No 14836, Friday 03 Jul 2026, Crossant

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS FOR FRIDAY ONLY

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PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

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Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.

ACROSS

1   Weak Queen refused to fast after start of summer (6) SICKLY {quICKLY}<=>{Su...r}

4   Warning boy to leave nasty, immoral habit (6) ADVICE {bAD}{VICE}

8   Mounting covert police operation to nab foreigner (7) SETTING {S{ET}TING}

9   Delighted when entering sanctuary in outskirts of Palakkad (7) PLEASED {LE{AS}E} in {Pa...aD}

11 Nicely go around flashing a new Tesla (10) PLEASANTLY {PL{A+N+TESLA}*Y}

12 Bird starting late gets worm? (4) INCH fINCH

13 Further education lags in that respect (5) THERE [T]

14 U.S. never bothered about India and the world (8) UNIVERSE {US+NEVER}* over {I}

16 Maybe Vasco da Gama from Portugal learning routes in the beginning (8) EXPLORER {EX}{P}{LORE}{Ro...s}

18 Military vehicles and tense, faceless rows of soldiers (5) TANKS {T}{rANKS}

20 Follow hooligan cycling around entrance of estate (4) OBEY {(-y)OB(+y)Y} over {Es...e}

21 In fact, session at home is fixed (10) DETERMINED {DE{TERM}{IN}ED}

23 Boy working hard without accomplishment ultimately gets extremely angry (7) BOILING {B}{tOILING}

24 What bowlers do when de Villiers bats - won't have slip mostly (7) DELIVER {DE+VillLIERs}*

25 Makes pens out of unhealthy styrene primarily (6) STYLES STYLusES

26 About to exit central building, understood? (6) LEARNT cENTRAL*

DOWN

1   Is finally all right? Great. (5) SWELL {iS}{WELL}

2   Bit of cream soup (no piece of potato) and cheese maybe (7) COTTAGE {Cr..m}{pOTTAGE}

3   Listen, leaders of national eminence lost and are angry (4,2,3) LEND AN EAR {Na...l+Em...e+Lost+AND+ARE}*

5   Lloyd botched an easy catch (5) DOLLY*

6   Judge one with a drink in Middle East (7) IMAGINE {1}{M{A}{GIN}E}

7   Implements tariffs restricting export revenues in the beginning (9) EXERCISES {EX{Ex...t}{Re...s}CISES}

10 Say most regressive, senseless last words perhaps (2,2,5) ET TU BRUTE {UTTEr<=}{BRUTE}

13 Revolutionary took best, essentially Marxist reading material (9) TEXTBOOKS* {TOOK+BEST+marXist}*

15 Check and re-enter if wrong (9) INTERFERE*

17 King and Queen maybe switching sides and allegiance (7) LOYALTY (-r+l)LOYALTY

19 More curious about India becoming rowdier (7) NOISIER {NO{I}SIER}

21 Slow person needs backing from time to time (5) DENSE {pErSoN+nEeDs}<=

22 Equalise at the end of tight game (5) EVENT {EVEN}{t..hT}

Reference List

Queen = QU, Boy = B, Foreigner = ET, New = N, India = I, Portugal = P, Tense = T, About = C, Sides = R,L

No 14835, Thursday 02 Jul 2026, Mythical

Solution to 7A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only 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

6   Our closest living relative, Victor, takes me as subject for article (5) CHIMP  CH(-a+i)IMP

7   Head off to exit beyond for journey (8) P?O?R?S?  (Addendum - PROGRESS {eGRESS}<=>{PRO} - See comments) 

10 Preview mobile home (7) TRAILER [DD]

11 Son, say, reportedly intended to separate (7) SEGMENT {S}{EG}{(~meant)MENT}

12 Occasionally he opted for extremely gross food (3,4) HOT DOGS {He+OpTeD+fOr}{GrosS}

13 He leaves penthouse angry but determined (3,4) SET UPON PENThOUSe*

14 Convict consumed ecstasy, with judge as accomplice (11) CONFEDERATE {CON}{FED}{E}{RATE} 

19 What a labour union might initiate - take up arms ? (4,3) WAGE WAR [DD]

21 Eastern representative involved in trial creates a violent uproar (7) TEMPEST {T{E}{MP}EST}

23 Nationalist hidden in shed after mother initially notices intensive search by police (7) MANHUNT {HU{N}T}<=>{MA}{No...s}

25 After retirement, mostly withdraw - bored by husband, right? (7) CHARTER {RETRACt<=} over {H}

26 A young bachelor drawn in by schemes for pleasure seekers (8) PLAYBOYS {PL{A}{Y}{B}OYS}

27 Birds seen in castles (5) ROOKS [DD]

DOWN

1   Huge mob circling around one model in Cannes at first (8) GIGANTIC {(+g)G{I}GAN(-g)}{T}{In}{Ca...s}

2   Say, people look frequently for God (6) APOLLO {sAy+PeOpLe+LoOk}

3   Pole left to testify in sweatpants possibly (10) SPORTSWEAR {S}{PORT}{SWEAR}

4   Difficulty going up heights... (4) TOPS <=

5   ...Unconscious? Doctor, please! (6) ASLEEP* 

6   New Yacht club's popular (6) CATCHY {YACHT+C}*

8   Tense volunteers supporting royal after missing the last sailing event (7) REGATTA {T}{TA}<=>{REGAl}

9   Hurt? Essential to trust in God (5) STING [T]

13 Picks items abroad with distrust (10) SKEPTICISM* 

15 Ruby somewhere in Berkshire ? (7) NEWBURY {RUBY}* [RA]

16 Boisterous celebration after missing another bar appointment (8) ELECTION CELEbraTION*

17 Later, quietly moved through water in flood (5) SWAMP {P}<=>{SWAM}

18 Reserves plots after disposing of investments at first (6) STORES STORiES

20 Urgent letter about tender (6) GENTLE [T]

22 Poor Mike - earnest, we hear (6) MEAGRE {M}{(~eager)EAGRE}

24 Primarily, tired runners often try to move at a steady pace (4) TROT Acrostic

Reference List

Son = S, Ecstasy = E, What = W, Eastern = e, Representative = MP, Nationalist = N, Husband = H, Young =  y, Bachelor = B, Model = T, Pole = S, Club = C, Tense = T, Volunteers = TA(Territorial Army), Quietly = P, Mike = M

No 14834, Wednesday 01 Jul 2026, Gridzilla

Solution to 23A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only 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   They need to be taught a lesson about failure (6) PUPILS SLIP-UP<=

4   One's c-cross to bear? (6) AFFORD {A}{F-FORD}

8   One street goes around Italian city (7) TRIESTE {1+STREET}*

9   Man! With this braggart, I get most annoyed (7) EGOTIST {EGOTIST+M}*=I+GET+MOST [CA]

11 Estimation of a tax shown to the auditor (10) ASSESSMENT (~ a cess meant)

12 Go to lake and strip (4) PEEL {PEE}{L}

13 Husband is excitedly eating American dish (5) SUSHI {H+IS}* over {US}

14 OMG! It's a new change, designed to reduce pollution (8) ANTISMOG {OMG+ITS+A+N}*

16 A dashing personality? (8) SPRINTER [CD]

18 Sailing east, around Australia (2,3) AT SEA {EAST}*{A}

20 Nitwit knocked back rum bottles only (4) DODO {ODD<=} over {O}

21 According to Spooner, many excelled in swimming event (10) BACKSTROKE (~stack broke to backstroke)

23 One suspect reportedly gets betrayed (4,3) ?O?D ?U? (Addendum - SOLD OUT (~sole doubt to sold out) - See comments)

24 Reason one can't travel abroad to Germany, or a city in Serbia? (4,3) NOVI SAD {NO VISA}{D}

25 Part of cliff or a fjord receding in the distance (3,3) FAR OFF [T]

26 Heard Frank finally got a revolver (6) PLANET {(~plain)PLANE}{goT} Incorrect homophone See comments

DOWN

1   First to finish remaining prunes? (5) PARES (-s)PARE(+s)S

2   Wants to guide chaps playing soccer primarily (7) PREFERS {Pl...g}{REFER}{So...r}

3   That's life, working for a 2 pm -10 pm job perhaps (4,5) LATE SHIFT*

5   Fellow takes time out in tough contest (5) FIGHT {F}{tIGHT}

6   Commanding officer turned up to discharge one of the marines? (7) OCTOPUS {CO<=}{TO}{PUS}

7   Dame, one who's murdered ultimately in play? (9) DESDEMONA {DAME+ONE+whoS+m...eD}* &lit

10 Amateur gets inspired by fantastic career in a team sport (5,4) RELAY RACE {LAY} in {CAREER}*

13 Gradually steal in shop? (6,3) SIPHON OFF {IN+SHOP}* [RA]

15 Brown can on the counter has a bit of dill and mushroom (9) TOADSTOOL {TOA{Dill}ST}{LOO<=}

17 Sample from skin or dermis is ok (2,5) IN ORDER [T]

19 European dancing in bar - extremely seductive (7) SERBIAN {IN+BAR+Se...vE}*

21 Downright lie! (5) BLUFF [DD]

22 Snake kept rattling and intimidated trespassers at the outset (5) KRAIT Acrostic

Reference List

Man = M, Lake = L, New = N, Australia = A, Only = O, Germany = D, Fellow = F, Can = LOO