My Puzzle: US & Canada CCC 2026 - Practice Round Cryptic

The practice round of the US & Canada Cryptic Crossword Championships has concluded, so I'm sharing my practice puzzle here for anyone to solve!

It's a 15x15 cryptic with some topical theme elements and it's on the easier side.

US & Canada CCC 2026 - Practice Round Cryptic (PDF)

US & Canada CCC 2026 - Practice Round Cryptic (PUZ)

SOLUTION - US & Canada CCC 2026 - Practice Round Cryptic (PDF)

Thanks to Steve Mossberg for editing and Liari for test-solving. Special thanks to the Vivek Singh, Unsa Siddiqui, and the rest of the Extra-C team. Additional thanks to Viresh Ratnakar and Sowmya Ramkumar.

Enjoy! Leave a comment if you solve it and feel free to contact me.

Update: On July 12, this puzzle was featured as the Sunday Special on The Hindu Crossword Corner, a popular cryptic-solving blog in India! Thanks to Deepak Gopinath.