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ACROSS
1 Eggs without salt for one possibly destined to be a queen (4)
3 Prince sat uneasily with hankering to hold gun (10)
10 Before spring, post office’s accommodating popular software (9)
11 Soldier breaks lock, nearly making sense (5)
12 Set operating room back with 3, for example (5)
13 Far-traveling explorers in Oregon with rabid beasts, maybe (8)
16, 21, 5, and 28D Printer (drunken pig) to talk with that woman (12)
18 One thing the president gets to fill: a structural component of furniture? (7,4)
20 Radium swallowed by second-best dinosaur (11)
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21 See 16
22 Having no particular goal, libertarian icon splits atom (2,6)
24 Havana resident’s embargo on copper? (5)
27 Capture part of “Glass Onion” (5)
28 Salutes Mel endlessly in hard comedown? (9)
29 Someone who steers a boat containing farm animal and initially twitchy dog (3,7)
30 God’s canal running westward (4)
DOWN
1 Wrongdoer consumed by taste for picnic item (5,5)
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2 Allen to court woman missing Los Angeles (5)
4 Educational authority, after Sunday, sounding doubly uninterested (6,5)
5 See 16
6 Parker is involved in medieval etymology (5)
7 Stripy insect is drastically more tight (5,4)
8 Discovered Schumer is a Finn (4)
9 Coil fell off where a hair might grow (8)
14 Smack as an alternative for central Eastern city in New England (6,5)
15 For instance, Marilyn Monroe and Fred Astaire with same agents? Weird (5,5)
17 Full of desire to move first of seven over 9 (a perfect square) (6-3)
19 Potential precedent: use police weapon around satanic sect (4,4)
23 Make amends after lunch, perhaps (5)
25 Loudly shows disapproval for alcohol (5)
26 Miracle formula includes musical symbol (4)
28 See 16
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3497
ACROSS 1 PENNY + FAR THING 9 TU-[bg/GB]-OAT 10 EXA (rev.) + MINE 11 MET + RO[me] 12 N(ORTHW)EST (worth anag.) 13 2 defs. 14 T + Weld letter bank 18 PAL(IMP)SEST (pastels anag.) 19 S + CUD 22 anag. 25 & 16 EMIL (rev.) + Y(D)IC (icy anag.) + KIN + SON 26 E(LIX)IRS (rise anag.) 27 “said D” spoonerism 28 letter bank
DOWN 1 POT OMAC (rev.) 2 NIGH + T + FALL 3 YOO + “who” 4 ANT + ON (“Chekhov”) 5 THEC (anag.) + REEP (rev.) + S 6 I(NAW)H + ILE (rev.) 7 G(RIP)E (e.g. rev.) 8 SE[a]TTLE 15 WAS + H + B AS IN 17 anag. 18 PL-[under/OVER] 20 DA YCAR (rev.) + E 21 DEN-[i]-AL-I 23 “psi, phi” 24 DOD + GE
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).