Puzzle No. 86: Don We Now?

Don We Now?

By teamcrazymatt

As the viewers of Cryptic Sunday have now twice incorrectly assumed a puzzle of mine has been about Donald Trump, I will make two statements in advance of this puzzle:
-10 answers in this grid prominently involve Trump.
-This puzzle is safe to solve for persons of any political persuasion.

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Squares filled: 0/142

Exolve Print Notes Jotter Webifi

Crossword ID: xet-sjtls5

Exolve v1.61 February 22, 2025 Report-Bug Exolve-on-GitHub Community
Exolve-maker info:

Software: Exet
Version: v0.85 May 3, 2023
Lexicon: ukacd18-lufz-v0.05
Timestamp: Mon May 08 2023 14:14:23 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)

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Title	Setter	Preamble
Explanations	Copyright	Questions

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Across

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Jotting pad: (click here to shuffle)

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Down & Up

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Across

6	The old men start to interest Arab (6) YEMENI. YE + MEN + I
8	Work around court being rebuilt with rock on the surface (7) OUTCROP. OP cont. COURT*
10	Sleep on capturing leader of Orléans and the French emperor (8) NAPOLEON. (NAP + ON) cont. (Orléans + LE) | note: a card game with a trump suit
11	Student engaged in passion: he's beginning to read Constitution (6) HEALTH. (L in HEAT) + He
12	Gradually drunk, sip it, bite slice of pizza - yes, all is lost (4,2,4) STEP BY STEP. (SIP IT BITE Pizza YES)* - I,I,I
14	Judge that man reversing before turn: he drives like crazy! (4) JEHU. J + (HE rev.) + U
15	Exchange what's essential to personalities during development of Tinder (5,2) TRADE IN. personAlities in TINDER*
17	Delay bishop opening casket when upset (7) SETBACK. B in CASKET* | note: a card game with a trump suit
20	Anger born of worry at heart to mature (4) RAGE. woRry + AGE | note: a card game with a trump suit
22	Carter, for one, has reel on which Cars can be seen (10) EXPRESSWAY. EX-PRES + SWAY
24	Span of big heartless dour wasted life at its end (6) BRIDGE. (BIG DictatoR)* + lifE | note: a card game with a trump suit
26	Male we fixed lies with sheep (3,5) EWE LAMBS. (MALE WE)* + BS
27	Family meeting about son losing head after school (7) REUNION. RE + (sON after UNI) | note: a card game with a trump suit
28	Ace oddly skipped her lines, getting red (6) CHERRY. aCe + HER + RY

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Down

1	Recommend nothing, having finished "Get Back" (6) RECOUP. REC + O + UP
2	Almost a century from opening of newly-popular river seen while cycling in Spain (6-4) NINETY-NINE. Newly + IN + TYNE cyc. + IN + E | note: a card game with a trump suit
3	Couple leading celebration hosts uplifting dance to find one that's related (7) COGNATE. CElebration cont. (TANGO rev.)
4	Impress first of his following and such (4) ETCH. His after ETC.
5	Work hoped for a dope to be enthralled by bored posturing (5,3) DREAM JOB. (A + MJ) in BORED*
7	Foxtrot can end up entertaining one performing (7) ENACTOR. HA rev. in foxtROT CAN End
9	After depression, leaves without having a fling (5) PITCH. PIT + CHA - A | note: a card game with a trump suit
13	Favorite spin on queen surrounded by English guard (10) PREFERENCE. PR + (ER in (E + FENCE)) | note: a card game with a trump suit
16	Defraud eccentric at middle of decline? That's horrible! (8) DREADFUL. DEFRAUD* + decLine
18	Clear liquid with shot dropped in sour milk (7) CLABBER. CLEAR* cont. BB | note: a card game with a trump suit
19	"Agent lurking around shelter," note with melancholy (7) SPLEENY. SPY cont. (LEE + N)
21	Former Icelandic capital's regularly observed in January air (5) AURAR. jAnUaRy AiR
23	Shovels bits of dry English soil after spring (6) SPADES. Dry English Soil after SPA | note: a card game with a trump suit
25	Majestic selection of recipes written up (4) EPIC. HA rev. in reCIPEs

Puzzle No. 85: The Rise of Cobra

The Rise of Cobra

By teamcrazymatt

(Originally published as MyCrossword #539.)

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Squares filled: 0/156

Exolve Print Notes Jotter Webifi

Crossword ID: xet-59gipy

Exolve v1.61 February 22, 2025 Report-Bug Exolve-on-GitHub Community
Exolve-maker info:

Software: Exet
Version: v0.72 June 21, 2022
Lexicon: ukacd18-lufz-v0.05
Timestamp: Thu Jul 07 2022 12:33:17 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)

Control keys:

• Tab/Shift-Tab: Jump to the next/previous clue.
• Enter, Click/Tap: Toggle current direction.
• Arrow keys: Move to the nearest light square in that direction.
• Ctrl-q: Clear this, Ctrl-Q: Clear All!, Ctrl-B: Print crossword, Ctrl-/: Jump to/back-from notes, Ctrl-*: Mark clue as fave in notes, adding a * prefix.
• Delete: Clear the contents of the current square.
• Spacebar: Place block in the current square if it's diagramless.
• Double-click or Shift+Letter: If the puzzle has rebus cells, this is the way to enter multiple letters into a single cell.

Overwritten letters will briefly be coloured like this (before fading back to this) just to draw your attention so that you can fix any accidental typing errors.

Your entries are auto-saved in the browser's local storage. You can share the state using this link: URL

Print or create a PDF: Grid and clues Only grid Only clues Inksaver

Font size: Normal Large Extra Large Small Other

Page size: Letter: 8.5in x 11in A4: 210mm x 297mm A3: 297mm x 420mm A5: 148mm x 210mm B4: 250mm x 353mm B5: 176mm x 250mm Book: 6in x 9in Legal: 8.5in x 14in Ledger: 11in x 17in

Margin (inches, up to 4 numbers):

Include if visible:

Title	Setter	Preamble
Explanations	Copyright	Questions

Extra header:	Extra footer:
Force grid scale to:

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Call to action:
The QR code (rendered to the right) will be printed to the bottom-right of the page bottom-left of the page . QR code size: 96 128 160 .

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Show clue-solving sequence:

Show entered solutions:

Show clue-solving times:

• Ctrl-/ takes you to the current clue's notes (or overall notes) and back (if already there).
• Ctrl-* adds a * prefix to the current clue's notes.
• Hovering over a clue's notes shows the clue as a tooltip.

Across

1.

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Down

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Jotting pad: (click here to shuffle)

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Down & Up

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Across

1	Excitement found when husband swallows Lilt? On the contrary! (6) THRILL. TRILL cont. H
5	Race car driver extremely great steering around bend (8) DRAGSTER. DriveR + (GREAT* cont. S)
9	In the thick of a receding dark (4) AMID. A + (DIM rev.)
10	Resembling a hammer, schoolmistress controls ludicrous follies without ceasing (10) MALLEIFORM. MARM cont. FOLLIEs*
11	Nothing to cook up in the beginning (6) ORIGIN. O + RIG + IN
12	With bishop inside, mishear strange Jewish linguistic idiosyncrasy (8) HEBRAISM. B in MISHEAR*
14	Disengaging stopper in bar - gunk flowing (9) UNBRAKING. (IN BAR GUNK)*
17	Also called in duke with royal capital in West Africa (5) DAKAR. A.K.A. in (D + R)
19	Shovel Knight no longer seen in material, finally forgotten (5) SPADE. SPANDEx - N
22	Place to board powerboat after initially-scheduled takeoff (9) SKATEPARK. (P + ARK) after (Scheduled + TAKE*)
26	Left very properly (8) LAWFULLY. L + AWFULLY
29	In audition, visible prompt (6) INCITE. (IN SIGHT) hom.
30	Put down independent having been dropped from lost value (10) DEPRECATED. DEPRECIATED - I
31	Anger born of your reckless, loveless following at the forefront (4) FURY. (YOUR* - O) after F
32	Hero unseen at first in sperm bank when naked (8) SUPERMAN. (Unseen in SPERM) + bANk
33	Flee East Side of Illinois - Capone's not playing (6) ESCAPE. E + illinoiS + CAPONE - ON

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Down

2	Jack's dog endlessly bites setter and scurries half-heartedly (4,3) HOME RUN. HOUNd cont. (ME + scuRries)
3	Dye eroding poorly contains head of dragonfly, one's primarily seen (6,3) INDIGO RED. (ERODING* cont. D) after I
4	Holy man and king drinking in fairies (7) LAMINAK. (LAMA + K) cont. IN
5	Hard labour after writing up popular swimmer (7) DOLPHIN. (H + PLOD) rev. + IN
6	Bitter genius runs over bachelor (5) ACERB. ACE + R + B
7	South of first-class Northern European city (5) SOFIA. S + OF + (A1 rev.)
8	Part of America is a rueful backward landmass (7) EURASIA. HA rev. in americA IS A RUEful
13	Doctor catches American getting high on dope (3) RAD. (DR cont. A) rev.
15	Is seizing first of future possibilities (3) IFS. IS cont. Future
16	Make for a state in India (3) GOA. GO + A
18	Pacifies criminal; crime originally not caused by something definite (9) ASPECIFIC. PACIFIES* + Crime
20	Table of gold supporting dish (7) PLATEAU. AU under PLATE
21	Space bureau finally sees one grounded, not flying? (3) EMU. EM + bureaU
23	It's noble upon recollection not to try pot, OK? (7) KRYPTON. reverse letter bank of NOT TO TRY POT OK
24	The workers' leaders died during lazy turn (7) TWIDDLE. The Workers + (D in IDLE)
25	Erecting section by pitch that's dilapidated (7) RATTRAP. (PART + TAR) rev.
27	Pressure cooker's cold - not good (5) FORCE. FORGE, C <--> G
28	Replacement for Doc Slocum heading off (5) LOCUM. sLOCUM