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ACROSS
1 1D spilled wine (7)
5 Color over 1A haphazardly (7)
9 Account with zeros is not allowed (5)
10 Composer revised roles for single men (9)
11 ”Visionary!” is what a bridge player might say first (8)
12 Indian leader’s three letters in alphabetical order (6)
14 Returning crazy knife thrust (4)
15 Hip fad: rent parties for pioneer (10)
18 Father wrecked what we have when the business is closed (5,5)
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19 Listening to apology for clothing item (4)
22 Bangkok resident, angry when speaking with transcriber, perhaps (6)
24 Inflammation of the joints entails a terrible reversal for social butterfly (8)
26 Incorporated, er… crooked officeholder (9)
27 It’s essential to Baha’i faith! (5)
28 Light receptors processed 29 (7)
29 20 torn fabrics (7)
DOWN
1 Keeps 18D hopping (7)
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2 Eliot accepts intelligent alternative for seasoning (5,4)
3 One insect taking over? I wish (2,4)
4 Doctors’ organization catches fish, lifting rod for diplomat (10)
5 Grain cost is initially cut (4)
6 Plot involved car noise (8)
7 Audibly in Arabic, “the stringed instrument” (5)
8 Comparatively mean and ugly 5A (7)
13 From that point on, energy is absorbed by the roof beam (10)
16 Harsh Scottish man supports no jokester from the south (9)
17 Is Her Majesty acting as Iran’s hostage with Wilde, say? (8)
18 28 is jittery and more on edge (7)
20 8 breaks down sobbing (2,5)
21 In Connecticut, long for prestige (6)
23 Fronts of petticoats include curlicues outside tiny loop of thread (5)
25 It helps to see senselessness reduced to its basic components (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3438
ACROSS 1 BO(D)Y 3 PROF + I + TABLE 10 U.S. AGE 11 CAR(PEN)TER 12 CHAR + IT + Y 13 TAC + [e]TILE (rev.) 14 RE + FI(N)ANCE 17 [l]EASES 18 F(E)AST 20 S(CRAW)LING 23 2 defs. 24 SE(A)TTLE 26 anag. 27 T + RAIL 28 SHE + N(AND)OAH 29 2 defs.
DOWN 1 B(OUNCE)R 2 D + RAMA 4 2 defs. 5 F(IRSTG)EAR (grits anag.) 6 anag. 7 BUT + TIN + SKI 8 [l]EARNERS 9 DESI + GN 15 F(RANCH IS)E 16 NO S’EBLE + ED (rev.) 18 FIN(D)ERS 10 [mar/T]-IJUANA 21 anag. 22 GR(EML)IN (elm anag.) 24 hidden 25 TRAD + E (rev.)
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).