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Puzzled? No more cross words! Read Kosman and Picciotto on “Solving The Nation’s Cryptic Puzzles.” Or watch this video.
1 Ambitious to be like π (like 3.14) (12)
9 They say I have my dinner get very cold (3,2)
10 Party in Georgia: a Wagnerian plot element (9)
11 Wild 23 that may be hunted in spring (6,3)
12 Refuse to include 100 in total (4)
14 Most sage is found in the Occident (6)
15 Shared salary falls short with 60 percent of cash (2,6)
17 Digest donut with zest, eating one at beginning of week (8)
19 After mid-January, renovated patio is the perfect spot (6)
22 A pop made from fruit that’s initially cut (4)
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23 Divide 11 bananas (9)
26 Lucky talent involves fish (9)
27 A musical composition (“Serenity”) heard… (5)
28 …before and after god of love gets up? That’s absurd (12)
ACROSS
1 Time to capture the Italian fleet (5)
2 Contents of park-rental contracts (7)
3 Inhibiting writhing vipers, some having reproduced (10)
4 Redesigned gadget and made it? (6)
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5 Stop signs, perhaps, blocked a gonzo cargo, we hear (8)
6 Look here—a border (4)
7 Get on the couch ahead of a trio of commercials for a TV staple (6)
8 Thinking a lot of oneself where many Arabs live—in, say, Iowa (8)
13 This could take your breath away: Radical pope let in refugees (4,6)
14 Dismissed rising stench in England between Wednesday and Friday (5,3)
16 Twangy instrument from Janáček’s first work in F? (4,4)
18 Date’s exotic corset (6)
20 Locate box office? That might have an effect (7)
21 Says, “Yes, Grease rocks” (6)
24 Put up notice at gym for sporting equipment (5)
25 Raise drink, welcoming one environmentalist (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3479
ACROSS 1 O + MARK + HAY + YAM 7 DES(K)TOP (posted anag.) 8 C(ON + T)AIN 10 S(C)OUR 11 TAGALO(N)G 13 O(PENS)E + SAME 14 L-[as/SA]-T 16 CO + ME 18 FRANC + I + SCAN 20 RESOL (rev.) + UTE 22 TIB(I)A (rev.) 24 SHARP-[ie/EI] 25 I + SO + TOPE 26 GOP + HER + STATE
DOWN 1 ON + SHORE (anag.) 2 ASTE (anag.) + RISK 3 hidden 4 A(CC)L + AIMING 5 YE(NT)A 6 anag. 7 DISCO + N + CERTS 9 NIGH + TIN + GALE 12 hidden 15 VI(CT + R)OLA 17 MU(STAN)G 19 CA(BOO)SE 21 LA PUP 23 M IS S
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).