No 14848, Friday 17 Jul 2026, Afterdark

Artwork by Prasanna

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ACROSS

1   Say, Lily's working to acquire new apparatus to disperse crowds (5,6) WATER CANNON {WATER CAN}{ON} over {N}

7   Trap bachelor with girl (3) BAG {BA}{G}

9   Setback after Republican's order had repetitions (5) ROTES {SET<=}<=>{R}{O}

10 Careless guru dead, ingesting some nightshade carelessly (9) UNGUARDED {GURU+DEAD}* over {Ni...e}

11 Brigadier designs a delivery mechanism (3,6) AIR BRIDGE*

12 Tremulous sound from other end of boat on stream (5) TRILL {boaT}{RILL}

13 Viscous black liquid layer over lake at Ajmer outskirts (4,3) COAL TAR {COA{L}T}{AjmeR}

15 Course beginners in Tamil indicate difficulty & ennui (4) TIDE Acrostic

18 Victim, a mother saved by a religious leader (4) IMAM [T]

20 Short lady initially cried on everyone's hate (7) MISCALL {MISs}{Cr..d}{ALL}

23 Central forecast on regulation (5) EDICT prEDICTed

24 Amanda, Laila, Matilda contributing to someone like 18 (5,4) DALAI LAMA [T]

26 Cooked ribs, had half of port in a vessel (9) SHIPBOARD {RIBS+HAD+POrt}*

27 Falls for medico at work, over heels ultimately (5) DROPS {DR}{OP}{h..lS}

28 Carpet is 50% bumpy (3) RUG RUGged

29 One who repeats and reinforces opinions of coach Herb and me in a bad way (4,7) ECHO CHAMBER {COACH{HERB+ME}*

DOWN

1   Victory celebration at area and shortly at both sides of college (3,5) WAR DANCE {WARD}{ANd}{Co...gE}

2   Coaching for test covers university model only (8) TUTORIAL {T{U}{T}{O}RIAL}

3   A vertical pipe at the floor corner is interred in the middle (5) RISER {f..oR}{IS}{intERred}

4   When in Paris, one doctor inserted tip of needle in parts (7) ASUNDER {AS}{UN}{D{n...lE}R}

5   Overlook end of the session, say 7-part lecture ending after 4th (7) NEGLECT {s...oN}{EG}{LECTure}

6   Wave patterns occurring twice a month, when sea in depth almost gets choppy (4,5) NEAP TIDES {SEA+IN+DEPTh}*

7   Friend's girl lied; clipped the wings of a bird (6) BUDGIE {BUD}{G}{lIEd}

8   Nuisance of a lady, fricking heartless badger... (6) GADFLY {LADY+Fr...nG}*

14 ...I met in board programme (9) TIMETABLE {T{I}{MET}ABLE}

16 Auditor and doctor buy a snack underground, perhaps (8) CATACOMB {CA}{TACO}{MB}

17 Charlie prefers regularly procuring Pears soap, say (8) CLEANSER {C}{LEANS}{pEaRs}

19 Say, a holistic therapy's dumb, that nearly is silly (3,4) MUD BATH {DUMB+THAt}*

20 Setter's icon making a comeback primarily composing for a musical (7) MELODIC {ME}{IDOL<=}{Co...g}

21 Incense container at church at all directions but one on the right (6) CENSER {CE}{NSEw}{R}

22 Whacking in disguise (6) HIDING [DD]

25 One's leaving a country to another (5) INDIA INDonesIA

Reference List

New = N, Bachelor = BA, Girl = G, Republican = R, Order = O, Lake = L, Work = OP, University = U, Model = T, Only = O, One in Paris = UN, Charlie = C, Church = CE, Right = R