QUICK CROSSWORD

Across

1 Country that considers Taiwan a breakaway province (5)

4 Capital of 1 ACROSS (7)

8 January 1 -- or 1 Tishrei (3,4)

9 Last Greek letter (5)

10 Volcano that blew its stack in 2002 (4)

11 Italian dumplings (7)

14 Nancy ___: House speaker who visited 18 ACROSS last month (6) 16 Officially called “The Republic of China” (6)

18 Like some 4X4 vehicles (3-4) 19 Feline word (4)

23 It takes a bow in an orchestra (5) 24 ___ Dawn (Muppet on “Sesame Street”) (7)

25 Bar ___: Israeli supermodel (7) 26 China threatens to take Taiwan by ___ (5)

Down

1 ___ of court: Offense for offending the judge (8)

2 Des Moinesian or Davenporter (5) 3 This equals L x W (4)

4 ___ Strait (separator of Russia and Alaska) (6)

5 Lacking loopholes (8)

6 Skaters’ performance (3,4)

7 Stickshift selection (4) 12 Password accompaniment (8) 13 Unspecified location (8) 15 NASA event (7)

17 Capital of 16 ACROSS (6) 20 Baseball flubbed play (5) 21 Head ___ heels in love (4) 22 50% (4)