Crossword for Tuesday 8 September 2026

Across

1. 1. 2003 film with superstars and supermodels
2. 5. Main aspiration for the average fresh Indian graduate
3. 8. (Hindi slang) Trouble or illicit love affair
4. 9. Mimic
5. 10. Mother after coming back home late, to her child - "Have you ____?"
6. 11. ___ name: Robert Galbraith, for JK Rowling
7. 12. abbr. Black-jacketed individual doing rounds in a bogie
8. 13. Word before statement or venture
9. 15. Celebrated shuttler with a silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo
10. 17. A portal for flight bookings
11. 20. Surface-to-surface missile first tested in 1989
12. 23. One of the 16 India and Japan signed in July 2026
13. 25. Every name is one
14. 26. Padma Bhushan awardee singer with a deep voice and several energetic numbers to her credit
15. 27. Rasna's biggest competitor
16. 28. (Programming) Statement after a condition

Down

1. 1. Hard bread made of atta, staple in Rajasthani thalis
2. 2. Not infrequently
3. 3. Poem of praise
4. 4. (Hindi) String that reaches peak demand in mid-January
5. 5. Ornate hat worn traditionally in Assam as a status symbol
6. 6. The leader in Ali Baba's famous line
7. 7. Inclination
8. 8. Let us, in short
9. 14. Input for a measure of productivity
10. 16. Fading from day to night, as light
11. 18. Road ___, popular 90s video game about street racing and brawling
12. 19. Most common stomach-related excuse made by children to avoid school
13. 20. One can be found living in a hill
14. 21. Setting for India's first zombie film
15. 22. Sister
16. 24. You can calculate this if you know the sin and cos