No 14853, Thursday 23 Jul 2026, Dr. X

Solution to 12A 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   Swilling hooch with boss in empty cubicle? There's no alternative (7,6) HOBSONS CHOICE {HOOCH+BOSS+IN}*{Cu...lE}

8   Controlled bronco finally in event for cowboys (5) RODEO {RODE}{b...cO}

9   One disparaging rebellious socialist penning essay on principle of ownership (9) DETRACTOR {RED<=} over {TRACT}{Ow...p}

11 Brilliant rounds against member in bridge (10) CANTILEVER {C{ANTI}LEVER}

12 Spirits in Japanese bar (4) ?I?N ()

14 Holds member overwhelmed by drinks (7) ALLEGES {AL{LEG}ES}

16 Way to enthral date with excellent stir-fried noodle dish (3,4) PAD THAI {PA{D}TH}{A1}

17 Correctly limiting operation by Indigo, ultimately it's a form of market dominance (7) DUOPOLY {DU{OP}{i...gO}LY}

19 Remarking about hotel's mediocrity (7) NOTHING {NOT{H}ING}

21 Bond in tuxedo at hotel (4) OATH [T]

22 Meeting couple of criminals to secure Ecstasy before start of rave (10) CONFERENCE {CON}{F{E}{Rave}ENCE}

25 File, one with bugs primarily found in search for potentially harmful software (5,4) LOGIC BOMB {LOG}{1}{C{Bugs}OMB}

26 Declared independence, inspired by a revolutionary (5) AIRED {A}{I}{RED}

27 Meme is on mercurial leader of America — accurate to a certain extent (2,4,7) IN SOME MEASURE {MEME+IS+ON}*{Am...a}{SURE}

DOWN

2   First perhaps in viva about noise (7) ORDINAL {OR{DIN}AL} 

3   Extremely sexy maiden and old ruler in snap (7,3) SMOKING HOT {S{M}{O}{KING}HOT} Semi&lit

4   Jog naked after consuming bhang finally (5) NUDGE {NUD{b..nG}E}

5   Protect pants with stylish fastener (6,3) COTTER PIN {PROTECT}*{IN}

6   S. American wood sorrels in ordinary, round bag (4) OCAS {O}{SAC<=}

7   Online deceiver chats artfully, ensnaring female on island (7)  CATFISH {CHATS}* over {F}{I}

8   Musicians at centre in Akron playing funny genre of music (4,3,4) ROCK AND ROLL {m..iCi..s} in {AKRON}*{DROLL}

10 One seen at top of each page is boss of company organising marathons? (7,4) RUNNING HEAD [DD]

13 Opinion pieces in different dailies about mounting corruption (10) EDITORIALS {DAILIES}* over {ROT<=} Semi&lit

15 Groom may snore after drinking alcohol heartily! Understood (3,2,4) SAY NO MORE {MAY+SNORE}* over {alcOhol}

18 Old cheat captivating model with a good figure (7) OCTAGON {O}{C{T}{A}{G}ON}

20 One who disregards forger in building passing francs (7) IGNORER {fORGER+IN}*

23 Sack contains black thread (5) FIBRE {FI{B}RE}

24 Clone obtained by hi-tech operation (4) ECHO [T]

Reference List

Socialist = RED, Date = D, Operation = OP, Hotel = H, Ecstasy = E, Independence = I, Revolutionary = RED, Maiden = M, Old = O, Ordinary = O, Female = F, Island = I, Model T, Good = G, Francs = F, Black = B