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ACROSS
1 A sneaker lining demonstrated extortion (9)
6 Someone in a tub turns around and discards shirt—that’s one way to get clean (5)
9 Took care of college degree via high school examination (7)
10 Label a record in a foreign language (7)
11 Twisting, neat stalker! (11)
12 and 21 Ample commentary from someone who dislikes ambient music? (6)
13 Killer environment for hot links (5)
14 Extremely bright jewelry muffles noise (8)
17 Forgiving organized crime in anticipation of terrible flu (8)
19 Failing old ship in Northern city (5)
21 See 12
23 Where to write and to spell “dork,” possibly (7,4)
25 Goose egg drink contains prune (7)
26 Mark leaves cab to advance in caboose (4,3)
27 Race put down once again (5)
28 Disheartened boy gets sick alongside healthy singer of the hit song whose elements can be found in the completed grid (4,5)
DOWN
1 Take off with explosive burst to cover performance (8)
2 Judge hard-core fragment on speed (9)
3 A very small quantity of Pine-Sol spilled (7)
4 Shockingly, a host curses (5)
5 Animal’s tail on back of crazed Athenian man (9)
6 Seethed about our group’s pollen generator (7)
7 Rich person claiming loss is cut by 50 percent (5)
8 and 20 Arsonist keeps toy soldier, moving head and tip of tongue with singer of the hit song whose elements can be found in the completed grid (3,3,6)
14 Lox holder beginning to feel “marvy”? That’s retrograde nonsense (9)
15 Neon light originally incorporates ridiculously clever unit that transmits signals (5,4)
16 Ordinary restructuring of ward? Okay (8)
18 Discombobulated city ref: “Say, that one’s crazy!” (7)
19 Dandy angle involving 25 very quietly (7)
20 See 8
22 Stolen train is a place to stay (5)
24 Unqualified to speak endlessly (5)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3412
ACROSS 1 2 defs. 3 N(ARROW + C)AST 10 CHILI AD 11 anag. 12 PL(ENTE + O)US (teen anag.) 13 anag. 14 pun 16 BAND + I TRY 18 BARF + LIES 19 RE(D)CAP (caper anag.) 22 DA(TU)M (rev.) 23 INTE[r]STATE 25 GOBLIN + D 26 anag. 27 “suite bred” 28 “re-lie”
DOWN 1 DE + CAPO + D 2 anag. 4 [l]AND HO + W 5 RICK + SHAW 6 WI(N)DOW + DRESSING 7 AN(APES)TIC 8 hidden 9 pun 15 V + ERIT + ABLE (rev.) 17 BE + WILDER 18 BAD(E.G.)G-[e/S] 20 P(R)EACHY 21 hidden 24 AF + I + R + E
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.