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ACROSS
1 Bowing abjectly, Republican breaks in support of the government (9)
6 Almost make a connection involving love? That could make your baby cry (5)
9 No answer for fan of chocolate and fruit (7)
10 Gasp mantra when infused with a bit of Holy Spirit (7)
11 Cheap yet extravagant accessory for a pirate (8)
12 Audio equipment restored after removing its casing and rearranging the parts (6)
14 Hunk of dust in the wind (4)
15 Color of gym ball frantically grabbed by libertine (5,4)
17 College administrator holding inappropriate idyls is one of seven (6,3)
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19 The Chosen includes “…The Chosen includes…” (4)
21 Live-in compadres I’d evicted (6)
22 Nightingale in a Tuscan city (8)
24 Favoring the most high-class tree that exists within (7)
25 Naturalist returns, grasping container for coal or rare metallic element (7)
26 European leather with the second letter doubled? (5)
27 Former talk-show host turned and perpetrated an act of vandalism, like Long John Silver (3-6)
DOWN
1 Walked back and forth, taking a taste of kipper-like sardines (6)
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2 Musical composition, or bird of prey with mellifluous sounds (10,5)
3 Mug’s score in football enthralling most of West Asian capital (7)
4 Evil one’s frisky new shirt (10)
5 Sense with clairvoyance and ultimately telepathy (4)
6 Have a conversation and, upon reflection, rent property (7)
7 I’ll see you and Gore lean over man with rule that can often help in solving a puzzle (7,8)
8 Jazz band backing away from extremely regrettable tonsorial choice (8)
13 At first, you land awkwardly in vessel, more or less (2,3,5)
16 Losers do badly, not raising a stink (8)
18 Tech opponent did wreck inside of instrument (7)
19 Nobleman overlooks UK officer in piercing locale (7)
20 Appeared to 5 a drug (6)
23 It can be found in a magazine: “How one tends to do things in the morning” (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3460
ACROSS 7 NO(V)EL 8 SH + ANGRIL[y] + A 9 VIS(U)A + L 12 [r]OBES + E 13 S-[ca/AC]-RED + COW 15 LIGHT + BLUE 17 hidden 19 F + RIDGE 21 T + H + RICE 23 A + S(TROT)URF 24 EL(I)ZA (zeal anag.)
DOWN 1 IN + V(O)ICE 2 [w]RESTLES + SLY 3 A + DAM 4 AR(GO)T 5 IDI + O + TIC 6 FLA(UBER)T 11 SCIEN(TIF + I)C (scenic anag., I + fit rev.) 14 ESCO(R)TED (code set anag.) 16 G + LISTEN 18 PUC (rev.) + CINI (alternate letters) 20 G(L)ORY 22 [t]RUMP
Joshua Kosman and Henri PicciottoJoshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto are The Nation’s puzzlers. To read more about Kosman, click here. To read more about Picciotto, click here. Kosman and Picciotto explain what they’re up to in “Solving The Nation’s Cryptic Crosswords” (also available as a PDF).