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ACROSS
8 Brave pair follows Laurel, carrying platinum (5,2,2)
10 Coal worker is more delicate after 17 (5)
11 Pace beginning of Tennyson poem in translation (5)
12 Whistle-blowers bringing in more unreliable Republican progressives (9)
13 Upset Marc Griffith’s attractive date (3,5)
15 Covered and lodged after 17 (6)
17 Doctor Strange sees minx for surgical procedure (3,12)
20 After 17, violin’s center (6)
22 Quieted down and mimicked eating vegetables (8)
23 People fighting Cartesians in speech (9)
25 Dance is neither here nor there (5)
27 Pass off damp after 17 (5)
28 Big-as-life clues fall in disgrace (4-5)
DOWN
1 Hot packs on the wrong road south—you don’t often find them in cars anymore (8)
2 After 17, farm animal is placid (4)
3 Lawyer’s commercial: “Cast a ballot to annex California” (8)
4 After 17, soil some bread (4)
5 Auntie and sib hold tail of gradually developing organism (6)
6 Fred (a Greek character) flips over cracked seed and starves (10)
7 Obliterated Times editor (6)
9 European capital encompasses, these days, a bit of Eden (place of bliss) (8)
14 Aimed for use of multiple artistic resources (5,5)
16 Getting rid of rising bribes within ring (8)
18 Teases soprano? That’s uncalled-for (8)
19 Young swimmers arrange lead spot (8)
20 Change my dog’s name back inside (6)
21 Classic novel’s expression of hilarity—it amuses at the start (6)
24 Vault is unaltered after 17 (4)
26 Substance of accomplishment after 17 (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3435
ACROSS 1 DA(PH)NE 5 anag. 10 UP TO SNU (anag.) + FF 11 MA(CH)O 12 DRAW + BRIDGE 13 2 defs. 15 initial letters 16 A(ISLE)S + EAT 18 NO(C)ON + TEST 20 C + ACT I 22 hidden 23 letter bank 26 I + N(L)AY 27 CRE(M)ATION 28 T(IG)RESS (G.I. rev.) 29 rev.
DOWN 2 AT + TRACT 3 HAS(H)BRO + W[i]NS 4 ELUCI (anag.) + DATE 5 BEF + OG (rev.) 6 P + UMP 7 DE-CEASE 8 LION + EL + TRILLING 9 FUN + DAME + NT + A-LIST 14 P(ERCENT)AGE (center anag.) 17 SOT + O’S + PEAK 19 CA + TA + LOG 21 CU(I + SIN)E 24 [f]OR CAS[h] 25 “hide”
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.