Cryptic clues — 26 September 2026

Answers & explanations

1. SASS (4)

   School corridor when the whisper still travels. Almost strips the last Y from sassy and leaves SASS. Cheek is the impudent backchat sense, not a facial blush. Soft chalk and a lukewarm custard sell the deletion as playground weather, not a bare end-clip.

2. SENT (4)

   Mail-room tweak. Posted means sent; rent with a change of heart swaps R for S, giving SENT.

3. DEDUCT (6)

   Counting-house sigh over another red pen. Within takes DEDUCT from deduction — subtract, take away. Ledgers, cold tea and a humming fan wrap the letters as bookkeeping grind, host left untouched.

4. CORK (4)

   Stopper is the definition — bottle bung, not a traffic obstruction. Battered is your anagram cue, and rock is the fodder to scramble into the cork. Geology battered into cellar gear makes a neat double image, and solvers who stay with the wine-bottle reading get there first.

5. HIDDEN (6)

   Attic trapdoor when the hinge still squeaks. Concealed means hidden; ridden after a letter swap — R to H — yields HIDDEN from RIDDEN. Soft mothballs and a cold torch sell the switch as loft mutter.

6. DANCER (6)

   Reindeer is the definition; the first letters of the listed words spell DANCER.

7. GROWN (5)

   Registry hush while the ink still dries on the form. Acquire is GROW; name supplies N; GROWN means adult. Soft carpet and a ticking clock wrap coming-of-age talk around a tidy two-part symbol. No fanfare — just the letters locking.

8. FLAME (5)

   Hearth at dusk: blaze as the fire itself, gleam as it flames — FLAME either way. Heat and shine in one short breath.

9. ANTLER (6)

   Stag-park postcard after a cracked cup. In conclusion tips tea broken draft reveal surface better into A-N-T-L-E-R. Horn is the antler sense — a branched spike — so the picnic mishap sells the terminals.

10. FORMAT (6)

    Publisher note: '4mat' read FOR-MAT yields FORMAT. Layout style is the definition — the edition's arrangement on the page.