No 14670, Saturday 20 Dec 2025, Incognito

 ACROSS
8 Animal gets large covering for head (4) COWL {COW}{L}

9 Female eats horribly in celebratory meal (5) FEAST {F}{EATS*}
10 On retirement, Oprah loses love for instrument (4) HARP {oPRAH<}

11 Ram's//cooking medium? (6) BUTTER [DD]
12 Animal after Virginia and daughter ran away (8) VAMOOSED {MOOSE}<=>{VA}+D
13 Loads wood in ship and sleeps (8) SLUMBERS {S{LUMBER}S}
15 Disinter old ornithologist who founded a political party (6) EXHUME {EX}{HUME}
17 Stiff curved structure in pig-pen (7) STARCHY {ST{ARCH}Y}
19 Eastern Lake Street's most spooky point (7) EERIEST {E}{ERIE}{ST}
22 Boy with aged queen is more brave (6) BOLDER {B}{OLD}{ER}
24 In novel, Romeo is followed by tailless cat in New York neighbourhood (8) BROOKLYN {B{R}OOK}{LYNx}

26 Lends posters covering American vice-president (8) ADVANCES {AD{VANCE}S}
28 Model and charming lady's tic (6) TWITCH {T}{WITCH}
30 Prohibit new building in farm (4) BARN {BAR}{N}

31 Don's// deception (3-2) PUT-ON [DD]
32 Valley in jungle notified (4) GLEN [T]

DOWN
1 Protein rich food made out of mixture without using egg (4) TOFU {oUT OF}*

2 Veteran's// grand-father clock, for example (3-5) OLD-TIMER [DD]
3 Girl in favour of church's mass-specific strength (1-5) G-FORCE {G}{FOR}{CE}
4 Horribly starve husband first and collect produce (7) HARVEST {STARVE}*<=>{H}
5 A public representative follows saint with extraordinarily diverse entourage at first resulting in mad rush (8) STAMPEDE {A MP}<=>{ST}+{Extraordinarily}{Diverse}{Entourage}
6 Sound of wind from show organised covers head office (6) WHOOSH {SHOW}* around {HO}
7 Large woody plant in street (4) TREE [T]
14 Plenty to put together... Bingo! (5) LOTTO {LOT}{TO}
16 I hear sportsman is unorganised (5) MESSY {~MESSI}
18 Hardy cop produces printout (4,4) HARD COPY*
20 Slinking around? Results in suspicions... (8) INKLINGS*
21 Crazy boy consuming eggs sautéed in tallow for starters results in extreme stoutness (7) OBESITY {BOY*} around {Eggs}{Sauted}{In}{Tallow}
23 Channels for carrying water from precipitation in key streets at last (6) DRAINS {RAIN} in {D}{streetS}
25 Making a choice and operating without time (6) OPTING {OPeraTING}
27 Sketch// tie (4) DRAW [DD]
29 Cook some lunch effortlessly (4) CHEF [T]

REFERENCE LIST

Large=L, Female=F, Love=0=o, Virginia=VA, Daughter=D, Ship=SS (Steamer Ship), Old=Ex, Eastern=E, Street=St., Boy=B, Queen=ER (Elizabeth Regina), Romeo=R, Model=T, New=N, Egg=0=O, Girl=G, Church=CE, Husband=H, Public Representative=MP, Saint=St., Head Office=HO, Key=D ( one of the musical keys).