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Across
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Opening puzzle…
Rani Cries Foul · Saturday, 8 August 2026 · Ahhhh!
August 2026
Saturday,
8 August 2026
0:00
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Across
1.
One of four netted corner holes, like the one this grid starts in (6)
6.
Syllable that opens many a mantra (2)
9.
Fouling on the very shot that would have won, say (5)
10.
What you pull at the first bite of karela (4)
12.
Goes off line, like a shot flicked with sticky fingers (5)
14.
What the grown-ups take the moment the board comes out (3)
15.
Honkers in formation (5)
16.
What the aunties dish on the veranda (4)
17.
'It's ___ turn, not yours!' (3)
18.
It's pressed to the bedroom door to check on the snoring (3)
19.
Red coin set at dead centre, where it also sits in this grid (5)
20.
___ art: dizzying stripes that seem to move (2)
22.
Grandma's kitchen has no ___: you eat what she makes (4)
24.
'Just a ___!', says Rani, re-aiming for the fifth time (2)
25.
Showpiece solos at the opera (5)
26.
Doubles pair, seated opposite each other (3)
28.
Mother's mother, in Hindi, and host of every summer holiday (4)
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Touched down, as the cousins flying in from Bengaluru did (6)
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Scottish valley (4)
32.
'Once more!', Rani's grand demand after every game she loses (6)
33.
Heavy disc flicked from the baseline, here the bottom row (7)
Down
1.
The hard part of an Alphonso (3)
2.
'Heads ___ tails?': one way to settle who breaks first (2)
3.
Sink one of your own right after the red, or it goes back to the centre (5)
4.
Joint that complains after an afternoon cross-legged on the floor (4)
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They follow the red coin around the board (4)
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'Best ___ three!', says the cousin who's behind (2)
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Craze that grips every cousin by the second week of May (5)
8.
Shed tears, as the youngest did when the holidays ended (4)
11.
Flick-and-sink board game beloved in Indian homes (6)
13.
Put back in place, like the coins after every argument (5)
15.
Addressed to all, like a warning plainly meant for Rani (7)
16.
Condemn loudly, as Rani does any foul she didn't commit (8)
19.
Charmingly old-fashioned, like the rotary phone in the hall (6)
21.
Boric ___, dusted on so the coins glide (6)
22.
Dussehri or Langra, sliced into cheeks and going warm on a plate (5)
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Black and white counts at the break, or what you dress to (5)
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Damp and musty, like the storeroom where the board lives (4)
27.
Smell, to an American (4)
29.
Flower garland at a Hawaiian welcome (3)
30.
Sound of someone who's lost count of the score (2)