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ACROSS

 1 Earth’s grief (6,5)

 8 Placard includes caustic synthetic (9)

 9 Resort island’s cold, endless month (5)

10 Playthings held back by noisy otters (4)

11 Dull spin I livened up inside, probably voting Democratic? (10)

13 Staff hosts replacing 100 with a ruse (9)

15 Also note Breton (5)

16 Shaped cedar, making a bow (5)

18 Validate corrupt ex-president within natural disaster (5,4)

20 Van Gogh gets angry about leader of Oakland baseball team (3,7)

22 Raised money on the radio (4)

24 Singer/actress goes after a bit of orange pigment (5)

25 Completely destroy nearest headless, crazy pirate (9)

26 Those that 14 recycled, saving a tree (11)  

DOWN

 1 How you don’t want your business to go, and what might save you just in time? You betcha (5-2)

 2 Newspaper article with idiot burying the lead (2-2)

 3 John, the Spanish heavyweight (5)

 4 Cheer up sodden drunk? That’s tough (4-5)

 5 Pace wildly around front of card table? OK (10)

 6 Diminished bureaucracy had the last word on top (7)

 7 Filed letters multiple times… as if I care! (12)

 8 Decomposing deposit before blowing a whistle, say? (12)

12 Lacking a raise, keep an eye on rosy present-day panacea (6,4)

14 Go “om nom nom nom nom” and go “om nom nom nom”—that’s what 26 do (3,2,4)

17 Playwright to mark box on a list for audience (7)

19 What a meteorologist would know about: a tune and a liturgy (3,4)

21 Key football player starts late (5)

23 Middle-Earth monster, a killer in black and white (4)  

SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3280  

ACROSS 1 T(HUMB-[le]/EL)INA 6 2 defs. 10 INDE(XC)ARD (drained anag.) 11 LEAR + N 12 C + ARGO (&lit.) 13 ER(ICI)DLE (elder anag.) 15 M(ID)D + LEE + ASTERN 17 RINGS + IDES + EATS 21 ARE + A + CODE (deco anag.) 23 GOD + EL  26 “tope” 27 anag. 28 RUN + T  29 FINGERFO + OD (offering anag.,  do rev.)

DOWN 1 T + WITCH 2 [s]UNDER 3 BOX + WOO + D 4 anag. 5 “nadir” 7 HE + ADDRESS 8 DUNG + EON (one anag.) 9 F + LICKS 14 P + LED 15 MANN + EQUIN[e] 16 hidden 17 REALT + [f]OR (alert anag.) 18 S-[ca]/AC-RED 19 rev. hidden 20 anag. 22 “deli” 24 DO + BRO (rev.) 25 rev