THE NYT CROSSWORD PUZZLE
ACROSS
1 First name in 1990s alternative rock 7 Hall of Fame QB John 12 Showing embarrassment 18 Enormous 20 Target competitor 21 Results of an iron deficiency? 22 Buck, in slang 23 A.P. Stylebook entry that lost its hyphen in 2011 24 Like Constantinople from 1453 to 1922 25 Under the counter, say 27 One on the links? 28 Carpenter’s curve cutter 29 Hagen who wrote ‘‘Respect for Acting’’ 30 Lydic of ‘‘The Daily Show’’ 31 Group of connected PCS 32 Nashville attraction, with ‘‘the’’ 33 Dust-up 35 Something you might break into 37 Fedex alternative 38 John Denver’s ‘‘Thank God ____ Country Boy’’ 39 ‘‘Succession’’ family name 40 App used to track fertility 41 Joins a pot 43 Response to ‘‘Are we there yet?’’ 46 With sickly pallor 47 Enjoys a homecooked meal 49 Psychoanalyst Alfred 50 Submitted with Turbotax 52 When ‘‘golden goals’’ are scored, for short 53 Bel ____ cheese 54 Covering for a pomegranate seed 55 Capone adversary, informally 58 Substance originally made with animal fat and wood ash 60 Without much thought 62 Wraps (up) 66 Dirty water inside a ship 68 Home to Millennium Park 72 Swamp creature, informally 73 Brew 74 A bull market it is not! 76 ‘‘Bond. James Bond,’’ e.g. 77 First-and-second bet 79 Existential threat in 2021’s ‘‘Don’t Look Up’’ 80 Spoke at length 82 Martini & ____ (beverage brand) 84 Mythical bird 85 Stop on a major tour 86 Gas-station convenience 89 Mozart’s ‘‘Così Fan ____’’ 91 Conked out 92 Biden’s signature 2022 legislation addressing rising prices, for short 95 Once-popular rug style 97 Outstanding 101 With ____ to (acknowledging) 102 Bowed 104 Disappear . . . like the circled creatures might do, if not for the 112-/114-Across 106 Dishes 107 Tiny ‘‘canvas’’ on which to paint 109 Shows signs of disuse 110 Mission honored by the ‘‘Fallen Astronaut’’ lunar memorial 112 With 114-Across, conservation law that celebrated its 50th anniversary in December 2023 114 See 112-Across 116 Before now 117 Not fine 118 New ____ 119 Sushi garnish 120 Web portal with a butterfly logo 121 Senator Joni of Iowa 122 Screens, say 123 Some U.K. Lords
DOWN
1 Social media symbols 2 BEFORE: Coupon stipulation 3 Greek heroine tempted by golden apples 4 Salt, symbolically 5 Signed 6 Like Troy in the ‘‘Iliad’’ 7 Pull (out), as a win 8 City in San Bernardino County 9 BEFORE: Game with annoying popups? 10 Turns off 11 High-fashion inits. 12 Cardiac conduit 13 Smith who wrote ‘‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’’ 14 Country whose national animal is the elephant 15 Member of an elite fighting force 16 BEFORE: Theme park chain 17 QVC alternative 19 BEFORE: Rearend, e.g. 21 BEFORE: Having physical form 26 Bouncy melody 28 Meeting places 29 Basic cable channel 34 Route 36 BEFORE: Begin operating effectively 40 BEFORE: December temp worker 42 I.R.S. ID 44 Like some ancient Greek poetry 45 Cargo 46 Game console that debuted in 2006 48 Mobile platform 51 Loose item at the bottom of a fast-food bag 55 Basic cable channel 56 AFTER: Tiny amount 57 Soccer star ____ Morgan 59 Scoff in Offenbach 61 Scat syllable 63 Suffix with Paul or marion 64 AFTER: Slangy ‘‘Amen’’ 65 Broadway letters of success 67 Theme park known for its international food 69 ‘‘Are you ____ out?’’ 70 AFTER: Military pattern 71 Two shakes 72 Brobdingnagian 74 AFTER: Like some statues 75 AFTER: Target of a facial cleanser 78 Houston sch. 81 Back, in a way 83 Langston Hughes poem about racial inequality 85 Baldwin who was the first to play Jack Ryan 86 All together 87 Hordes 88 Philip II of ____, father of Alexander the Great 90 Pinnacle achievement, metaphorically 91 Solar phenomenon 92 How one might bolt upright 93 ‘‘The Future of Law Enforcement,’’ according to a 1987 movie 94 Pop-ups can lead to them 96 AFTER: Actress Rowlands 98 Ooze 99 Some linemen: Abbr. 100 Scatterbrained 101 AFTER: Shakespearean title starter 103 Get down, so to speak 104 Extract 105 Sails in a zigzag way 106 Cape Colony settlers 108 Assistant of classic film 111 Painter Mondrian 113 Monopoly set, for short 115 Before, to Shakespeare