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ACROSS
1 Crashed into pieces, reusing some that might be extra sharp (7,6)
9 Awkward, short quarrel (5)
10 Sign of island cereal (9)
11 Try and use a turbulent waterway (7)
12 Decapitated Russian and Spaniard (7)
13 Kill Washington, then kill Cummings as a refresher? (4,6)
15 Hot tune: It grows on you (4)
18 Clothing line: “West Is West” (4)
20 Front-to-back detector installed in computer component, limiting what you can see and hear (10)
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23 Slow and largely gloomy twin (7)
24 Russian president traveling in style (7)
25 Father holds misprinted menu before getting over one illness (9)
26 Heads of government acquire nestled jar and pot (5)
27 Businesswoman’s flaw: pursuing store with dispatch (6,7)
DOWN
1 Comic sets off powders and creams (9)
2 Clothed in reversible pelts, I peruse a letter (7)
3 Challenge: break off an engagement? (8)
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4 Lucy’s husband is real gross (5)
5 Joy of putting passcode into unrecognizable shapes (9)
6 Rapper’s excellent source of gold and platinum, finally (6)
7 Mix oat and rice with blueprints, perhaps? (7)
8 Except for the beginning, sanctioned literature is briefly of unknown authorship (4)
14 Train union leader in foreign language? Supposedly, there’s no such thing (4,5)
16 Sorrowful author gains entry to natter incoherently (9)
17 Opening disc (record) in pure chaos (8)
19 City guy is gripped by unhinged mania (7)
21 “Hallelujah!” or “God be praised!”: Santa’s words to Frozen character (7)
22 Grumble about liquor twice (6)
23 At first, great ape is to open wide (4)
24 A long time indeed to accept Arkansas (5)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3445
1 TRUMP + ETERSWAN (anag.) + S 9 hidden 10 I + NCOR(R)ECT (concert anag.) 12 & 26 BEG + ONE 13 E(P + AU)LEMENTS 14 rebus 16 THE + M 20 D-[a/I]-SH 21 UNDER(WA)TER (returned anag.) 23 PRIM + ARY (anag.) + C + ARE 27 EM + BELL-ISH 28 & 29 anag.
DOWN 2 RELI(G.I.)OUS (lousier anag.) 3 MA(C)KER + EL 4 hidden 5 EX(CUL[t])PAT + E 6 SC(RIM)P (rev.) 7 alternate letters 8 “cites” 11 A(BUS)ED (D.E.A. rev.) 15 HEN + R(YVI)I + I (ivy rev.) 17 HAT(SOF(F)T)O (oath anag.) 18 MOR(S)EL 19 S(WEE)TPEA (paste anag.) 22 PAEL (rev.) + L + A 23 PLEA + T 24 initial letters 25 A + P + HID
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).