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 Loud birds: a tweeter and a Western cuckoo at savannah’s edge (9,5)
9 Superb location to hold a bunch of parties (4)
10 One terrible concert featuring Rossini’s overture is like this: (7)
12 and 26 Ask an individual to leave (6)
13 Shoulder positions for a dancer with fundamental substances, including phosphorus and gold (11)
14 S is something found in a bathroom (10)
16 The avant-garde of music? That’s definitely not us (4)
20 After one-for-one trade-in—a TV receptor (4)
21 Buggy returned, carrying Washington beneath the Delaware, say (10)
From Minneapolis to Venezuela, from Gaza to Washington, DC, this is a time of staggering chaos, cruelty, and violence.
Unlike other publications that parrot the views of authoritarians, billionaires, and corporations, The Nation publishes stories that hold the powerful to account and center the communities too often denied a voice in the national media—stories like the one you’ve just read.
Each day, our journalism cuts through lies and distortions, contextualizes the developments reshaping politics around the globe, and advances progressive ideas that oxygenate our movements and instigate change in the halls of power.
This independent journalism is only possible with the support of our readers. If you want to see more urgent coverage like this, please donate to The Nation today.
23 Proper and organized, Ray originally could live with basic medical attention (7,4)
26 See 12
27 Improve the looks of Dorothy’s aunt, a little like Kristen? (9)
28 and 29 Engineer caught defaming prof with a song popularized by artists hiding in three Across entries (4,3,5,6)
DOWN
2 Devout soldier breaks into lousier bughouse (9)
3 It might be Holy Creator, protecting leader of Catalans before the Spanish (8)
4 Musical component of Humanae vitae (5)
5 One living abroad close to France adopts 2 group, largely free of guilt (9)
Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.
6 Windows hardware put up around space station to economize (6)
7 Oddly, art designs boosted domestic consumption? (3,2)
8 Places quotes in speech (5)
11 Ill-treated vehicle impounded in narcs’ escalation (6)
15 Poultry and climbing vine in Rhode Island beginning to interest ruler (5,4)
17 All hail strange oath involving gentle, captivating female (4,3,2)
18 A bite of fungus containing salt (6)
19 Fermented paste conceals tiny flower (5,3)
22 Jump up and start to layer a rice dish (6)
23 Fold petition on time (5)
24 Saturate caps of inky mushrooms before using enoki (5)
25 Insect in a park disappeared (5)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3444
ACROSS 1 BA(CK)REST 5 T(HANK)S 9 hidden 10 JUG + G(L)ER (reg rev.) 11 letter bank 12 TENT + H 13 2 defs. 14 ST + RIPP(OK)ER 17 anag. 18 FAT E 20 SIN + EW 22 A DUMB RATE 24 anag. 25 “I-less” 26 S(L + E)IGH 27 GUT + T + URAL
DOWN 1 B + RIDE 2 C ON F + ERRED 3 alternate letters 4 SHO[w] + TINT(H)ED ARK 6 HI(GHTO)P + S (Goth anag.) 7 NY + LON[don] 8 SUR(CHAR)GE 10 JUST INTRUDE + AU 13 THUR (anag.) + S(D)AYS 15 K.O. + A LAB + EAR 16 T + RAW LING 19 2 defs. 21 NO(R)SE 23 [w]EASEL
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).