Click HERE to download a printable PDF of this puzzle.
Puzzled? No more cross words! Read Kosman and Picciotto on “Solving The Nation’s Cryptic Puzzles.” Or watch this video.
ACROSS
1 Provide food and support for insect (11)
7 Partner’s half of counterrevolution (5)
8 Where celebrities are often found: an eco-chamber? (5,4)
10 Fat cat’s last permit (6)
11 People making a choice to eat right (doughnuts, more or less) (8)
12 State “Costello is McKellen” to actor in the lead (9)
14 Small joke twisted… (4)
17 …with phone-company unit (4)
18 Frame that is ruined as a consequence (9)
We now confront a second Trump presidency.
There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.
Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.
Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.
The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.
Onwards,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation
20 Jockey is a guy backing theatrical program of skits, songs, and dances (8)
22 Eatery with zero cash (6)
24 In Northern California, crank is awake during the night (9)
25 Ironclad escape for 7A (5)
26 Filmmaker’s building extension in roughly all four directions (5,6)
DOWN
1 Legal action in polite attire? (5,4)
2 Race winner’s fast pace uphill, showing equilibrium after shedding outer garments (8)
3 Unrestrained anger, lacking the final bit of inhibition! (4)
Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.
4 Booze in Spielberg movie about Eno (9)
5 Advance by Confederate general sounds forlorn (6)
6 Where the Lyonnais get water to sharpen razor’s edge, at first (5)
7 Book caught fire and raised welt—a portent (6,5)
9 Hit man’s crumpled up cable for a hateful person (11)
13 Amusement in the morning hours? That’s a contradiction for a Belgian or Greek ruler (9)
15 Heavily step up, clutching open fabric for tablecloth alternative (5,4)
16 Productive territory on the upswing, getting one over terrible flu (8)
19 Foretells the end of summer in nearly a month (6)
21 Rising, I see tin chip (5)
23 Swiss artist’s modeling material discussed (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3464
ACROSS 1 anag. 9 CHI + RRUP (rev.) 10 [t]RELA + PSE (rev.) 11 anag. 12 PAR + IS 13 RUM(MAGE’S)ALE 16 & 18 [tr]ASH CAN 19 HIGH + LIGHTER 21 T + ROUT 22 A BUN DANCE 25 O(RIGA)M + I 26 P(LATE + A)U (up rev.) 27 letter bank
DOWN 1 EC(CENT)RIC (Circe rev.) 2 RUIN + G 3 anag. 4 HI + PP + O 5 “tern’s tale” 6 EL(LIP)SE 7 anag. 8 hidden 14 MANDOLI(N)S (salmon I’d anag.) 15 ENG + RAVING 17 HAR (rev.) + L + EQUIN[e] 19 H(OTC)AKE 20 GA + DDA + FI (rev.) 21 T + ROOP (rev.) 23 [s]UPPER 24 NI(E)CE
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.