No 14579, Wednesday 03 Sep 2025, VMA Nair

Solution to 1D 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   Doctor and lecturer visiting a filthy place chiefly (6) MOSTLY {MO}{ST{L}Y}

4   Research facility backs right kind of boot (8) BALMORAL {LAB<=}{MORAL}

9   Case of Avion tequila initially stored in nightclub (6) DATIVE {D{Av..n}{Te...a}IVE}

10 King Edward wears black ties and leather flaps (8) BLINKERS {B}{LINK{ER}S}

12 Able to walk in the morning with a blunt ruffian (8) AMBULANT {AM}{A+BLUNT}*

13 Rush in ward and emergency room (6) CAREER {CARE}{ER}

15 Hector is excitedly drinking gin in part of theatre where musicians sit (9,3) ORCHESTRA PIT {HECTOR+IS}* over {TRAP}

18 Characteristic of unusually icy roads in Seychelles (12) IDIOSYNCRASY {ICY+ROADS+IN}*{SY}

21 Make mysterious object to control company executives at entrance (6) ENCODE {EN{CO}D}{Ex...s}

22 Part of fruit is originally eaten by a fish (8) PERICARP  {Is} in {PER}{CARP}

24 I love to cook stew avoiding second-class cooking ingredient (5,3) OLIVE OIL {I+LOVE}*{bOIL}

25 Roman Catholic traditions primarily broken by priest and widow once (6) RELICT {R{ELI}C}{Tr...s} Can one be a widow twice?

26 Charlie, I am developing unique piece of clothing that women wear (8) CAMISOLE {C}{I+AM}*{SOLE}

27 Restless opener for Tasmania cutting a piece of cake after end of play (6) YEASTY {EAS{Ta...a}Y}<=>{plaY}

DOWN

1   Judge found soldiers restricting service from the south (8) M?D?A?O? 

2   Terribly sick bat devours a piece of strawberry and relaxes (4,4) SITS BACK {SICK+BAT}* over {St...y}

3   Cool leader of Latvia badly needed a vessel to tour Hungary (5-10) LEVEL-HEADEDNESS {La...a}{NEEDED+A+VESSEL}* over {H}

5   Get rid of large parts in shaft (4) AXLE {AX{L}E}

6   New chairman needs to grasp popular language (8,7) MANDARIN CHINESE {CHAIRMAN+NEEDS}* over {IN}

7   Guide seizes ecstasy and marijuana cigarette (6) REEFER {RE{E}FER}

8   Temptation to arrest saint for fame (6) LUSTRE {LU{ST}RE}

11 Ointment business needing no introduction (7) UNCTION fUNCTION

14 Mineral deposit coming up behind courtyard (7) BARYTES {SET<=}<=>{BAR}{Y}

16 Fancies a centre for night shifts outside (8) VAGARIES {V{A}{niGht}ARIES}

17 Understanding extremely scary marks on road close to highway (8) SYMPATHY {ScarY}{M}{PATH}{h...aY}

19 Bold, hot and sexy with no hint of timidity (6) HEROIC {H}{EROtIC}

20 Heads of state could have influenced social media division (6) SCHISM Acrostic

23 Use lira instead of krone and pound (4) MILL MIL(-k+l)L

Reference List

Lecturer = L, Nightclub = DIVE, Black = B, King Edward = ER, Emergency Room = ER, Second-class = B, Roman Catholic = RC, Charlie = C, Large = L, Popular = IN, Saint = ST, Court = BAR, Yard = Y, Marks = M, Hot = H, Lira = L, Krone = K

No 14578, Tuesday 02 Sep 2025, Pixie Dust

Solution to 12A 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

7   That lady in a complex medical condition (6) HERNIA {HER}{IN+A}*

8   Spooner's instructions to batter and pummel minced beef? (8) MEATBALL (beat maul to meatball)

9   Transporter of stable beings? (8) HORSEBOX [CD]

10 Shabby wager about a state in India (4-2) BEAT-UP {BE{A}T}{UP}

11 Honey producer's bitter chase meets dead end? (8) SOURWOOD {SOUR}{WOO}{deaD}

12 Nut delivered a mouth freshener (6) C?S?E? (Addendum - CASHEW [C&DD] - See comments}

13 Do these small broken pieces somehow endorse theism? (11) SMITHEREENS {SMITHEREENS+DO}*=ENDORSE THEISM [CA]

18 A fine and secure state (6) AFFIRM {A}{F}{FIRM}

20 Repudiate unfortunate ban on E Portal (8) ABNEGATE {BAN*}{E}{GATE}

22 Counter a mountaineer, say (6) SCALER (~scalar)

23 Damp date escapes for a bit of leftover modesty (8) HUMILITY HUMI(-d+l)LITY

24 Every now and then Mahomet procured cleaners in vehicles (8) MOTORCAR POS issue {MahOmeT+prOcuRed+CleAneRs}

25 Forlorn and bewildered, Noel's extremely laggardly (6) LONELY {NOEL*}{La...lY}

DOWN

1   Whoa! Eros (Olympian-God) smuggled an atomiser (7) AEROSOL [T]

2   Unit of measurement's converted? Not grams (8) ANGSTROM*

3   Tailless deer in fiction loves grass (6) BAMBOO {BAMBi}{00}

4   Oddly Beau robbed crude grill (8) BARBECUE {BeAu+RoBbEd+CrUdE}

5   Confused about small submarines (1-5) U-BOATS {ABOUT}*{S}

6   Chapters about the French Applications (7) CLAUSES {C}{LA}{USES}

8   Trash poem To hamper? Incongruous literary device! (5,8) MIXED METHAPOR {TRASH+POEM}* [RA] There's an extra S in the fodder See comments

14 Plant trees around malls, airports, restaurants and cemented kerbs from the beginning (8) TAMARACK Acrostic 

15 Ling repeatedly chopped up? It's bothersome! (8) NIGGLING Letter Bank

16 Secret sauce from unknown industry's restricted (1,6) X FACTOR {X}{FACTORy}

17 Section of Royalty let a Tsar make a comeback in August (7) STATELY [T<=]

19 Denied opening large toilets in accommodations for cold folks? (6) IGLOOS {bIG}{LOOS}

21 Specifically chap returns to city in England (6) NAMELY {MAN<=}{ELY}

Reference List

Chase = WOO, Fine = F, Date = D, Small = S, About = C, The in French = LA, Unknown = X

No 14577, Monday 01 Sep 2025, Pixie Dust

Solution to 14D 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   Disfigure a bishop's beetle (6) SCARAB {SCAR}{A}{B}

5   Stop and drink with journalists (8) SUPPRESS {SUP}{PRESS}

9   Established study about a prison (4-4) CAST-IRON {C{A}{STIR}ON} 

10 Picks up missing fellow and impresses (6) ETCHES fETCHES

11 Calls attention to Spooner's deception limits (10) HIGHLIGHTS (lie heights to highlights)

12 Orally mend scoundrel (4) HEEL (~heal)

13 A desire to admit early signs of love and lust from the outset (3,5) ALL ALONG {A}{L{Love}{And}{Lust}ONG}

16 What did you say? Policemen are releasing documents of notorious leaders! (6) PARDON Acrostic

17 Emphasise anxiety (6) STRESS [DD]

19 Heartless CEO last month, rejected and buried formula. Preposterous! (8) COCKEYED {CeO}{DEC<=} over {KEY}

21 Repudiate some blonde nymph (4) DENY [T]

22 Sailor devastated! Soul's basically torn in state monitored fascism (10) ABSOLUTISM {AB}{SOUL*}{Torn}{In}{St..e}{Mo...d}

25 Decent hero vacated resort (6) HONEST {HerO}{NEST}

26 Fantastic grain used repeatedly in farming? (8) AGRARIAN Letter Bank

27 Prepare extremely reasonable funeral coach (8) REHEARSE {Re...lE}{HEARSE}

28 Breathtaking piece of jewellery? (6) CHOKER [DD]

DOWN

2   A jerk cycling around old animal (5) COATI  {(+c)CATI(-c)} over {O} This word play doesn't work for cycling as A is in between

3   Gag poor thing, say (5) RETCH (~wretch) 

4   Mix or rub it in Mexican wrap (7) BURRITO*

5   Construction worker's uninitiated sad song, somehow overwhelmed Henry (7) SANDHOG {sAD+SONG}* over {H}

6   Exercise before dinner perhaps, sipping some Sangria (5-2) PRESS-UP {PRE}{Sa...a}{SUP}

7   ...and this 'Man o War' for one developed a creased horn? (9) RACEHORSE {RACEHORSE+AND}* = A CREASED HORN

8   Say Jobs ignoring boundaries, loved Loader (9) STEVEDORE {STEVE}{aDOREd}

14 Drunk, that man's very mobile - extremely agile (9) L?T?E?O?E (Addendum - LITHESOME {LIT}{HE}{SO}{Mo..lE} - See comments)

15 Can eye let out gas? (9) ACETYLENE*

18 Second serve takes time in spread (7) SCATTER {S}{CAT{T}ER}

19 Rascal wears suit in shower (7) CASCADE {CAS{CAD}E}

20 Concerned with heat? Car coil's damaged! (7) CALORIC* 

23 Chest also holds relics & souvenirs primarily (5) TORSO {TO{Re...s}{So...s}O}

24 Some beg at station's elevated platform (5) STAGE [T<=]

Reference List

Bishop = B, Drink = SUP, Study = CON, Fellow = F, Sailor = AB, Old = O, Henry = H, Drunk = LIT, Second = S, Time = T