The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday No 32, Sunday 30 Nov 2025, Incognito

ACROSS

8   King giving up no good electrical vehicle for starters. Capital! (4) KIEV {KIng}{El...c}{Ve...e}

9   Leaders of social media consume beverage producing water vapour (5)  STEAM {So...l}{TEA}{Me..a}

10 American's pull (4) YANK [DD]

11 Delta soil shortage (6) DEARTH {D}{EARTH}

12 Salesman returns after small journey for paint remover (8) STRIPPER {REP<=}<=>{S}{TRIP}

13 Shape changed before conflict in city (8) PESHAWAR {SHAPE*}{WAR}

15 Average in south-south-east is meagre (6) SPARSE {PAR} in {SSE}

17 First girl leaves cricketer Mike for boy on strike (7) BATTING (-g+b)BATTING

19 Stout soldier returning to take university exam initially shows tiredness (7) FATIGUE {FAT}{GI<=}{U}{Exam}

22 Saint hugged large plant in avenue (6) STREET {S{TREE}T}

24 Most speedy transport departs around one (8) RAPIDEST {RAP{1}DEST*}

26 Answer to get past father's scimitar, for example (8) PASSWORD {PAS}{SWORD}

28 Young lady inserted same erroneously in driving licence initially (6) DAMSEL {Dr...g}{SAME*}{Li...e}

30 Move prison (4) STIR [DD]

31 And organised Chief Engineer's ball! (5) DANCE {AND*}{CE}

32 None may produce gas! (4) NEON*

DOWN

1   Returning, sir, with a bit of experience to get up (4) RISE {SIR<=}{Ex...e}

2   Six balls host misplayed went beyond intended target (8) OVERSHOT {OVER}{HOST*}

3   Avoid prunes chewed to some extent (6) ESCHEW [T]

4   Church certain to include point for denouncement (7) CENSURE {CE}{N}{SURE}

5   In Asia, Mike and brother producing divine nourishment (8) AMBROSIA {A{M}{BRO}SIA}

6   Short-sightedness resulting from consumption of poi prepared in cooked yam (6) MYOPIA {MY{POI*}A*}

7   Perhaps, keen to produce a joint (4) KNEE*

14 Demand and obtain previous statute (5) EXACT {EX}{ACT}

16 Closes cabin in ship (5) SHUTS {S{HUT}S}

18 Strings supporting tennis barrier badly constructed... not cut... (3,5) NET CORDS {cONSTRuCtED}*

20 Popular, indeed, guy admitted without explaining at first (2,6) IN DEMAND {INDE{MAN}eD}

21 Free energy in explosive weapon (7) TRIDENT {T{RID}{E}NT}

23 European nurse to be dislodged! See to it! (6) ENSURE {E}{NURSE*}

25 Softly continued, "Cushioned" (6) PADDED [DD]

27 Performs in play from contract stage (4) ACTS [T]

29 So, about-turn for cupid? (4) EROS {SO}{RE}<=

Reference List

No = N, Good = G, Delta = D, Average = PAR, South-east = SE, Boy = B, University = U, Saint = ST, Church = CE, Point = N, Mike = M, Ship = SS, Energy = E, Explosive = TNT, European = E, About = RE