No 14915, Monday 05 Oct 2026, Gussalufz

Solution to 5D 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.

THREE TRICKY ONES

ACROSS

9   One gets complaints so dumb! Am flustered and close to exhaustion (9) OMBUDSMAN {SO+DUMB+AM}*{e...oN}

10 Wicked bouncer, jaffa? Look, concentrate, finally duck (5) DRAKE Tail Acrostic

11 Take it quietly, go on (7) PRESUME {P}{RESUME}

12 Breathe fire (7) INSPIRE [DD]

13 Turn vessel collecting drip (5) PIVOT {P{IV}OT}

14 A question about relationships (9) EQUATIONS*

16 Sec. censored porn scattered in letters (15) CORRESPONDENCE*

19 Maybe insert a comma in wordplay; cut roughly at end of phrase? (9) PUNCTUATE {PUN}{CUT*}{AT}{p...sE}

22 Frenchman and German captured by spies backing trickery (5) MAGIC {M}{CI{G}A<=}

24 Tried miserably sad eyes (7) ESSAYED*

26 First among desserts is cake trimmed with fudge (7) DISTORT {De...s}{IS}{TORTe}

27 Fierce dinosaur repelled after conclusion of dire struggle (5) EXERT {T-REX<=}<=>{dirE}

28 Secret of strep, one merciless bacterium (9) TREPONEME [T]

DOWN

1   Enliven very plump-at-the-core small dog (4,2) SOUP UP {SO}{plUmp}{PUP}

2   Witness some deliveries bearing "Bombay Stock Exchange" sticker at the bottom (8) OBSERVER {O{BSE}{s...eR}VER}

3   Student jam triggered change (10) ADJUSTMENT*

4   Victim: pedestrian hanging outside bar (6) IMPEDE [T]

5   Tailless lizard — it can be black or red on top — from a Caribbean island (8) ?N?I?U?N ()

6   Podcaster's sales pitches for supplements (4) ADDS (~ads}

7   Some countered: London is actually a better place? (6) CASINO [T<=]

8   Oracle up, reinforced by tax breaks (8) RECESSES {SEER<=} over {CESS}

15 The real aim, ultimately, is to start to reverse-engineer a semiconductor device (10) THERMISTOR {THE}{R}{aiM}{IS}{TO}{Re...r}

16 Encrypted redesign of chip before sending, essentially (8) CIPHERED {CHIP*}{ERE}{senDing}

17 Congratulations, extremely professional investigations! (8) PLAUDITS {Pr...aL}{AUDITS}

18 Minor employee can at last sign name (8) COGNOMEN {COG}{caN}{OMEN}

20 More demanding about one's working post-retirement (6) NOSIER {RE}{1'S}{ON}<=

21 Editor passes on some current events (6) EDDIES {ED}{DIES}

23 Catholic feels sorry for priest getting ignored in urban areas (6) CITIES {C}{pITIES}

25 Hairy creature regularly seen lifting in the gym (4) YETI {In+ThE+gYm}<=

Reference List

Quietly = P, Drip = IV, Frenchman = M< German = G, Real = R, Before = ERE, About = RE, Editor = ED, Catholic = C, Priest = P