No 14749, Tuesday 24 Mar 2026, Crossant

Solution to 20D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered 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 answer, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

8   Dream about getting money, love, bit of sunshine and drink (6) MIMOSA {AIM<=} over {M}{O}{Su...e}A

9   Guys practised after Australian Open (8) AMENABLE {MEN}{ABLE}<=>{A}

10 Backstage issue? (4) EMIT<=

11 Toppers of the English League may have lost lead perhaps (5,5) HEAVY METAL {The+En...h+Le...e+MAY+HAVE}*

12 Essentially stuffy, air conditioned, vacant lobby (9) PRIMARILY {PRIM}{AIR*}{LobbY}

14 Roll Back Support - Amazon's bestseller basically (5) BAGEL {LEG}{Am...n}{Be...r}<=

16 Initially trekked around 50 kilometres say (4) TALK {Tr...d}{Ar...d}{L}{K}

18 Model appears without clothes daily (5) PAPER aPPEARs*

19 Somewhat lucky I visited European city (4) KYIV [T]

21 Money returned around beginning of previous month (5) APRIL {LIR{Pr...s}A<]

23 Came across poem about a virtual world (9) METAVERSE {MET}{VERSE} over {A}

26 One sees ad about earning money in Asian region (4,6) EAST INDIES {1+SEES+AD}* over {TIN}

28 Reduce high speed (4) CLIP [DD]

29 Indian ascetic, for example, assuming new name on a small island (8) SANNYASI {SA{N}{N}Y}{S}{I}

30 One about to enter a far-off land (6) AFRICA {1}{C} in {A+FAR}*

DOWN

1   Drink with a bit of rum - Mai Tai perhaps (3,5) TIA MARIA {A+Rum+MAI+TAI}*

2   Saw boy standing behind (6) BOTTOM {MOTTO}{B}<=

3   Spooner's emergency officers getting coffee and cocoa perhaps (4,5) CASH CROPS (crash cops to cash crops)

4   Indian tribal leaving island returns once more (4) NAGA AGAiN<=

5   Yankee largely happy in African country (5) KENYA YANKEe*

6   Dance - it's easy (8) CAKEWALK [DD]

7   Say difficulty swallowing morsel eventually comes up in later years (3,3) OLD AGE {EG}{AD{m...eL}O}<=

13 Vacant space behind leg slip (5) LAPSE {APSE}<=>{L}

15 Largest English Academy sporting official Government stamp (5,4) GREAT SEAL {LARGEST+E+A}*

17 King and knight leaving without queen for recreational activity perhaps (8) KNITTING {K}{N}{quITTING}

20 Talent's not obvious, needs discerning insight to begin with (8) I?S?I?C? 

22 Alcaraz ditches car, cycles in extremely populous public squares in Spain (6) PLAZAS {(-a)LcarAZ(+a)A} in {Po...uS}

24 Fiery McEnroe blowing his top once again (6) ENCORE mCENROE*

25 Popular place for decorative work (5) INLAY {IN}{LAY}

27 Plant inspectors review industrial safety primarily (4) IRIS Acrostic

Reference List

Money = M, Australian = A, 50 = L, Kilometres = K, Money = TIN, New = N, Name = N, Small = S, Island = I, About = C, Boy = B, Leg = L, English = E, Academy = A, King = K, Knight = N, Queen = QU, Popular = IN