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ACROSS
1 Nobel-winning author is yellowish, and sadly blue on the inside (4,6)
6 50 percent failure dogs onboard computer (4)
10 Comparatively hollow pot, lacking top layer (7)
11 Jeered at relative captivated by Cruz (7)
12 Sailboat contains piece of veal and beef (6)
13 Magician imprisoned person (someone in a box) (8)
14 Expression of admiration from one renting a cooler? (3,6)
16 Catch the Spanish roll (5)
18 Boring drone chasing start of Yule sound (2-3)
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20 Brewed Coffee (hit sitcom for NBC) (3,6)
22 Crackpot chases title, accepting love for money (8)
24 Boxer conceals hesitation in front of Penn’s latest graduates (6)
26 Most shadowy Virginia visitor (7)
27 Passage is restricted in bar (7)
28 Lean inventory (4)
29 One way to get a leg up with the German: succeeding spouse’s son? (10)
DOWN
1 Look who’s here: Clement (he used to dwell up around a mountaintop) (5,2,3,5)
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2 Sports official saw components bearing north, and coming later than at least a dozen (9)
3 Bread supplied by revolutionary vigor? Just the reverse! (7)
4 Temptation to break rule (4)
5 Look elsewhere to get couture so refined (9)
7 Following a loud unfinished word (5)
8 Terrible liar gets engrossed in tennis star’s account of the government’s daily doings (7,8)
9 Joke and poke in Indian region (6)
15 Bird covers defensive outpost by a principle of retaliation (3,3,3)
17 Endlessly smooth-spoken in French, Mrs. Garnet shone (9)
19 Tool used in retro hotel lamp (6)
21 A woman’s cryptic life with spies (7)
23 Desires increase, top to bottom (5)
25 Get ready to return for criminal (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3505
ACROSS 1 2 defs. 4 T + RAN + SLATE 10 anag. 11 SUN + DER 12 S(U)DS 13 PROVE + N-[ac/CA]-L 14 anag. 17 SON + G 19 “soul” 21 [s/N]-EEDLESS 23 CR(OWSN)EST (snow anag.) 25 SIGH[t] 28 anag. 29 IN + RO(A)DS 30 PA + STERN + AK 31 anag.
DOWN 2 hidden 3 “Moe is wee” spoonerism 4 S + UMP 5 pun 6 STU([i]DE[a])NT 7 AUD(A + C)IO + US 8 EARP + LUGS 9 F(R)AT 15 anag. 16 hidden 18 pun 20 ESSEN + CE 22 LATER + AL[l] 24 SIC + K 26 initial letters 27 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.