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 Transportation cost is reasonable, we hear (4)
3 Irreverent person mixed maple and herbs (10)
10 Brown wood with the top cut off (5)
11 Utter the following last words: “Three stars!” (said with an accent, maybe) (9)
12 Move the camera about king beginning to eat something for breakfast (7)
13 Two converts, breaking lease, make a possibly illegal start (3-4)
14 Superhero’s turn to have bad dream (6-3)
17 Grant involves no sword swallower, for example (5)
18 Crumpled sheet for the ones nearby (5)
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 ”There’s plenty between cold and its opposite”—that’s a low blow (5,4)
23 Made arrangements for surgery and quietly returned Johnny to the emergency room (7)
24 Any rude punk is caught napping (7)
26 Smell of newspaper in European nation (9)
27 Unusual object made of copper, west of Brazilian city (5)
28 Drunken Australian revelry (10)
29 Poet is dull in retrospect (4)
DOWN
1 Outspoken enemy (Dad) makes a slip (4,3)
Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.
2 ”Hurricane” Carter to add insult to injury (5)
4 Boy with extremely little utensil (5)
5 Performed an aria on ecstasy, including every major transformation (3,6)
6 At this point, a jerk is someone with unorthodox views (7)
7 Head of family to protest about endless court case (9)
8 Loud, like John McEnroe perhaps? (7)
9 Musical sound of Mediterranean country (6)
15 Unrefined and inept alien gent (9)
16 European region’s weapon with respect to interrupting aid hike (9)
18 They let you know when reflux of saliva contains ice (3-4)
19 Agent implicated in ancient superpower’s rise! (7)
21 Crime is irrational—and sexy (6)
22 Your Christian upbringing is one source of hormones (7)
24 Computerization provides protection for wombs (5)
25 Blood carrier upended near highway, for the most part (5)
SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3515
ACROSS 1 S(WASH BUCKLE)R 9 [p]LUME + N 10 PAR(AG)RAP + H (rap rev.) 11 M + [h]ARRIED 12 anag. 13 DIS (rev.) + D(A)INED 15 PAT + T + I 16 2 defs. 18 W(EL(C)OM)ING (mole rev.) 20 AR(RE + S)TS 22 PR + EVEN + T 24 C(ONFID)ANT (din of anag.) 25 UNH + I + P 26 pun
DOWN 1 SALE + M 2 anag. 3 H AND I CAPS 4 [s]UPPED 5 “curt girdle” 6 anag. (2x) 7 S(AD + IS)T 8 TH(INK)ING 13 DI(SPA)TCH 14 NEWSSTAN (anag.) + D 15 PROC(ED)URE 17 CA(R)IN + G 19 hidden 21 “sees” 22 anag. 23 pun
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.