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ACROSS

 1 Going back and forth sick during time off (11)

 7 and 27 Criticize crack in closet (6)

 9 One interrupting President Hoover’s initial victory (7)

10 Large room in plant is not deep (7)

11 Army chief captivated by return of tiny animals (6)

12 Celebration of workers adorably frolicking (5,3)

14 Wring wet rag in front of entire Chinese landmark… (5,4)

15 …because nice mess follows end of chaos (5)

16 Cleaned bird, for example, replacing black with white (5)

18 Makes it known cannon use is unacceptable (9)

20 Cruz, harboring a sorceress, quivered (8)

22 Flawed teachers disregarding C (6)

25 After making some changes, I atoned for cutting back (2,1,4)

26 Poet with assassin (7)

27 See 7A

28 That guy sitting between relatives) (11)

DOWN

 1 Key West finally seen in a small vessel (5)

 2 Typical weather conditions and so forth, on the rise outside South American capital (7)

 3 Kept on acquiring something an executive might have assailed (9)

 4 A female tennis legend (4)

 5 Establishing big breaks in tweet (10)

 6 Refusal to gobble, feast, or swell (5)

 7 A loud noise in support of Mac Knight (7)

 8 Honeymooners, perhaps, beginning to seem inexperienced, left and went most of the way north (9)

13 Taken aback, jazz fan to spot and penetrate computer farm (4,6)

14 I ought to put in a new order about work lack (2,7)

15 Easily disgusted, Susan takes question on religious sect (9)

17 Freedom from snooping is costly around Virginia (7)

19 Newspaper features prisoners swallowing fruit with top cut off (7)

21 Pair of children, and one misbehaving ape (5)

23 Article invested in elevating certain blue Americans (5)

24 Leader of Tatooine to succeed Luke Skywalker, for instance (4)

SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3481

ACROSS 8 D(OWNS)I + ZING (I’d rev.) 9 A + CAI[n] 10 ER + MINE 11 TUR (rev.) + MERIC (anag.) 12 NOVELI (anag.) + ST (rev.) 15 GIR(D)L + E 16 ME + SS 18 D + AUNT 19 2 defs. 21 anag. 23 SA + RAS(O)TA 25 REN[t] + EGAD + E 27 SWE(DE)N (rev.) 28 final letters 29 ON + EYE + [h]AROLD

DOWN 1 “force ‘em” 2 “in sight” 3 NIK (rev.) + E 4 [f]LINT 5 A + G(GREG)ATOR 6 N(A MED)ROP (porn rev.) 7 anag. (2x) 13 anag. 14 hidden 17 anag. (&lit.) 20 anag. 22 DEE + PEN 24 hidden (&lit.) 26 [b]ERE[t] 27 S(T)EW