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For over a decade, Oxford University Press has asked its staff and online community to help it choose a Place of the Year. Past winners have been as varied as our lost ninth planet, Pluto, and the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa. This year, each of the four places on the short list was important for its own reason, but one stood out among them. Complete the crossword puzzle and unscramble the letters in the shaded boxes to spell out the chosen 2017 Oxford Place of the Year.
One Across answer in each row must be altered to fit in the grid, forming an unclued entry in one of two related categories. When the grid is filled, the circled letters, read left to right, will say where these new diagram entries appear, ultimately. Enumerations for the Across entries are withheld; Down entries are normal. Good luck!
ACROSS
1 Cushion stuffed with long-processed grain
5 Sensual messenger, perhaps, in Berkeley
10 Greek letter on back of napkin—it might be double
11 Resting places with a turkey? Nonsense
12 Bird went into the water
13 Young animal is oddly chubby
14 Chief of police to agent: “A passport could be settled in advance”
16 Digital storage in retrograde medium, or…
18 …alternatively, Michael’s electronic holdings
20 Carefully examine sexy man at gym
21 Small beer transaction
23 For each sound made by a cat, loudly…
27 …suspicious stare is something shocking
29 Inside of café, anger is burning
30 Saucy dog, for example, swallows part of rug
31 Die in peace, drained of energy
32 Opening an old five-and-ten, surprisingly
33 Muscleman returned no strong tennis stroke, lacking height
34 Press down headgear softly
DOWN
1 Contest mediocre grade in algebra, e.g. (5)
2 Quantity obtained from a horse (6)
3 Meat is 29, lacking limits (4)
4 Thanks poet for archaic garment (6)
5 Spells “scorch” and “manuscript” (6)
6 Assistant’s crazy idea (4)
7 Marine beginning to nudge molten rock uphill (5)
8 Game is ruined when some people are discriminated against (6)
9 Aristocrat is mostly amusing in retreat (4)
15 Chemical element (copper) I stored in alcohol (6)
17 Consumed with school in England, we hear (5)
19 Boo-boos are found covering sailor’s back (6)
20 Poles in boxes (5)
22 Caterpillar? Varmint, somewhat! (5)
24 Author and university elevated knight (4)
25 Kill animal specialist at rear of zoo (4)
26 Above a river dividing many countries… (4)
28 …a way to get power from water without a dam (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3449
ACROSS 1 anag. 9 CHA[t] + GRIN 10 TRI(BU)TE 11 ENSU(R)E 12 S + UPERIOR (our ripe anag.) 14 anag. 16 final letters 17 ALI + AS (&lit.) 18 L(YRIC)ISTS (I cry anag.) 20 F(RIGHT)EN 22 B(L)EACH 25 CUL(PRI)T 26 AN + TH[r]ILL 27 anag.
DOWN 1 SU(C + C)ES + S 2 “praise” 3 letter bank 4 rev. 5 OUT NUMBERS 6 anag. 7 “Jew, Belize” 8 REGRE[e]T 13 T + W + ELVES + TEP (rev.) 15 I + NITIALS (is Latin anag.) 16 anag. 17 A(F + FE)CT 19 SC(HOL[d])AR 21 rev. 23 A MISS 24 2 defs.
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.