Country invaded in the early 2000s under completely false pretenses
9A
Stiff and sore
10A
Serving your community through collaboration
12A
Operational
13A
Country that somehow elected the orange narcissistic grifter AGAIN; briefly
14A
The world’s largest, intact one is called Hoba and weighs over 130,000 lbs
20A
“The Way of the ______” (Tyler Childers banger on the album “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?”)
21A
Trail mix
22A
Word that can follow school, comfort, or end
23A
Toronto-to-Buffalo dir. (but you can’t drive that way because of Lake Ontario)
24A
“Right about now NWA court is in full effect, Judge Dre presiding in the case of NWA versus the police department. Prosecuting attourneys are MC ___, Ice Cube and Eazy m***********’ E”
Verticales
1D
Legendary rockstar Hendrix
2D
Go for ____ (something healthy people do)
3D
Hundreds of thousands of them fly out of Carlsbad Caverns National Park each evening in summer
4D
Brazilian berry
5D
High-style
6D
Last word in the title of a classic Robert Louis Stevenson horror novella
8D
Set to play next, on Spotify
9D
Comedian and star of “English Teacher” Brian Jordan _____ (stream it)
11D
Firebug's offense
14D
Boardroom events: Abbr.
15D
Son of Aphrodite
16D
Rubber that meets the road
17D
Ice hockey goaltender Shesterkin (who turned down the biggest goalie contract in NHL history)