By Tom Toce
Here is another puzzle from the team of Bob Fink and Jerry Miccolis. Bob and Jerry write:
Concerned that their youngsters, Alan and Claude, were becoming antisocial, Charles and Ada imposed a temporary rule they hoped would help. That rule appears in the unclued entry at 17-Across (for your convenience, every letter is crossed by intersecting Down entries). This rule also describes how eight answers must be treated before they are entered into the grid.
All the one-word entries and all the words in entries that are phrases—both before and after the treatment mentioned above—are playable in Scrabble, with one exception: a proper name. As with all cryptic crosswords, beware of punctuation in the clues, which has been known to deceive.
Thanks to Tom Toce for test-solving and expert editing.
Across
9. Church constructed of barium and quartz (8)
10. Pitches and catches in an MLB game? (10)
11. Showing flexibility, broadcaster Cronkite, without introduction, goes to cable after inauguration (9)
12. For the most part, Alex, Jack & Rod love the Lady Gaga song about her Latin lovers (9)
13. Father (Doctor of Divinity) retracted label by lake to court competition (10)
14. Married men in hot American music groups (8)
15. Elf ultimately enters backwoods to present once again (6)
17. [see instructions] (3,2,3) [or (3,1,1,3)?]
21. Irritable, receiving hug in a crabby manner (6)
23. Erratic dips seen in supply (8)
24. Moving mackerel to a place where beef is often stored (4,6)
26. Quiet characters repeatedly contribute to standard of conduct (9)
27. Note: CBS forensic franchise, to some extent, is a reproduction (9)
28. Sloppy dig is using covering (10)
29. Sufi elder statesmen harboring farm workers? (8)
Down
1. Institution’s behavior requiring its leader to be replaced by Monday (8)
2. Starting to fancy one second-rate cot, fabricated (6)
3. Frillier Mae, in fur, evens out table in bar (4,4)
4. Squid found in California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island (8)
5. Somewhat dapper countertenor makes entrance (6,2)
6. “What tars!” erupted boater (5,3)
7. Portfolio of those who take too much housing: Liberal racket? (8)
8. Uchida plays my piano impromptu. “Exudes charisma,” everybody ultimately agreed (2,3,3)
15. Emma Stone and Jessica Chastain are two he dreads agitating (8)
16. Examination covering home services website is most harsh (8)
17. Take the edges off this ache: Rub ice, like a little angel (8)
18. Release from the East African country when one overstays one’s welcome (4,2,2)
19. Compromise with flexible draft foe? (5-3)
20. At the primaries, unusually persistent legislator, in fight to elect delegates, is elated (8)
22. Old Rover mangled ruler (8)
25. Spy organization entraps rogue with a bug (6)
TOM TOCE is an FCAS and a seasonal director at KPMG. He is a member of the Jeopardy Hall of Fame. Solutions may be emailed to ttoce@nyc.rr.com. In order to make the solver list, you should send him your solutions by April 1, 2026.
Solution to Previous Issue’s Puzzle—Ad Duo Unum
ACROSS:
8. ALLEGIANCE—ALLEG (“Legal mess”) + (F)IANCE
9. LIMA—Anagram of “Mail”
10. TOPS—Double definition
11. ABOVE—First letters in “Aristotelian beliefs, Olympic virtues endure”
12. DRAB—Reversal of “Bard”
13. REIGNS—Anagram of “singer”
15. ALIENATE—A + LIE (“fiction“) + N (“librarian at closing”) + ATE (“stirred tea”)
17. OAHU—O (“”zero”) + first letters of “hotel upgrade”
19. CHAIN—Double definition
20. SUET—Anagram of first four letters of “Tuesday”
21. PARADISE—Near homophone of “pair of dice” (“a couple of Shakers”)
22. ABLEST—Hidden in “notable stats”
24. HEMS—Double definition
26. KNOTS—NOT inside KS (“Kansas”)
28. HERO—Anagram of “Homer”—M (“without Marge’s lead”)
29. YIPE—IP (“IPO’s not completed”) inside YE (first letters of “young entrepreneur”)
30. EYEDROPPER—EYED (“Unending needs consuming pharmacy’s closing”) + RO (reversal of OR from “operating room”) + P (“Page”) + PER (“counter rep”)
DOWN:
1. ALCOVE—Hidden in “natural cover”
2. BEGS—“Beginners”—INNER(“losing essential”)
3. RIVALS—RI (“Rhode Island”) + V + AL (“Alabama”) + S (“earliest of spurious”)
4. INFO—Hidden in “uncertain forecast”
5. DELETION—DELEGATION—GA (“Georgia”)
6. GLAD—Hidden in “Bangladesh”
7. EMBATTLE—EM (“Dorothy’s aunt”) + BAT (“winged creature”) + TLE (“Let chaos”)
14. GOUDA—GO (“Travel”) + U (“the fourth of January”) + DA (“a couple of danishes”)
15. AWAKE—First letters in “Ambien will always kill energy”
16. NASAL—Borders of “Nascent criminal”
18. ACADEMIA—A + CA (“California” + DEMIA (“media disaster”)
19. CHICKPEA—Anagram of “Pick each”
22. ABSURD—A + BSU (“beat-up bus”) + RD (“Drive in reverse”)
23. SURFER—Borders of “Surge buffer”
25. SKEW—SEW (homophone of “So”) swallowing K (“potassium”)
27. OVER—Hidden in “lovers”
28. HOPE—Last letters of “Elizabeth to help Charlie”
BORDER CLUES:
Accomplice to one who shoots craps—ABETTOR
Cut off a connection to either side—ABRIDGE
Shrink size of a prize—ATROPHY
Bloke who hands a cheque to a guard at The Clink—AWARDER
Solvers: Steve Alpert, Anthony Amodeo, Dean Apps, Jack Brauner, Jan Brown, Bob Campbell, Lois Cappellano, Laura Cremerius, Jared Dashoff, Todd Dashoff, Christopher Dickens, Mick Diede, Deb Edwards, Matthew Feryus, Bruce Fuller, Phil Gollance, Jason Helbraun, Pete Hepokoski, Catharine Hornby, Max Jackson, Ruth Johnson, Joe Kilroy, Paul Kolell, Mike Kosciuk, Ken Kudrak, George Levine, Tim Luker, Ben Lynch, Mathew Marchione and Marika Brown , Dave McGarry, Jon Michelson, Jim Muza, Charles Page and family, David and Corinne Promislow, Alan Putney, Ram Raman, Danny Rhodes, Jay Ripps, Bill Scott, Andrew Shewan, Karen Skoglund, Sally Smith, Zig Swistunowicz, Tim Tebbe, T. O. C. E. (Josh DenHartog and Sean Donohoe), James and Betsy Uzzell, and Bonnie Veenschoten