No 14682, Saturday 3 Jan 2026, Gussalufz

Identify the Nina and the theme words 

  Triple or Nothing

ACROSS
1 Munch quietly on cold meat (5) CHAMP {P}<=>{C}{HAM}
4 Glands prone to release second dash of rheum before end of sneezes (9) PROSTATES {PROSTrATE}{sneezeS}
9 Painter's angrier production (7) GRAINER*

10 Tandoori chicken cooked without onion had flopped, that's fair (7) CRICKET {TandooRi ChICKEn}
11 November observance organised in December and May, mistakenly (11,3) REMEMBRANCE DAY {RAN} in {DECEMBER MAY}*
12 Woman set out after pocketing diamonds (4) LADY {LA{D}Y}
13 Minor U.S. assets restricting one's source of tax breaks (9) DOWNTIMES {DIMES} over {OWN}{Tax}  
17 Drug havens minus dope? Bizarre! (5,4) OPIUM DENS*
19 Pasta, pizza win British, Irish hearts (4) ZITI {piZza wIn briTish irIsh}

22 Reject gnu clone after trial in synthetic habitat (8,6) CONCRETE JUNGLE*

25 Leaving body writhing, in goes killing squad's leader (7) GOODBYE {BODY}* in {GOEs} 
26 Popular team, now called "WI", backed regularly (7) WELCOME { tEaM nOw CaLlEd Wi<}
27 Startles Slytherin insiders with honesty (9) ARTLESSLY [T]
28 Pulls rank, replacing premier with unknown assistant, essentially (5) YANKS {(-r+Y)ANK}{assiStant}

DOWN
1 Hot garlic oil that can be smoky? (9) CIGARILLO*

2 Frightened gangster with weapon (7) ALARMED {AL}{ARMED}
3 Some cameraman apparently capsized in canal (6) PANAMA [T<]

4 Bird's role on hill (9) PARTRIDGE {PART}{RIDGE}
5 Old review in old language (5) OSCAN {O}{SCAN}
6 Time to join race-fit running group (small one) (8) TRIFECTA {T}{RACE FIT}*
7 Line up crosshairs and attack veganism occasionally (4,3) TAKE AIM {aTtAcK vEgAnIsM}
8 Provide reference over the phone, for position (4) SITE {~CITE}
14 Was beverage wrongly emptied jamming a sink? (5,4) WASTE AWAY {WAS TEA} {WronglY over A}
15 Mean behaviour is rising (partially lessened in September) (9) SNIDENESS [T<]
16 Is this setter guy friendly? (8) AMICABLE {AM I}{CABLE}
18 Smooth transformation that turns female into male? (4,3) IRON OUT {feMALE} Rebus
20 In Germany, radicals at extreme left have matured towards centre? (7) INGROWN {IN}{G}{Radicals}{OWN}
21 English writer, upper-class, by and large boring attention-grabber (6) HUXLEY {U}{X}{L} in {HEY}

23 Numbers filmed by Steven Spielberg (5) EVENS [T]
24 Pointless wager over origin of artifact in tourist destination (4) AGRA {wAGeR}{Artifact}

REFERENCE LIST

Quietly=P, Cold=C, Diamonds=D, Unknown=Y, Gangster=Al (Capone), Old=O, Time=T, Setter=I, Upper-Class=U, By=X (2 by 2=2 x 2), Large=L, Point=W (West); E(East)