Crossword for Thursday 24 September 2026

Across

1. 1. abbr. Former team of the fugitive 'bad boy billionaire'
2. 4. Piece of attire for Chhau, Kathakali and Cham dancers
3. 8. (Hindi) Key ingredient in South Indian cuisine, often a counterbalance to the spicy stuff
4. 9. Successor to the Maruti 800
5. 10. Enthusiastic, as in a fan
6. 11. (Hindi) An open-air, often weekly market
7. 12. Sir, as Sanpas of Bollywood Classroom says it
8. 13. (Hindi) The S in SST, the term that effectively means good enough
9. 14. "Who is ____, mom or dad?", tactless question to stress out a kid
10. 16. Tamil actor who played a dwarf, a woman, a silent-film lead, and ten roles at once
11. 20. Lolo's sibling
12. 23. "Aloo lelo, kanda lelo" actor
13. 24. For ____ and ____
14. 25. Villain in Parinda, played by 23A and an anagram of his name
15. 26. What one goes to find on Bumble, say
16. 27. Quick ____ Murugan

Down

1. 1. Bisrakh near Noida has the largest concentration of his worshippers
2. 2. (US spelling) One's 'hotness' is measured on the Scoville scale
3. 3. For government contracts, the lowest one always wins
4. 4. Title of the Mewar king whose horse later became as famous as he was
5. 5. Word to express sadness about someone's bad luck; (Hindi) laziness
6. 6. Your solve time is an example of one
7. 7. The city most famous for its coaching institutes
8. 8. Deshbandhu after whom Delhi's C.R. Park locality is named
9. 13. abbr. Region between India, China and Australia, popular for tourism
10. 15. A time-stealing task; its Hindi homophone means 'one who steals'
11. 17. She ____ her son's praises all evening
12. 18. Kapoor, of Antakshari
13. 19. Word following garlic or butter, and yet another anagram of 23A
14. 20. One B of B&B
15. 21. Wall-E's love interest, as he says it
16. 22. Agreed, in Gen Z slang