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ACROSS
1 Nut captures Long Island bird (7)
5 Like some architecture degrees involving a certain rental, mostly (7)
9 Prosperous, after losing $1,000 from the distant past (5)
10 True love doesn’t run smooth, taking in neutral person who’s willing (9)
11 Times here adapted ad for classic cult film (10)
12 Scandinavian with a fishy protuberance in the ear (4)
14 They amend all characters alternately in liturgical text (6)
16 How a wheat farmer might refer to a crop out loud: “It’s a headache!” (8)
18 Frenetically spur team toward the source (8)
19 Brownback’s a snake holding this back! (6)
21 Sausage for a difficult child (4)
22 Misguided petition as Christmastime staple (10)
25 I nosh upon crackers where the workers are organized (5,4)
26 Leaders in Delhi and Islamabad are separated by fashionable loincloth (5)
27 Party machinery designates a spot to return to (3-4)
28 Hide, formerly, in a Western university (7)
DOWN
1 Dance and leap about conclusion of Seascape (America’s classic play) (10,5)
2 Woman in radical daily (5)
3 Put tin on half-dead, tailless experimenter’s rodent—that might shed some light on matters (10)
4 Southwesterner’s backhanded exclamation upon noticing a vehicle (6)
5 Salami, processed in ancient times like some vinegar (8)
6 Powerful narcotic envelops bone (4)
7 The things that make life comfortable absolutely include, in the first place, shoelaces (9)
8 Dog relapsing after repeated exposure to its parts (8,7)
13 Give weapons to old mafioso? That would be a spectacular ending (10)
15 Fog, like gravity, is confusing (9)
17 Look into cuts in waterproof footwear (8)
20 Engineer opens municipal center without a guarantee (2,4)
23 Steak consumption unit (1-4)
24 Mountain capital is home to historic civilization (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3418
ACROSS 1 & 9D B + LACK + LIVESMA(T)TER (evil master anag.) 6 TRU[mp] + E 10 C(ATF)O + OD (rev.) 11 & 31 P(L)ANNED PA + RENT + HOOD 12 D(REAM)ER + S (red rev.) 13 2 defs. 15 HOT ELS 16 UN(B)RI + BED (ruin anag.) 19 anag. 21 C + OG NAC (rev.) 23 F + AIN’T 25 & 29 anag. 28 “furor” 30 YE + LP
DOWN 1 2 defs. 2 anag. 3 K + NO WALL 4 IN + DIE 5 anag. 7 hidden 8 EN(DP)RODUC + T (rude con anag.) 14 & 20 THR(EEF)IFTY + DO(T)OR + G (fee rev.) 17 B AND O + LERO (anag.) 18 anag. 22 OUT(O)FIT 24 I + DEAL 26 initial letters 27 rev. hidden
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.