(Background information: This puzzle was originally co-written with Ryan Faley, with outside test-solver Joseph DeVincentis making judgment calls when we both had clues for the same word and couldn't agree which one was better. Almost a year after it was rejected by Outside the Box, I have finally decided to run it as a contest so it can see the light of day. Enjoy.)
The clues in this cryptic crossword are sorted by answer length, but are otherwise in no particular order. The letters in the shaded squares, in numerical order, yield one more cryptic clue with an 11-letter word as the final answer.
3 LETTERS
* Andy Taylor's son lost his first bakery treat
* For starters, please eat any legume
* Period of time in therapy
* Swerve and gape endlessly
4 LETTERS
* Partially screwed up pitcher
* Same rocky flatland
5 LETTERS
* Buffs go back, beginning to undo foul-up
* Editor follows upended madhouse that leaked out
* Er, am I savory?
* Handle one in woe
* I've heard Richard the comedian before
* Legitimate major empire
* Outspoken Presidential hopeful Buttigieg is a baked entity
* Parrot, "An Apple computer, how cute!"
* Reportedly, that man slurps a spiral
* Six take a chair and chat
* Steals some face cards
* Strange biopic about a President scorched up without end
6 LETTERS
* Educate a swim team?
* Was Hasbro toy turned up without executive order in horror movie?
7 LETTERS
* Cracker canister in transaction
* Flowering plant won't start back pain
* Fruit ex juggled for institution
* Gauche hospital section after a week
* Junior I'd educated initially takes - oy! - a drive in a hot car
* Oddly, this debris test has choice morsels
* Places where alcohol is sold for drunk servant
* Start to chew cheese, spitting for ball game
* Try and pet Matt badly
* West Indies music plays freely in Colorado
9 LETTERS
* Grave Mr. Waits' voice quality has a bit of bass
* Nice summer in stormy Africa and lunchroom
* Spontaneous scamp caps an easy win over you in Marseille
* Tilt a lunatic surrounded in strong odor and do several things at once
10 LETTERS
* After Jewish festival, king of Israel goes in street to perform gymnastics
* Cover one amulet without an economic system
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01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Send your final answer to the above puzzle to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com before 11:59 PM Central time on December 13, 2020 to enter the contest. A randomly-selected first-place winner will win my board game Mammalath (with the Mammalath Plus expansion), plus a $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles, which can be used to purchase any of a number of fine logic puzzle e-books. A randomly-selected second-place winner will also receive a $10 gift card for Grandmaster Puzzles. Good luck!
