ACROSS
1 and 12 Les anglais defeated the French—they’re on our minds in this puzzle (3,7)
1 and 19 1 and 12 are hot, buff, ripped (3,3,4)
3 Southern dish in a busy washroom (7,4)
9 Range in pursuit of a bit of potassium bromide (9)
10 Ornate ruby captivates Eastern customer (5)
11 Pastel mountains crumbled in state capital (2,4,9)
12 See 1
14 Yellowbelly—or what he did, they say (6)
17 Teacher meeting teacher’s principal with creature pulled from a hat (6)
19 See 1
22 French statesman, around the end of June, defiles ceremony with words from a wedding: “Unsatisfactory” (7,8)
25 Leaders of Asian states can interact in computer alphanumerics (5)
26 Symbol of love and expression of love: keeping red item to sit on by the fire (6,3)
27 Turbulent Rhine engulfing sailor and piece of cloth with a nationalist slogan (4,2,5)
28 With the band? No! (3)
DOWN
1 Office worker is into salty pistachios (6)
2 An ideal was once enough (7)
3 Recited aloud, an exalted, brilliant stroke—this clue, for instance (5)
4 Actor Christopher claims, “I like roles that are more desirable” (8)
5 Sounds as if I go astray, cut off by wintry weather (3,2)
6 Handiwork of some contractors more proficient in error (5,4)
7 Beef, stewed moray, jumbo shrimp, and the like (7)
8 Longtime conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra supports Northern part of France (8)
13 Look-alike stirring in egg and feeling sharp pains (9)
15 Accelerating competition for cross-dressing nation (4,4)
16 Sweeping view in Japan or Amazonia (8)
18 Born free, with vital energy in parts of the lungs (7)
20 Overcome? Quite the opposite: endure (7)
21 Spooner’s suspended—turn enthusiastic (4,2)
23 Tuna coated in antimony, sir (5)
24 Try to sell tar (5)
ACROSS 1 2 defs. 9 S(HE)LLAC (calls rev.) 10 I + NCITES (insect anag.)
11 2 defs. 13 anag. 15 T(ASS)O 16 hidden 18 ART(H)ROPOD (trapdoor anag.) 21 2 defs. 24 anag. 25 “pedals”
26 2 defs.
DOWN 1 FISTF + [n]IGHTS (stiff anag.) 2 E + LEG + ANT 3 AL + LAH (rev.) 4 hidden 5 CLI + C + HES 6 anag. 7 anag. 8 NE + ST 12 WORDLES + SLY (low reds anag.) 14 C(HARLOT)TE (etc. rev.) 17 anag. 18 ASP + HALT
19 TR(O)OPER (report anag.) 20 anag. 22 END + OW 23 rev.
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). Check out The Nation’s Current Issue page each week for the latest puzzle.