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Word Salad.
ACROSS
1 LA boys irresponsibly smuggling instrument? Yes! (10)
6 Kind of saxophone needed to make unusual tone (4)
10 Follow mother’s doctrine (5)
11 Rewritten article is sensible (9)
12 Clarinet broken by youths, initially? Yes! (9)
13 Garment displayed by terrific hunk (5)
14 Penalty? Yes! (4)
16 Mensa ruse changed requirements for access (4,5)
19 Solo interrupting scandalous opera about grand home for children (9)
21 Returning dealer used connection? Yes! (4)
23 Imagine rapping doctor in the morning (5)
24 Love a tonality to be sufficient clue? Yes! (9)
26 Something round and bloody—it is a blemish (9)
27 A court proceeding reduced in courts (5)
28 Support a Verdi opera (4)
29 Redesign many labels? Yes! (2,3,5)
DOWN
1 Carry away muscle tube (6)
2 Spaghetti sauce’s turned up—that’s sweet (5)
3 This is getting out: actress Grant conceals alternate name (Graunstein, originally) (7)
4 Multi-legged creature amid ultra-creepy arachnids, chiefly! (9)
5 See, the youngest March girl is dirty (5)
7 On the way up, rock band and others surround Orange County laggard (9)
8 At the opening, oboists refocus freely? Yes! (2,6)
9 Leaving a lousy tip when starting late and cutting short a lunch in London (6)
15 Dazzled, like an unwilling seaman (9)
17 Primitive conversation curtailed after three consecutive letters (9)
18 Sentimentality achieved extra-superficially? Yes! (4,4)
20 Think highly of spot by a swamp (6)
21 Exploded, 23 is a weapon (7)
22 Go around near spas, running amok… (6)
24 …in a peculiar fashion—or did I lay this way? (5)
25 Railroad company in the ascendant becomes timeless moral force (5)
ACROSS 1 letter bank 9 SI(X)TH (hits anag.) 10 AT + A + ROMAN I (rev.) 11 TROLL + OPE[n] 12 anag. 14 2 defs. 15 LO + AN[d/S] + HARK 17 MAN + IF + ESTO (toes anag.) 19 EN + TRY 20 P + AVERS 22 SUN + BURNS 25 alternate letters 26 REA(L)M 27 AMERICAN + GOT + HIC[k] (rain came anag.)
DOWN 1 V + IS IT 2 NEX(T)O (rev.) + FKIN (fink anag.) 3 S + CHOLAR (choral anag.) 4 NAIL + POLISH 5 “vile” 6 anag. 7 USA + GE 8 MAL(ARK)E + Y 13 pun 14 HO(ME)P + AGE 16 AF(TERM)ATH (Fatah anag.) 18 FOR(A)GER 19 E(MBA)RGO 21 V + ROOM 23 SUM + AC 24 ZIN + C
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.