This is Bluejacket’s fourth Thursday puzzle of 2026, and I’ve been the blogger for three of them in a row: perhaps he’s on the same four-week cycle as the Indy blogging rota.
An enjoyable 1a, despite a couple of minor niggles noted below. I liked the well-meaning but inaccurate volunteer, the third-time-lucky winner, the lady who has it coming, and the left/right mixup. Thanks Bluejacket for the fun – see you again next month?
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CROSSWORD PUZZLE |
Would rozzers (PCs) suspect this? (9,6)
|
| Anagram (suspect, as an adjective = dodgy) of WOULD ROZZERS PCS. | ||
| 9 | DISROBE |
Bride so excited to take off clothes (7)
|
| Anagram (excited) of BRIDE SO. | ||
| 10 | SCOURGE |
Search outside of Google for cause of affliction (7)
|
| SCOUR (search thoroughly) + outside letters of G[oogl]E. | ||
| 11 | INTEL |
Acquired secrets via home telephone (5)
|
| IN (home = at home, as in “will you be in this evening?”) + TEL (short for telephone).
Slang shortening of “intelligence”, in the sense of information obtained by law enforcement personnel or spies. |
||
| 12 | SNOWBOARD |
Ride going downhill as Spooner’s lover was loud in bed? (9)
|
| Spoonerism for BEAU (a male lover) SNORED (made a noise while sleeping = was loud in bed). | ||
| 14 | MOVIE |
Picture that is appended to second volume (5)
|
| IE (i.e. = abbreviation for Latin id est = that is), after MO (short for moment = second = a very brief time) + V (abbreviation for volume).
Picture = movie = colloquial (mainly US I think?) words for a film. |
||
| 16 | OFF-KILTER |
Volunteer adopting traditional dress that’s not quite right (3-6)
|
| OFFER (volunteer, as a verb) containing KILT (Scottish traditional dress). | ||
| 18 | SALTPETRE |
A letter P’s incorrectly signifying potassium compound (9)
|
| Anagram (incorrectly) of A LETTER P’S.
Saltpetre = old name for potassium nitrate. The surface suggests a possible confusion with the symbols for chemical elements: potassium is also called kalium (especially in Germanic languages) and has the symbol K, while P is the symbol for phosphorus. |
||
| 19 | GIRTH |
Bit of maths going over height and circumference (5)
|
| TRIG (short for trigonometry = the branch of mathematics concerned with the angles and side lengths of triangles) reversed (going over), then H (abbreviation for height). | ||
| 21 | CANADIANS |
Maybe Toronto team are able to spot one answer (9)
|
| CAN (are able to) + AD (I wasn’t sure about this, but Collins online gives “spot” = an advertising break between television or radio programmes, or in US usage an advertisement in such a break) + I (one in Roman numerals) + ANS (short for answer). | ||
| 23 | ROSTI |
Starter of savoury flatbread wraps and Swiss-style fried potato (5)
|
| Starting letter of S[avoury], with ROTI (Asian flatbread) around it (wrapping).
A pan-fried cake of grated potato. |
||
| 25 | EXISTED |
Were split screens central part of episode? (7)
|
| EXITED (split = slang for went away), around (screening) the central letter of [epi]S[ode]. | ||
| 27 | YOUTUBE |
After collapse, buy out electronic tech company (7)
|
| Anagram (after collapse) of BUY OUT + E (e- = prefix indicating electronic).
Video sharing platform now owned by Google. |
||
| 28 | SHOTGUN WEDDINGS |
Unions that are forced to raise issue legitimately? (7,8)
|
| Cryptic definition. Shotgun wedding = slang for a hasty marriage (usually under parental pressure) when the bride is already pregnant, to avoid an illegitimate birth. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CADMIUM |
Silent about one going after rogue element (7)
|
| MUM (silent, as in “keep mum” = don’t say anything) around I (one in Roman numerals), after CAD (rogue = a disreputable person).
Chemical element, a silvery-white metal. |
||
| 2 | ONSET |
Start to regain consciousness, despite anaesthesiologist’s conclusions (5)
|
| Last letters (conclusions) of [t]O [regai]N [consciousnes]S [despit]E [anaesthesiologis]T. | ||
| 3 | SHOULDER PAD |
Jacket accessory ought to drape differently (8,3)
|
| SHOULD (ought to) + anagram (differently) of DRAPE.
In and out of fashion: I remember them from the 80s. (Didn’t much like them, but my shoulders are wide enough to do without them.) |
||
| 4 | OVERSHOOT |
Deliveries by comedian go too far (9)
|
| OVERS (deliveries, in cricket terminology = balls bowled) + HOOT (as in “he’s a hoot” = comedian = an amusing person). | ||
| 5 | DISCO |
Group of Chicago CSI detectives going over nightclub (5)
|
| Hidden answer (a group of letters in . . .) in [chicag]O CSI D[etectives]. | ||
| 6 | UNO |
Card game using queen but not jack (3)
|
| [j]UNO (queen of the gods in Roman mythology) without the J (abbreviation for jack in card games).
Card game created in 1971, now published by Mattel. |
||
| 7 | ZOROASTER |
Prophet from Australia upset critic? (9)
|
| OZ (slang abbreviation for Australia) reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue), then ROASTER (one who roasts = writes harshly critical reviews).
Ancient Iranian prophet. |
||
| 8 | E-READER |
Words displayed here preceding a German article (1-6)
|
| ERE (archaic or poetic word for “before” = preceding) + A (from clue text) + DER (a form of the definite article in German). | ||
| 13 | BRING AROUND |
Convince Google cofounder with revolutionary “silver bullet”, perhaps (5,6)
|
| BRIN (Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google), then AG (Ag = chemical symbol for silver, from Latin argentum) reversed (revolutionary), then ROUND (a piece of ammunition such as a bullet).
Bring around = to persuade someone to see things from your point of view. |
||
| 15 | VALENTINO |
Matinée idol from Depression not in broadcast (9)
|
| VALE (low-lying area of land = depression) + anagram (broadcast = scattered) of NOT IN.
Rudolph Valentino, star of silent films. |
||
| 17 | FREESTYLE |
Swimming event runs from Lebanese port after left/right mix-up (9)
|
| FLEES (runs away from) + TYRE (port city in Lebanon), with the L and R (left and right) swapped.
Swimming event: in principle competitors can use any swimming stroke, but they generally use front crawl as the fastest option. |
||
| 18 | SUCCESS |
Win this kind of board game after losing hard twice (7)
|
| SUC[h] (this kind of) + C[h]ESS (board game), without H (abbreviation for hard, as in 2H pencils) twice.
Win as a noun, as in “a big win for the team”. |
||
| 20 | HEIRESS |
That man angers leader of suffragists—she has it coming (7)
|
| HE (that man) + IRES (angers?) + leading letter of S[uffragists]. I’m not sure about IRES: the dictionaries say “ire” is an uncountable noun so it can’t have a plural, and don’t recognise it as a verb (like “anger” = to make angry).
A woman who has money or property coming to her as an inheritance. |
||
| 22 | ADD-ON |
Returned to sign agreement and District Attorney’s supplement (3-2)
|
| NOD (make a sign by moving one’s head to indicate agreement) + DA (abbreviation for District Attorney), all reversed (returned). | ||
| 24 | SPURN |
Reject fiancée, essentially following incentive (5)
|
| Middle letter (essentially) of [fia]N[cee] after SPUR (an incentive). | ||
| 26 | TUG |
Hamburger’s good, on reflection, for Yank (3)
|
| GUT = “good” in German (as spoken by a Hamburger = a person from Hamburg in Germany), reversed (on reflection).
Yank = tug = pull sharply. |
MOVIE
The C boss says it’s informal (no indication of US English)
HEIRESS
Ire
Wiktionary shows it as a verb as well (Not authentic?)
Liked the puzzle. Faves: SNOWBOARD, OFF-KILTER, SALTPETRE,
ZOROASTER, FREESTYLE and SUCCESS.
Thanks Bluejacket and Quirister.
21A: The Canadians (Canadiens) are a Montreal team…