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ACROSS
8, 14A and 26 See 12 (2,8,2,8,4,7,4,4,2-4)
10 Pro-Democratic pyromaniac, initially enthusiastic about something that might burst into flames (4,5)
11 Understand flipping bird, for example (3,2)
12 Tehran lunatic forms an organization whose slogan is spoofed at 8, 14A, and 26 (3,3)
13 Security measure’s collapse involving faulty wire (8)
14 See 8
18 California uranium implicated in crude injury or death (8)
20 What a foreigner might have: a cold penny (6)
24 Sea smashed canoe (5)
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25 Rearrange white rose, or else! (9)
26 See 8
DOWN
1 East Coast university admits one San Francisco eccentric (6)
2 Come out in mid-November with a bit of work? Excellent (6)
3 Piano note cut to get ready (8)
4 Oy—mining disaster brings disgrace (8)
5 Amusing lecture includes a hit (6)
6 Running backward through hospital lab, too, for sport (8)
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7 Local regulation requiring piece of turnip and tea concoction in salad (5,3)
9 Some Europeans, lacking leadership or places to stay (4)
14 Game consisting of adding an E under an entry in an ancient Roman puzzle? (8)
15 Horticulturist, finally putting on sagacious demeanor, raised a flower (8)
16 Anoint Al, degenerate citizen (8)
17 Jockey acing run without a concern (8)
19 History article: “Down and Up, Large and Small” (6)
21 The Spanish exalted a pious Muslim prophet (6)
22 Minute, like adolescents? (6)
23 Turn is nearly complete, and I’m having a great time (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3465
ACROSS 1 CATER + PILLAR 7 rev. hidden 8 pun 10 T + ALLOW 11 C(R)ULLERS 12 LOU IS IAN + A 14 S + PUN 17 W + ATT 18 anag. 20 MAN + EUVER (rev.) 22 DINER + O 24 NOC(TURN)AL 25 F(LAM)E 26 OR SO + NW(ELL)ES
DOWN 1 2 defs. 2 TORT (rev.) + [p]OISE[d] 3 a[n]ger anag. (&lit.) 4 IN + E(BRIAN)T 5 “loan, Lee” 6 R + HONE 7 LIT + TLEW (rev.) + OMEN 9 MISANTH (anag.) + ROPE 13 A(GAME)M + NON 15 P(LACE)MATS (stamp rev.) 16 FRU(I)T (rev.) + FUL (anag.) 19 AUGU(R)S[t] 21 NAC + HO (rev.) 23 “clay”
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.