as it is related to hereditary hypersensitivity (6) ATOPIC APrICOT*

2   Travelling to UK, outskirts of Eastbourne with husband (3,3) EKE OUT {TO+UK+Ea...nE}*

3   Practice to fish with guest essentially (4) CODE {COD}{guEst}

4   Brawl with a female following Ray (6) AFFRAY {A}{F}{F}{RAY}

5   Say, Covid was same, long all over (8) EPIDEMIC {EP{IDEM}IC}

6   Bird flies, bird's wings are clipped and cooked with a food additive (10) EMULSIFIER {EMU}{FLIES+bIRd}*

7   Co-tenant's capacity to copulate (8) ROOMMATE {ROOM}{MATE}

8   At tea, saint is in confusion (8) ASTATINE*

14 But old curs can get hurt in sudden rainstorm (10) CLOUDBURST*

16 Uninformed visit of first calling aged cousin primarily with everyone (4,4) COLD CALL {Ca...g}{OLD}{Co...n}{ALL}

17 Relative has lion with swan! Crazy (3-2-3) SON-IN-LAW {LION+SWAN}*

18 Statuette damaged in gunfire (not nuclear) (8) FIGURINE {IN+GUnFIRE}*

22 Implied to butlers to arrange right away (6) SUBTLE BUTLErS*

23 Travel across border properly (6) PRIMLY {P{RIM}LY}

24 Market faces blockade around American zone/area (6) BAZAAR {B{A}Z}{A}AR}

27 Group often found near stone (4) RUBY {gRoUp}{BY}

Reference List

King = K, Petty Officer = PO, Member = M, Princess = DI, Hotel = H, Rand = R, Right = R, Female = F, Following = F, Nuclear = N, American = A, Zone = Z, Area = A