No 14775, Thursday 23 Apr 2026, Vidwan

Solution to 17A 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   Essential and wrong! Almost like endless church service at 3 pm! (4,3,3) SINE QUA NON {SIN}{EQUAl}{NONe}

9   Left out flat window glass (4) PANE PANEl

10 Once more straighten out in opposition to one's character (7,3,5) AGAINST THE GRAIN {AGAIN}{STRAIGHTEN*}

11 Measure of certain lie repeated to an old rock group overshadowed by younger ones! (6) INLIER [T]

12 Tells United Nations head about Indian mantra (8) UNBOSOMS {UN}{BOS{OM}S}

14 Heartless brothel keeper gets lady's address (4) MAAM MAdAM

15 Assimilator took nourishment at home, possibly for materialisations (3,2) ATE IN {ATE IN+ASSIMILATOR}*=MATERIALISATIONS [CA]

16 Born dead desire (4) NEED {NEE}{D}

17 Lecherous discreet royal, one coming in for date (8) ?R?R?E?T ()

18 Runs ahead for taste! King runs for fun! (6) FROLIC {F(+r)RO(-r)}{LICk}

19 Admirable! Urgent rush to find a mysterious place! (7,8) BERMUDA TRIANGLE*

21 Here investigator has control (4) REIN [T]

22 Do rise and vibe excitedly with rich variety of life! (10) BIODIVERSE*

DOWN

1   Receiving a riper kind of flowering ivy (8,7) VIRGINIA CREEPER*

2   Minister lured me, treated for alcoholism induced psychosis (8,7) DELIRIUM TREMENS*

3   Underground bus tips over to ride on sea! Great! (10) SUBSURFACE {BUS<=}{SURF}{ACE}

4   Popular place hosting most honest chaps making piece of orchestral music (15) INSTRUMENTATION {IN}{S{TRUe}{MEN}TATION}

5   Occasionally king eyes a part of leg (4) KNEE {KiNg+EyEs}

6   No! No current pass arranged for someone like Harsha Bhogle (6,9) SPORTS ANNOUNCER*

7   Destroying Persian militia, saving millions for policy of opposition to dominance over other nations (4-11)  ANTI-IMPERIALISM {PERSIAN+MILITIA}* over {M}

13 Boycott office detective trading cocaine tart (7,3) BANOFFI PIE {BAN}{OFFI(-c+pi)PIE}

20 Theodore returned after acquiring book liability (4) DEBT {T{B}ED<=}

Reference List

Left = L, Indian mantra = OM, Born = NEE, Dead = D, Runs = R, King = K, Popular = IN, Millions = M, Cocaine = C, Detective = PI(Private Investigator), Book = B