Crossword for Saturday 19 September 2026

Across

1. 1. Swing a sword, ____ a spell
2. 5. Hanumankind's genre
3. 8. Dirt to use against someone in court, say, for short
4. 9. Rajesh Khanna, familiarly
5. 10. British-era mode of transport on its last legs in Kolkata
6. 11. The coloured part of your eye
7. 12. A sibling, for short
8. 13. "____ percent!", that is to say, 100%
9. 14. (Hindi/Marathi) Word for 'ok' or 'fine'
10. 17. Festival that ends with burning of a ten-headed effigy (one spelling)
11. 21. Relating to what 11A is part of
12. 24. Restaurants need a permit to run one
13. 25. Fuzzy fruit from Himachal's orchards
14. 26. abbr. Head of the Supreme Court
15. 27. Flavour associated with 25A
16. 28. Parent who 'enables' Alia's and Suhana's nepotism tag

Down

1. 1. Pets with airs
2. 2. (Sikhism) Sweetened water stirred with a khanda
3. 3. The Hulk's area of expertise
4. 4. Word before boy or cat
5. 5. ___-earth elements: scandium and yttrium, for example
6. 6. Similar in quality or character (with to)
7. 7. March ___, annual sports day activity for students
8. 9. Doing something just for fun (with for)
9. 15. Official, and sometimes unfair, order
10. 16. "To ___ their own"
11. 18. abbr. Term for Indians born and raised in America, jokingly
12. 19. (Hindi/Marathi) The highest value face card in a suit
13. 20. Dry and hot
14. 21. Choose
15. 22. One of the two in a pod, idiomatically
16. 23. What a road-roller rolls over