No 14816, Wednesday 10 Jun 2026, Incognito

Solution to 8A 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   Male took in conjugal partner (4) ?A?E (Addendum - MATE {M}{ATE} - See comments)

9   Asset that could be pieces of furniture (5) SEATS*

10 Part of church collapses to some extent (4) APSE [HIPS]

11 Who had changed seating equipment mounted on elephant? (6) HOWDAH*

12 Siblings, perhaps, trouble school head around start of recess (8) BROTHERS {B{Re...s}OTHER}{Sc...l}

13 Analysing quantity of arsenic, for example, in groundwater at first (8) ASSAYING {AS}{SAY}{IN}{Gr...r}

15 Ladies restated expected standards (6) IDEALS*

17 Check manufacture of pectins (7) INSPECT*

19/22 Old weapon found in Shakespearean plays (7,6) ANCIENT PISTOL {ANCIENT}{PISTOL}

24 Driving in absence of medico, following a Rolls Royce and coming (8) ARRIVING {drIVING}<=>{A}{RR}

26 Spotted animals tearing her pants (8) PANTHERS*

28 Stick electrical component (6) SWITCH [DD]

30 What a golfer might shout from a wooded area after losing some time initially? (4) FORE FOREst

31 Other actors seem to be deaf to this kind of dialogue (5) ASIDE [CD]

32 Warmth in the theatre (4) HEAT [HIPS]

DOWN

1   Destruction of shale oil after leaving isle produces ring of light (4) HALO {sHAle+OiL}*

2   Excitedly help Adam to get illumination for biker, for example (8) HEADLAMP*

3   It's him wandering around tombolos, for example (6) ISTHMI*

4   Vegetable produced by a couple of boys in Co-op (7) CABBAGE {C{A}{BB}AGE}

5   Stone thrown by Scotsman and North European (8) ESTONIAN {STONE*}{IAN}

6   Horrible shame! Purloining one golf club! (6) MASHIE {MASH{1}E*}

7   Employer's devious ruse (4) USER*

14 Transgression at top-class peninsula (5) SINAI {SIN}{A1}

16 Leader left 9 on return (5) LENIN {L}{NINE<=}

18 Sal cared about collapsed magma chambers (8) CALDERAS*

20 Iodine and vanadium found in damaged hinges and rails (8) INVEIGHS {I}{N{V}EIGHS*}

21 Legal action arising from bad awl and spades, for example (7) LAWSUIT {AWL*}{SUIT}

23 Tie broken teeth at beginning of ritual (6) TETHER {TEETH*}{Ri...l}

25 Duty schedule from hero's terrible (6) ROSTER [T]

27 Ace spinner on the summit (4) ATOP {A}{TOP}

29 Cove between last part of beach and a part of port (4)  CHAP {beaCH}{A}{Port}

Reference List

Male = M, Boys = B, Left = L, Ace = A