No 14817, Thursday 11 Jun 2026, KrisKross

Solution to 12A 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

1   Chemist's quick to wrap wound (8) PHARMACY {P{HARM}ACY}

5   Reportedly delivers heavy woollen fabric (6) FRIEZE (~frees)

9 &13 They are used to revive sailors with BO? (8,5) SMELLING SALTS {SALTS}<=>{SMELLING}

10 It can hold breakfast food for one - greasy pot originally lined with copper (6) EGGCUP {EG}{Gr...y}{CU}{Pot}

12 Opponents try drills. Many give up (4,5) L?S? H?A?T ()

13 See 9A

14 Top trends in poems (4) ODES {mODES}

16 Temple town's function for a zealot (7) PURITAN {PURI}{TAN}

19 Obscure quotations seen in memes regularly (7) ECLIPSE {mE{CLIPS}mEs}

21 Panel changing sides in a month (4) JURY JU(-l+r)RY

24 Country's popular face left out (5) INDIA {IN}{DIAl}

25 Pin ads around a flyer (9) SAND PIPER {PIN+ADS}*{PER}

27 AI software not opening novel - it's an irritating problem (6) IRITIS {sIRI}{ITS*}

28 Primarily many people excited in arena, resulting in this? (8) STAMPEDE {STA{Many}{Pe...e}{Ex...d}DE} Semi&lit

29 One suffering hurt before try-out (6) MARTYR {MAR}{TRY*}

30 Woman is pinched by spoilt kid, most rude (8) BRASHEST   {BRA{SHE'S}T}

DOWN

1   Step dancing with extremely lovable crush (6) PESTLE {STEP*}{Lo...lE}

2   Doctored images revealing bias (6) AGEISM* 

3   Enrich soil greatly, taking in fertilisers essentially (5) MULCH {MU{f...iLi...s}CH}

4   Dismiss very stupid person in campaign (7) CANVASS {CAN}{V}{ASS}

6   Administrator is back, charged with direction to rule (9) REGISTRAR {R{E{GIST}RA<=}{R}Anno not clear

7   Intensify police case, missing deadline (8) ESCALATE {CASE*}{LATE}

8   Showing ten pigeons flying all around (8) EXPOSING {E{X}POSING*}

11 Break small plaything (4) STOP {S}{TOP}

15 Evil God filled with power, chiefly crazy (9) DEPRAVITY {DE{PR}{crAzy}}ITY}

17 Idle vagrant, a bit intoxicated, overwhelmed by strange fever (8) DELIRIUM {IDLE*}{R{In...d}UM}

18 Glue dries for the most part, turning more muddy (8) SLUDGIER {GLUe+DRIES}*

20 Some require a strategic direction (4) EAST [T]

21 After a month, bread counter becomes cleaner (7) JANITOR {JAN}{ROTI<=}

22 Ball's area (6) SPHERE [DD]

23 Tune with hint of romance… girl starts crying (6) URGENT {TUNE+Ro...e+G}*

26 American uncle excited about cats (5) PUMAS {SAM}{UP}<=

Reference List

Function = TAN, Popular = IN, Very = V, Small = S, American uncle = SAM