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ACROSS
1 Name one independent state in the Middle East (5)
4 Showed compassion in play about decent orchestra space (4,4)
9 Aviator-poets tilt wildly (4,5)
10 Container vessel carrying organic fiber (5)
11 How to improve your aim: Slander cop and appear in charge (6,8)
13 See 4D
14 Collaborator’s outside of the audio device with a hen (4,6)
17 Percussionist and bandleader connect around best arrangement of tune (4,6)
19 One old lunatic’s object of worship (4)
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.”
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Onwards,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation
22 Type of publication in which agent mimicked skill? (5,9)
25 Expected Eliot’s performances by two (5)
26 Throw it in reverse to get old sheet just beneath the cover? (5,4)
28 Right-wingers retreating, but taking apart… (3,5)
29 …dwelling found in eight Across entries? (5)
DOWN
1 Department of Treasury statement: “Leaders connect these to find out what is really going on” (4)
2 Crashed Saab with Tim Rice (7)
3 Attack demon with broken gun (6)
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4 and 13A Long live rent rollback in city (3,4)
5 Swimmer is warmer after removing cap (5)
6 Redesign help icon for game (8)
7 Scare Gilliam when accepting condition (7)
8 Life, for instance, overwhelms extremely bitter intellectual (8)
12 One of two comforting words that would timelessly turn into its opposite (5)
13 Absurdly, audit pet talent (8)
15 Dull toy company cuts its losses (5)
16 Kitty, making a case for profound returns, moves more quickly (6,2)
18 Capture effortlessness when announcing circus routine (7)
20 French artist in Berlin: “You set upon the winner” (7)
21 First-rate, hallowed, and maximally proficient… (6)
23 …flower expert is discovered (5)
24 Jump from plane, using parachute at the end (4)
27 Judge is oddly tardy (3) SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3525
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.