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ACROSS
1 Darkness at Noon, e.g.: story excerpts in digital sample? (5,7)
9 Hatch a goose egg right before unfinished external layer (5)
10 Acknowledge and return witty remark involving company executives at first (9)
11 Kelly green on the radio is colorless (9)
12 $1,000 is second sign of affection (4)
14 Circle unfamiliar area? Yes, allowing movement in a specified direction (3-3)
15 Coffee is a mysterious gift to almost all of the others like this (8)
17 Cross composer with, um, tourist (8)
19 Audibly express frustration at critical personality (6)
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22 Johnny’s money (4)
23 Ordinary quarrel for one appearing in court (9)
26 A crazy teal eating another bird is out of the ordinary (9)
27 Agree to move around like a beaver? (5)
28 Master what you need for survival in the city (6,6)
DOWN
1 Swimwear is what you thing? (5)
2 Uncooked pie with rabbit (not hot) (7)
3 Large and small garments—they are often depicted by artists (10)
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4 Flakes, perhaps, prior to entering Berkeley (6)
5 Growth in fold (8)
6 Epic yarn from Down Under? A lot of fun (4)
7 Brilliant star is not joking, we hear (6)
8 Unfortunately, Tom’s invested in an inheritance: a diamond, perhaps (8)
13 Porn merits rough punishment by the government (6,4)
14 Choose to accept spies on the inside, with contact person? (8)
16 Model employee delayed (8)
18 Property of diminutive butts? (6)
20 One shrinking in fear from cold impostor (7)
21 Gift given temporarily, following thanks (6)
24 Dismisses a line in a letter that has been sent back (5)
25 Fuss with part of a guitar (4)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3466
ACROSS 10 FOR + D + P + INTO 11 GE + TIT (rev.) 12 anag. 13 F(IREW)ALL (wire anag.) 18 CA + S(U)ALTY 20 A + C + CENT 24 anag. 25 anag.
DOWN 1 M(I + SF)IT 2 EM + ERG + E 3 P + RE + PARED 4 anag. 5 hidden 6 rev. hidden 7 S(T + ATE)LAW (tea anag.) 9 [f]INNS 14 L-ACROSS + E 15 WIS(T)E + RIA (rev.) 16 anag. 17 anag. 19 AN + NA + L + S 21 EL + IJAH (rev.) 22 pun 23 WHEE[l]
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.