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Puzzle No. 3418

Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto

December 22, 2016

Click HERE to download a printable PDF of this puzzle.

Puzzled? No more cross words! Read Kosman and Picciotto on “Solving The Nation’s Cryptic Puzzles.” Or watch this video.

ACROSS

 1 and 9 down Part of our answer to Trump: start to bolster need to destroy evil master—it’s about time (5,5,6)

 6 Honest member of parliament abandoned Trump at beginning of election (4)

10 Company carrying alcohol, tobacco, and firearms—and regressive party providing what the poor may have to eat in Trump’s America (3,4)

11 and 31 Criticized Pennsylvania about large cost of housing district, with part of our answer to Trump (7,10)

12 They have even more reason to worry about Trump, and to enlarge an opening in backward-looking red state’s Western border (8)

13 Let’s send Trump back to his AAA truck? (5)

15 Trump owns some stolen public transportation (6)

16 Like the politicians we’ll need to defy Trump’s plot following bogus inauguration in dilapidated ruin (8)

19 They make it hard to read censored letters after they’re hacked (8)

21 Democracy’s center may move left to get a drink (6)

23 Loud is not weak (5)

25and 29 ”Break up tiff and frighten foe”—part of our answer to Trump (5,3,7)

28 Sounds like extreme anger: His admirers love Trump (7)

29 See 25

30 Squeal from the olde record (4)

31 See 11

DOWN

 1 Resist an object of Trump’s worship (4)

 2 Car, intact after accident near a pole (9)

 3 Grand response to Trump, one with grandiose claims to omniscience (4-3)

 4 Influence to expire without support from Hollywood (5)

 5 Revealing pigs and oxen in a frenzy (8)

 7 Serene wisdom reveals what Nation subscribers might want to do in advance of a Trump presidency (5)

 8 Donald Trump’s backers taken in by rude con, unfortunately (start of terrifying outcome) (3,7)

 9 See 1 across

14and 20 Part of our answer to Trump: Raise tax and invest it in cheap opportunity to secure temperature decreasing, ultimately (5-5,3,3)

17 One who robs a railroad in Monopoly is attached to criminal role (9)

18 Poor farm falls apart, like Trump’s commitment to democracy (3,5)

20 See 14

22 Confused getup involving orange (3,2,2)

24 Something to aspire to: ego and art, according to Trump (5)

26 Leaders of “Great Again” formulation, for example, making a blunder (5)

27 Heading the wrong way, Donald inevitably grabs a woman (4)

 

SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3417

ACROSS 1 2 defs. 9 letter bank 10 DO + USE 11 init. letters 12 anag. 14 FI(NEAR)TS 15 A.M. + ORAL 17 ALDRI (anag.) + N 19 C(INN + A)MON 22 “pi-rho-maniac” 24 [am]ERIC[a] 26 A + L + BUM 27 NAR + R + ATIVE (rev.) 28 letter bank

DOWN 1 S + PI[a]NO + FF 2 rev. 3 rev. 4 T(URN)INT + O 5 hidden 6 INDIC + T-MEN + T 7 “eek, waiter” 8 anag. 13 D(AVID + MAME)T 16 D-IS A GREE-[d] 17 A + P + PEAR 18 anag. 20 MARTIN + I 21 [un/NU]-CLE + ON 23 NIN + JA 25 MAY + A

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.


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