Wednesday, 15 July 2026

No 14846, Wednesday 15 Jul 2026, KrisKross

Solution to 17D 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   Suggest plan - "50% to quit for change of government" (6) PUTSCH {PUT}{SCHeme} 
4   Bar or joint mostly housing animals from the east (8) OBSTACLE {EL{CATS}BOw}<=}
10 Boss to lead with articles (3,6) TOP BANANA {TOP B}{AN}{AN}{A}
11 Goodbye to Russia's first language (5) TATAR {TATA}{Ru...a}
12 Thrill from fifteenth US expedition (7) ENTHUSE [T]
13 Rebuffed most of adamant boy's prayers (7) ORISONS {IROn<=}{SONS}
14 Voila! Cricket has turned around (5) CIRCA [T<=]
15 Spreadsheet not set up, somehow given a new form (8) RESHAPED {sPREADSHEet}*
18 Spooner's carried food for grandfather, say (8) FOREBEAR (~bore fare to forebear}
20 Force European to take over (5) BARGE {E}{GRAB}<=
23 Cuts sticks (7) CLEAVES [DD]
25 Caught in difficulty, ring for investigator (7) CORONER {COR{O}NER}
26 Guides leaderless groups (5) RINGS bRINGS
27 River trip enthrals old relative (3,6) RIO GRANDE {RI{O}{GRAN}DE}
28 Each must vault in ancient sacrifice (8) HECATOMB {EACH}*{TOMB}
29 Prohibits Spain's recurring problems (6) ESTOPS {ES}{SPOT<=}

DOWN
1   Cool head when tackling nice problem (8) PATIENCE {PAT{NICE*}E} Semi&lit
2   Bartender feeding drop of port to expert sampler (7) TAPSTER {TA{Port}STER}
3   Ordered catalogue set (9) COAGULATE*
5   Merry Corsican tourist on vacation kidnapped by barbarian - a slippery killer (3,11) BOA CONSTRICTOR {CORSICAN+To...sT}* in {BOOR}}
6   South African boat docked - test it regularly (5) TUTSI {TUb}{TeSt+It}
7   Conductor lost hat in program (7) CATHODE {C{HAT*}ODE}
8   Path of exit for one on ship (6) EGRESS {EG}{RE}{SS}
9   Obey corrupt food marketers pinching recipe (4,6,4) TAKE ORDERS FROM {FOOD+MARKETERS}* over {R}
16 Emir brags about component of perfume (9) AMBERGRIS*
17 Brave fellow like Van Gogh? (8) ?E?R?E?S (Addendum - FEARLESS {F}{EARLESS} - See comments) 
19 Marine in nice coat nicked rum (7)  OCEANIC {NICE+COAt}*
21 Meet heads of rebellious trade union at work (3,4) RUN INTO {Re...s+Tr..e+UNION}*
22 Burn my school bags (6) SCORCH {S{COR}CH}
24 Stop very sceptical question (5) VISIT {V}{IS IT}

Reference List
European = E, Old = O, Spain = ES, For one = EG, On = RE, Ship = SS, Recipe = R, Fellow = F, My = COR, School = SCH, Very = V
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27 comments:

  1. Padmanabhan15 July 2026 at 08:36

    1d- Is head 'Pate'?
    Then it is ( Nice pate)*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Padmanabhan15 July 2026 at 08:38

    Enjoyed solving a great CW, but had to cheat on a few. Quite a few (enjoyable) tricks of the trade!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Padmanabhan15 July 2026 at 08:41

    8d- one- example (eg)?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sree Sree15 July 2026 at 08:41

    6d south or central?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ramki Krishnan15 July 2026 at 08:48

      You are right - it should be Central to be precise.

      Delete
  5. Suresh M S15 July 2026 at 08:41

    17D FEARLESS = Brave { fellow, F+ EARLESS, like Vincent Van Gough}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sathia15 July 2026 at 10:44

      Was the painter earless? What earless indicates here.
      Sathia

      Delete
    2. Col_Gopinath15 July 2026 at 10:50

      He cut of one of his ear lobes

      Delete
  6. Padmanabhan15 July 2026 at 08:43

    24d- stop= visit?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ramki Krishnan15 July 2026 at 08:52

      Yes as a noun (in the sense of trip, or a short stay) - listed in Collins

      Delete
    2. Sree Sree15 July 2026 at 08:54

      Technically it should be stop by. The detours you take in a journey/travel:short visits are called stop-by/in

      Delete
    3. Mandagondi Naresh15 July 2026 at 09:30

      Stop as a Noun means a pause, halt, a stay/visit. As a verb it means discontinue, halt motion or still break a journey.
      We know Robert Frost's poem stopping by woods on a snowy evening.

      Delete
  7. Sathia15 July 2026 at 09:45

    19d, nicked rum means (-t) from coat?
    Sathia

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sathia15 July 2026 at 09:46

    22d: cor is an exclamation of surprise.
    Probably my! Would be better.
    Sathia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sathia15 July 2026 at 09:50

      OK, got it. It is short form of My God.
      Sathia

      Delete
  9. Gita Bharath15 July 2026 at 12:43

    17 D Van Gogh was earless, and with F , becomes brave- Fearless

    ReplyDelete
  10. N Sridhar15 July 2026 at 12:45

    29A-problems will be spots? And Spain E

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sree Sree15 July 2026 at 13:51

    28a still looking for anagram indicator.

    Found this interesting article in the process

    https://lexmanpuzzles.com/toolkit/rules/finer/rule-3/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan15 July 2026 at 14:56

      As per clue it must be 'Must'. Not sure if it is correct- must be!!

      Delete
  12. RR15 July 2026 at 13:54

    Can somebody explain anno for 10 A?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ramki Krishnan15 July 2026 at 14:04

    The anno for 10A has to be corrected Col.
    What I had in mind was
    def = Boss
    to = TO
    lead = PB (chemical symbol)
    with = connector
    articles = AN, AN, A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan15 July 2026 at 14:59

      Good one!! I did not get it, though I am a Pb myself! (my initials)

      Delete

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