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Word Salad.
ACROSS
1 Hungry, like a black bird? (8)
5 Queen, you, and I try desperately to produce a sort of keyboard (6)
10 Chain letter featuring bay (5)
11 Port city’s organ association (9)
12 Cuban icon to applaud a cigar (7)
13 Singer/actress, the last character in very humorous musical work (7)
14 Squealed and pealed audibly (4)
16 A large number “twist and shout” by end of sixties (9)
18 Arcane slang includes words of self-confidence for some believers (9)
19 For example, to search in riverbeds (4)
21 Cracked code: E is “see” (7)
22 Nation’s bad actor, west of Iowa… (7)
24 …running to claim seniority, typically (2,7)
25 Japanese-American treaties involve reverting, intrinsically (5)
26 South Carolina partner brought back a terrifying monster (6)
27 For instance, hangman and dame grow uneasy (4,4)
DOWN
1 Peruvian interrupting traitors and contemptible people in storm (4,4,3,4)
2 Volume in hollow spigot (5)
3 An idea: the opposite of a particle (6)
4 “Liters in gallon,” for instance, is obscure (5)
6 Tungsten: most cunning resource when preparing for battle (3,5)
7 Poor-grade iron in waterway (3,6)
8 Song about a sandwich with extra mustard? (6,9)
9 Dreadful noise hides Veterans Administration’s dodges (8)
15 Roman soldier in perverse alien orgy (9)
16 Commercial imbalance, mounting, called for skill (5,3)
17 Genuine support for “team of the stars” (8)
20 Lousy, ungood composer (6)
22 Sacred oath requires belief (5)
23 Opera’s cast confused about lead in Otello (5)
ACROSS 1 S + WORDS + WALLOWING 9 NO TABLE 10 F(UCHS)IA[t] (such anag.) 11 LIMB + O 12 E + GOT + RIPS 14 “signs” 15 anag. 17 ESSA(Y)ISTS (sassiest anag.) 19 M[a]OIST 21 D(E)AD PANS 24 CAME + O 26 HI + BAC (rev.) + HI 27 anag. 28 INTER NATION ALLY
DOWN 1 SUNG + LASSES 2 OTTO + MAN 3 DUB + I.O.U. + SLY 4 (W)HERE 5 L(EFT)OVERS 6 O.C. + CUR 7 [l]IN + SI + PID (rev.) 8 rev. 13 G + ASTRONOMY 15 COSTAR + ICA (CIA anag.) 16 S(EMIC)OLON (mice anag.) 18 S(HERB)ET 20 [j]IMM[y] + ORAL 22 hidden 23 hidden 25 “tie”
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.