No 14573, Tuesday 26 Aug 2025, Avtaar

Solution to 9A 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   Not able to speak about India virtually for a short time (6) MINUTE {M{IN}UTE}

4   Brilliant compere taking up commercial hosting India's leading scholar (8) ACADEMIC {AC{AD}E}{M{In..a}C}

9   Constitutional rule to stop introduction of service tax (6) S?R?L? (Addendum - STROLL {Se...e}{T{R}OLL} - See comments ) 

10 Capsicum pie in crust of tomato baked with a bit of masala (8) PIMIENTO {PIE+IN+To..tO+Ma...a}*

11 Misrepresentation by school - parents mostly fleeced with ultimate in donations (5,9) FALSE PRETENCES {PARENTS+FLEECEd+d...nS}*

13 Victims of one-night stands? (10) CASUALTIES {CASUAL TIES}

14 Cheaply constructed gable going around (4) LEGO [T<=] 

16 Supply not starting for long (4) ACHE cACHE

18 Ambulance left a mortuary's entrance and travelled round the bend (10) UNBALANCED {amBULANCE+AND}*

21 Lost in the rush, heading for grand, magical heavenly spectacle (8,6) SOUTHERN LIGHTS {LOST+IN+THE+RUSH+Gr..d}*}

23 Prevail over our shortened boat crew cycling across Wales (8) OUTWEIGH {OUr}{(+t)TEIGH(-t)} over {W}

24 In which you will find lead members of the panel against retiring (6) GALENA [T<=]

25 Carefully consider introducing it in court following Avtaar (8) MEDITATE {D{IT}ATE}<=>{ME}

26 Cool tennis ace after losing a game at the end (6) SERENE {SERENa}{gamE}

DOWN

1   Disregard letter I have despatched (4) MISS MISSive

2   Typical standards of Vikings having left for Norway (7) NORMALS NORMA(-n+l)LS

3   Boxer's married wearing brown amulet (8) TALISMAN {T{ALIS}{M}AN}

5   What separates No-conflict zones? (7,4) CHINESE WALL [CD]

6   Cabbie runs into pickpocket (6) DRIVER {D{R}IVER}

7   Chain armour reportedly lined with tin after mounting (7) MANACLE {(~mail)MA{CAN<=}LE}

8   Army seizing vessel smuggling gold - it has lights in many parts (9) CROSSWORD {CRO{SS}WD} over {OR}

12 Power leads in apparatus having tentacles to secure shelter and gear gets IP certificate (6,5) PATENT RIGHT {P}{Ap...s}{Ha...g}{Te...s} over {TENT}{RIG}

13 Dreamy schoolmaster missing the new refurbished place where he is to take lessons (9) CLASSROOM {SChOOLMASteR}*}

15 Say, Kashmiri monkey losing tail before maturity (8) LANGUAGE {LANGUr}{AGE}

17 Tormented harassed groups close to paranoia (7) HAUNTED {H{p...iA}UNTED}

19 Model fills valise with two pieces of yellow gemstone (4-3) CATS-EYE {CA{T}SE}{YEllow}

20 Danger which inhibits engineers (6) THREAT {TH{RE}AT}

22 Animal fleece picked up (4) HARE(~hair)

Reference List

India = IN, Commercial = AD, Rule = R, Compere = MC, Wales = W, Left = L, Norway = N, Married = M, Runs = R, Vessel = SS{Steamship), Power = P, Model = T, Engineers = RE(Royal Engineers)