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ACROSS
1 Where we constructed this puzzle, avoiding all the 22, and listening to choice cut (6)
4 Characters running west in newsless urban capital (8)
10 Having a weapon like an octopus? (5)
11 Trip over racket while restraining cross dog (9)
12 Mobile home in the style of faceless president (7)
13 Yonder is a woman (7)
14 Point back at circle and fuss (2-2)
15 Most often, it’s second to labs seen in chaos (6,4)
19 Laps a lager drunkenly with bar assistants? (10)
22 Stan tortured animals that invaded our 1A and this puzzle, affecting clues for eight Down entries (4)
25 Coward doesn’t finish embracing explosive figure on the ticket (7)
27 Alternative operating system: tool and instrument (4,3)
28 Moving train isn’t moving (2,7)
29 Doughnuts otherwise named for an Asian city (5)
30 Scandinavian taken aback by arid song (8)
31 One hundred are defeated by Truman’s first cabinet (6)
DOWN
1 Vegetables for one who works the land (7)
2 Chief speaking, um, in frankness (9)
3 Not entirely free of studio backing: an inhabitant of Bangalore, perhaps (6)
5 Narration in poorly written article (7)
6 Fabric for an officer (8)
7 Best or (from another perspective) most common element in a Scrabble set (5)
8 Secure in Southwestern town (5,2)
9 10’s renter (6)
16 Uncovered lox and eggs (3)
17 They can’t recall scurvy seaman [sic] (9)
18 Simple banana (8)
19 Desserts or underwear (7)
20 Took a stab at someone in a hotel, we hear (7)
21 Sign for shed (4-2)
23 Send risqué messages with a navigator’s device (7)
24 Take a walk with small creature under a bridge (6)
26 Pointy hat made by Cambridge student? (5)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3429
ACROSS 1 ESP + A DRILL + E 6 2 defs. 9 anag. 10 “spits” 11 GA(ME)R (rag rev.) 12 BALK + ANWAR 13 DEF + ENDER 15 H(I)AT + US 17 C + ENTER 18 B(OTHER)ED 21 S + IGNORIN[g] + A 22 RE(A)DS 24 hidden 25 PHI + LANDER 26 W(OK)E 27 P(L)EASANTRY
DOWN 1 E + NRAGED (anag.) 2 P(S)ALM 3 D +R + STR(ANGEL)OVE 4 IN + DEB + TED 5 LO-CAL + E 7 RAIN(W)ATER (I narrate anag.) 8 H(AZ)ARD + S 10 SPAN + IS + HARM + A D.A. 14 FE + NUG (rev.) + REEK 16 hidden 17 CA SH(C)OW 19 [o]DES + TROY 20 hidden 23 alternate letters
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.