Wednesday, 3 September 2025

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

11 comments:

  1. 12A
    Is Ruffian the anagrind? I am presuming so

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  2. 25a definitely not in the era when relict was in vogue!

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  3. 25A- Nair is writing this from U.S. where widows may commonly remarry. If they do, they may become widows again!! (though a little far fetched)

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  4. 1Dn MEDIATOR - {ME{AID<=}T}{OR}

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1DN:mediator=judge
    {me(aid<=)t}(or). found=met
    service=aid, soldiers=or.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice grid. Enjoyed solving. Could get the 2 long ones pretty easily.

    ReplyDelete

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