No 14937, Saturday 31 October 2026, Dr. X

 ACROSS
1 Stuttering? We got heartily drunk - it's difficult to articulate (6,7) TONGUE TWISTER {STUTTERING WE gOt}*
8 Wife enthralled by knocking back European beverages (5) BREWS {S{W}ERB}<
9 Transports ecstasy across Spain by a stretch of water ( 6,3) BERING SEA {B{E}RINGS}{E}{A}

11 Instruct crew to move closer to check railway accident (5,5) TRAIN WRECK {TRAIN}{CREW*}{checK}
12 Come up against fine champion (4) FACE {F}{ACE}
14 Baron, touch irritated by prince's bungle (5,2) BOTCH UP {B}{TOUCH*}{P}
16 A bag containing note with extremely unusual ring (7) ANNULET {A}{N{N}{UnusuaL}ET}

17 Detached portion of old, broken tile in ancient city (7) OUTLIER {O}{U{TILE*}R}
19 Cher is zesty at opening, playing lively compositions (7) SCHERZI {CHER IS Zesty}*
21 King survives, grabs queen's Malayan dagger (4) KRIS {K}{R}{IS}

22 Lacking width - saw's not working (3,2,5) OUT OF WHACK {OUT OF}{W}{HACK}
25 Slow-cooked cut of beef and drink for a soprano and tenor (4,5) RUMP ROAST {RUM}{PRO}{A}{S}{T}
26 Beginning to tipple in the middle of the day? That's unacceptable (3,2) NOT ON {NO{Tipple}ON}
27 Cheetahs ran berserk outside oriental college? It's likely (3,7,3) THE CHANCES ARE {CHEETAHS RAN}* around {E}{C}

DOWN
2 Soft drug in full moon rave is producing effects (7) OPERANT {P}{E} in {O}{RANT}
3 Cured his dengue on time - bless you! (10) GESUNDHEIT {HIS DENGUE}*{T}
4 Stop in English pub across motorway (5) EMBAR {E}{M}{BAR}
5 Line deleted from outstanding part of speech (4,5) WORD CLASS {WORlD}{CLASS
6 Shoot second goal (4) SEND {S}{END}
7 Tangle with nobleman protecting extremely notorious nationalist (7) ENSNARL {E{NotoriouS}{N}ARL} 
8 One treating cardiovascular problem caused by drink outside club's retro bar (4,7) BETA BLOCKER {BEER} outside {BAT<}{LOCK}
10 Stunned by associate spreading news about fraud by head of establishment (11) AWESTRICKEN {A}{NEWS*} about {TRICK}{Establishment}
13 Where airplane's fuel is // readily available (2,3,5) IN THE WINGS [DD]
15 Reckless ultra caught by policeman around atomic plant (9) PORTULACA {ULTRA*} inside {COP<}+A

18 Conquest by US president to seize island near northern side of Hormuz (7) TRIUMPH {TR{I}UMP}{Hormuz}
20 Cooking appliance in a resort malfunctioned (7) ROASTER*
23 Work on twitch relating to the eye (5) OPTIC {OP}{TIC}
24 Reptile amongst metamorphic rocks (4) CROC [T]

REFERENCE LIST

Wife=W, Ecstasy=E, Spain=E, Fine=F, Baron=B, Prince=P, Note=N, Old=O, Ancient City=Ur, King=K, Queen=R (Regina), Width=W, Soprano=S, Tenor=T, Oriental=E (Eastern), College=C, Soft=P (Piano), Drug=E, Full Moon=O, Time=T, English=E, Motorway=M, Line=L, Second=S, Nationalist=N, Associate=A, Atomic=A, Island=I, Work=Op(us).