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ACROSS
1 What you might do with a dirty belt clutched by senior adventurer (12)
9 Measure of light feather without first number (5)
10 Converse back and forth about attorney general, and start to hack part of document (9)
11 Male, frazzled, arrives late to be wed (7)
12 Adoring untangled-knot descriptor (7)
13 Held in contempt, Caesar returned and ate, repressing onset of anger (9)
15 Before one, caress the rear end of Robert Smith (5)
16 Hits—they usually come in pairs (5)
18 Warm piece of turkey, stuffed with spicy chocolate sauce spun around artichoke heart (9)
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20 Note: a bit of science in creative endeavors, and they add up to a record (7)
22 Hype smooth chief of tiki bar (7)
24 Close friend isn’t able to limit din of explosion (9)
25 Manchester school, independent leader in public square (5)
26 Will’s inadvertent revelation? (4,8)
DOWN
1 City’s transfer of ownership on Monday (5)
2 Misread redesigned prizes (7)
3 pHysIcal challenges (9)
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4 After introduction, had a meal and hiked (5)
5 Mathematician’s short underwear rumored (4,5)
6 Brewed lager for regal, disheveled composer (5)
7 Cruel person’s publicity is displayed in street (6)
8 Intelligent publicity is displayed in article (8)
13 Deal with mineral spring in narrow excavation (8)
14 Ten swans disrupted opening of digital media distribution center? (9)
15 Method to get around editor (9)
17 Murderer keeps rubles at first (essentially, legal tender) (6)
19 Notices howling presenter of winter entertainment (3,4)
21 Usurp bishops’ places, by the sound of it (5)
22 Creator of a notable dish: tripe stew (5)
23 Buzzed, acting generously toward a server? (5)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3514
ACROSS 1 anag. 7 rev. 9 SCAL[e] + D 10 RING + ABEL + L 11 P(ARVE)NU (pun anag., rave anag.) 13 S(W)IMMER 14 TUB + A 16 DAM + SON + PLUM[p] 19 L + OCH(L)O + M ON D 20 anag. 22 VIS(IT)OR 24 AN(GEL)IC (I can anag.) 27 RIO (initial letters) + GRANDE (anag.) 29 final letters 30 TOY[ota] 31 theme reveal
DOWN 1 TO + S(S)POT 2 CHAI + R 3 NUD(G)E 4 PER[m] 5 O(IN)KS 6 anag. 7 THE R(M)ALLY 8 PI(L)G + RIM 12 hidden 15 BACKS + TORY 17 SANK + A 18 CL(O)TURES (cluster anag.) 19 L(EVER)ET 21 anag. 23 R + ENAL (rev.) 25 GA(U)ZE 26 hidden 28 [m]EAT
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).