No 14868, Monday 10 Aug 2026, Crossant

Solution to 18D 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   Move forward suddenly with energy after a breather (5) LUNGE {E}<=>{LUNG}

7   Drunk giant beating one in a suit (8) LITIGANT {LIT}{GIANT*}

10 Sweet simpleton about to lose (7) GUMDROP {MUG<=}{DROP}

11 Lots following latest in protein food (7) NOODLES {OODLES}<=>{p...iN}

12 Salad vegetable you eat finally instead of essentially sweet items seen often on the table (7) CUTLERY C(-e+u+t)UTLERY

13 Figure study about past is boring (7) DECAGON {DE{C}{AGO}N}

14 Need tip from proven inside source (11) DEPRIVATION {DE{Pr...n}RIVATION}

19 Open dancing club on Western border of Kentucky (7) UNBLOCK {CLUB+ON}*{Ke...y}

21 Starmer finally dismissed in England - not unexpected (7) ROUTINE {s...eR}{OUT}{IN}{E}

23 Fancy cloak worn by wealthy mostly (7) CAPRICE {CAP{RICh}E}

25 Poor cautious husband overcome by panic in the middle (7) NEEDFUL (-h+n)NEEDFUL

26 Not worried about a judge concealing source of earnings? (8) CAREFREE {C}{A}{REFeREE}

27 Firm promoted clothing - Indo-Western primarily (5) SOLID {SOL{In...n}D}

DOWN

1   Energetic Team India playing without inhibition from the beginning (8) ANIMATED {TEAM+iNDIA}*

2   Rule about replacing girl in class (6) DECREE DE(-g+c)CREE

3   Kid's storage device? (6,4) FLOPPY DISK {KIDS}* [RA] To think that present day kids have never seen one of these. I stuck 5 of them together and made a Pen stand!!

4   Something done to attract attention mostly causes shock (4) STUN STUNt

5   Do this when fully charged? (6) UNPLUG [CD]

6   On a vacant country estate (6) LEGACY {LEG}{A}{Co...rY}

8   Good study about origin of curry - hot indian dish (7) GNOCCHI {G}{CON<=}{Cu..y}{H}{I}

9   Dreaming, wasting money - what addicts are often doing (5) USING mUSING

13 Look-alike of late Queen outside club (4,6) DEAD RINGER {DEAD}{ER} over {RING}

15 Word for one, included in MS Office finally (7) PROMISE {PRO}{M{1}S}{o...cE}

16 Trouble with data after new digital enhancement tool (4,4) NAIL FILE {AIL}{FILE}<=>{N}

17 Left group starting late for midday meal (5) LUNCH {L}{bUNCH}

18 Norwegian perhaps went ahead and settled (6) ?E?L?D (Addendum - SEALED {SEA}{LED} - See comments))

20 Lesser action near entrance of popular place (2-4) BY-PLAY {BY}{Po...r}{LAY}

22 Apprehension about Europeans losing exports essentially (6) UNEASE EUropEANS*

24 Uncovered vehicle carrying dead body and organs (4) EARS hEARSe

Reference List

Energy = E, Drunk = LIT, About = C, England = E, Husband = H, Girl = G, Good = G, Hot = H, Indian = I, Money = M, Queen = ER, New = N, Left = L