No 14602, Tuesday 30 Sep 2025, Hypatia

Solution to 4A 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   Penny's fortunate and brave (6) PLUCKY {P}{LUCKY}

4   A bit shy before my church singers do this (6) ?C?R?H (Addendum - SCORCH {Shy}{COR}{CH} - See comments)

9   Starts to generate neat advertisements through flyer (4) GNAT Acrostic

10 Spooner's labelling rotten bananas (7,3) BARKING MAD (marking bad to barking mad)

11 Followed author's boring story to date (6) TAILED {TA{I}LE}{D}

12 Praise champion sheltering pop and daughter (8) ACCOLADE {AC{COLA}{D}E}

13 Boost phone software to cover North and Southeast Asians (9) FILIPINOS {FILIP}{I{N}OS}

15 Detailed inspection for boss (4) STUD STUDy

16 Broken hut abandoned in rocky Halibut island (4) BALI hALIBut*

17 Make a hole in paper for a template (9) PERFORATE [T]

21 Play interrupted by a gun shot in house (8) BUNGALOW {B{A+GUN}*LOW)

22 Oddly took around two hours plus to weed out (6) UPROOT {TwO+hOuRs+PlUs}<=

24 Boys in blue pants strike behind with padding material (6,4) BUBBLE WRAP {BU{BB}LE*}{RAP}<=>{W}

25 Elected representative briefly backing American plant (4) AMLA {MLA}<=>{A}

26 English pilot ultimately prepares to go ahead and fly (6) TSETSE {E}<=>{p..oT}{SETS}

27 Avoid that man chasing key wicket (6) ESCHEW {HE}<=>{ESC} and {W}

DOWN

1   Joke and poke with one's tongue (7) PUNJABI {PUN}{JAB}{1}

2   Before you return, get thali meal at last (5) UNTIL Tail Acrostic 

3   Kid lost tackling a poor game - it's touch and go! (7) KABADDI {K{A}{BAD}DI*}

5   Secure piece of cake gaining pounds (6) CLINCH {C{L}INCH}

6   Got a rule modified by writing to SEBI, say (9) REGULATOR {GOT+A+RULE}*{R}

7   Fiercely adored by husband and treasured (7) HOARDED {ADORED}*<=>{H}

8   Do owners thus fail to keep a promise? (5,4,4) BREAK ONES WORD {DO+OWNERS}* [RA]

14 Say throw up bile after ailing and faint (9) ILLEGIBLE {EG}{BILE*}<=>{ILL}

16 Modern boutique delivering single bunch of flowers (7) BOUQUET BOUTiQUE*

18 Message about uniform given to father with school slip (4,3) FAUX PAS {FA{U}X}{PA}{S}

19 Extremely lethargic trail outside European city (3,4) TOO SLOW {TO{OSLO}W}

20 Switching sides, digs without right tools (6) PLIERS {P(-r+l)LIES} over {R}

23 Come to power (5) REACH [DD]

Reference List

Penny = P, My = COR, Date = D, Daughter = D, North = N, Boy = B, With = W, American = A, English = E, Key = ESC, Wicket = W, Pound = L, Writing = R, Husband = H, Uniform = U, School = S, Right = R