No 14651, Friday 28 Nov 2025, Dr. X

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS FOR FRIDAY ONLY

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PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

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ACROSS

1   Leader of nation romanced gals? Preposterous gossip (13) SCANDALMONGER {Na...n+ROMANCED+GIRLS}*

8   Male doctor saves British crime boss (2,3) MR BIG {M}{R{B}IG}

9   Offended about adultery primarily, getting separated (9) INSULATED {INSUL{Ad...y}TED}

11 & 20 What DJ manipulating vinyl record might do to deal superficially with a problem (7,3,7) SCRATCH THE SURFACE [DD]

12 Master working, checking a little unstable sub-atomic particle (4) MUON {M}{Un...e}{ON}

14 Suffers after penning extremely indiscreet letters (7) AITCHES {A{In...eT}CHES}

16 Attending show (7) PRESENT [DD]

17 Retd, say - fantastic time of relaxation (4,3) REST DAY*

19 Agree to carry travel document to Serbian city (4,3) NOVI SAD {NO{VISA}D}

21 Very much in love, captivated by a Latin model (1,3) A LOT {A}{L}{O}{T}

22 Charter, say, good catamaran at sea (5,5) MAGNA CARTA {G+CATAMARAN}*

25 One manipulating old lag to keep quiet (9) EXPLOITER {EX}{P}{LOITER}

26 Quite a challenge to catch train (5) TEACH [T]

27 Character taking lady out to races for ultimately thrilling ride (6,7) ROLLER COASTER {RO{L}LE}{TO+RACES+foR}*

DOWN

2   Entertainment in club by a nude model (7) CABARET {C}{A}{BARE}{T}&lit  

3   Poisonous plant near society involved in mysterious death (10) NIGHTSHADE {NIGH} with {S} in {DEATH}

4   Silly chap is hassling hosts (5) APISH [T]

5   Hot American writer chasing young woman is crooked (9) MISSHAPEN {H}{A}{PEN}<=>{MISS}

6   A little nervous, no power in cricket shot - gets zero (4) NULL {Ne...s}{pULL}

7   Praise the new dynamic exercise (7) ENTHUSE 

8   Partnership is about to break, resulting in failure (11) MISCARRIAGE {M{IS}{C}ARRIAGE}

10 Detonated explosive to have old husband murdered (4,2,5) DONE TO DEATH {DETONATED}* over {O} with {H}

13 Medical problem is mismanaged, criticise head of venereology (10) CERVICITIS {CRITICISE+Ve...y}*

15 Yes, M's part perhaps (9) SPYMASTER * &lit

18 Sign of crops failing on island close to Mexico (7) SCORPIO {CROPS}*}I}{m...cO}

20 See 11 Across

23 DEA agent tormented anchor scoring heroin (5) NARCO ANChOR*

24 Strong liniment giving relief (4) FOIL {F}{OIL}

Reference List

Male = M, British = B, Master = M, Latin = L, Model = T, Good = G, Quiet = P, Lady = L, Club = C, Society = S, Hot = H, American = A, Power = P, About = C, Old = O, Husband = H, Island = I, Heroin = H, Strong = F