VOWEL PLAY
ACROSS
1 Start of the third qtr. 4 Treatment centers? 8 Sycophant’s quality 13 Mr. Dithers’s wife in “Blondie” 17 ____-ball pens 18 Ristorante dessert 20 Constructionsite vehicle 21 Top 22 Richard Simmons diet regimen / London tabloid 24 Records 25 One may have a height restriction 26 Gauge 27 Carpe ____ 29 What a red pepper on a menu may signal / Made clear 31 Caninelike animal more closely related to a cat than a dog 32 Three-engine planes 34 Babies grow into them 35 O. J. Simpson trial judge 37 “Goosebumps” author 38 So-called “cradle of civilization” 40 Curse 43 Preceder of free throws / Juice container? 46 Pretended to be 50 Inventor Howe 51 Discombobulated 52 Slimming surgeries, in brief 54 ____ Ste. Marie, Mich. 55 Strategic position 57 Like the data in big data 59 Warriors’ org. 60 Really bothered 62 Used, as a chair 65 Chow mein relative 67 Self-reflective question 69 Fooler / Summer Olympics standout 72 Sound signal booster 73 Kind of medicine 75 Lady friend, in Livorno 76 SoCal-based sneaker brand 78 Zeno of ____ 79 Colonial Indian title 81 When big bands thrived 84 Bridges of old film 86 “Shush!” 88 Writer Shaw 91 Scheduled to arrive 92 Hypothesized 94 Harry Potter’s ex-girlfriend / Register sound 96 National Spelling Bee airer 97 Some prized Prado pieces 99 One of the Kennedys 100 Disappointing 102 Sin subject? 104 Lessens the distance between, in a race 106 Straight or curly hair, e.g. 110 “He’s so lame!” / Deer variety 112 Golden-apple goddess 114 App developer’s milestone 115 Prefix with port 116 Photographer’s light 118 Thin neckwear / Assam or Earl Grey 120 Complete 121 Lightly touched 122 Afghan, e.g. 123 Cursive capital that looks like a flipped “&” 124 Mustang feature 125 Mount 126 Little sibling, often 127 Major race sponsor
DOWN
1 Jerusalem’s onetime kingdom 2 Nervous 3 Act the middleman 4 Visits for a time 5 Yappy lap dogs, informally 6 Plane calculation 7 Unadventurous 8 Word after “&” in many a company name 9 Minister’s home 10 Makes into a movie, say 11 Trusts 12 Richie’s mom on “Happy Days” 13 Flare-ups in the hood? 14 OxyContin or Demerol 15 Fixes the décor of completely 16 Canceled 19 Sort of 20 Thin layers 23 Moscow landmark 28 Writer Jong 30 “Hoo boy!” 33 Solidify 36 18, say 37 Is litigious 39 Baby in a basket 40 Actor Patel 41 Resembling 42 Cookies filled with green creme / Flattish sea creatures 44 Best at a hot-dog contest 45 Cap 47 Risky / Denim attire 48 See 49-Down 49 With 48-Down, philatelist’s collection 53 ____ gland (melatonin producer) 56 Five things in “La Bohème” 58 Pulled a fast one on 61 Part of a wedding that drags 62 Comp ____ (college major, informally) 63 Dog-show initials 64 Grp. with wands 66 Often-oval floor décor 67 Puppy 68 “Are you listening?!” 70 Stressed at the end, in a way 71 ____ to go 74 Crime-fighting mom of 1980s TV 77 Jets and others 80 Tried something 82 Lambaste 83 Massachusetts’ Cape ____ 85 Scan, in a way 87 Storyteller’s transition 88 Olympian blood 89 Like some German wines 90 Howl 93 Garments worn in old Rome 95 Future cereal grain 98 Actress Ronan of “Lady Bird” 101 Sprint competitor 102 Second letter in the Greek for “Athens” 103 Vehemently criticize 105 Words of resignation 107 Potful 108 Least warm 109 Daddy Warbucks’s bodyguard 110 Hard smack 111 Judgmental sounds 113 Word with “f” or full 114 First N.F.L. team to go 0-16 for a season (2008) 117 Spring locale 119 ____ the day