April Love Songs

...Fools come in all varieties This puzzle is part of Merl's best-of series

ACROSS

1 Hitching places 6 “Assumption of the Virgin” painter 12 “___ in Love with Amy” 16 1968 Sergio Mendes hit?

19 1956 Frankie Lymon hit? 21 Subsides, with “down” 22 Clichéd

23 Waters south of Vancouver Island, the Juan de ___ Strait 24 Slays 25 Raleigh’s rival

27 It means “inner” 29 Arthur the ace

31 Tee neighbor 32 FDR’s promise 35 Misadds, e.g.

37 Cope Book aunt 40 Bordeaux buddy 41 Breastbones 44 Vingt-___ (21, in French)

46 Set ___ for 50 Camera part

52 15 Down tune of 1959? 55 Gold bar 57 Anyway, it’s original 58 Gulf N of Somalia 59 See 17 Down 60 Levi’s mother 62 Singing Swedes 64 Sleuth’s shout 66 Tuck’s partner 67 Oft-recorded Bloom-Mercer favorite? 71 Chop

72 Basket points 73 Table d’___ 74 “Queen of Country” 75 Examines, dog-style 77 Warning 79 Comprehend 81 Scheduled 85 1967 Aretha Franklin hit?

89 Former Queens ballpark 90 Rendezvous 91 Cabinet part that oversees fish and wildlife: abbr.

92 Do an usher’s job 94 Ambulance stops, briefly 95 Newton-John hit, “Let ___ There” 97 Race car driver Teo 99 ___ nothing (plows ahead) 101 15 Down’s long-time label

104 Jai ___ 106 Anthem start

109 Pen

110 “Or ___ my hat!” 113 Home of the Andean Common Market 115 Showdown time 118 Change for a fin 119 1959 Ricky Nelson hit?

123 1962 Robert Goulet hit?

124 W. Ger. joined it in ’55 125 They grow in velvety clusters

126 They’ll be weaving soon

DOWN

1 Gym class, for short 2 The mother of all dicts.

3 TV reception woe 4 “Yippie-___-ti-ay!” 5 Emporium 6 Spanish uncle 7 “Maybe ___ the best ...”

8 Bean curd

9 “___ dark ...” (line from “If You Could Read My Mind”) 10 Travel guide 11 Puck-nacious grp. 12 Gasped words 13 Khartoum’s river

14 It still gets you “no cigar”

15 “The King”

16 Get into ___ of things 17 Col. “Bat” Guano in Dr. Strangelove 18 Downy duck 19 Magi 20 Navy rank: abbr. 21 Mt. McKinley’s park 26 Strikes, in bowling 28 Like a Gallaudet student

30 Fans of Julio Egg-lay-sius? 33 ___ glance

34 The Rockettes, for one

36 Get used (to) all over again 38 Spray defense 39 Plato and pals

42 Palais occupant 43 Reason for a toddler’s crankiness, often 45 Of an arm bone 47 Arrested

48 Right away, in memos

49 Alley toppler 51 Belief that only the self exists 53 Some primates 54 Czar’s decree 56 Countdown start 61 A tough ___ follow 63 Land of nonconformity? 65 Comes like a comet 67 “Out of the question!” 68 Planet orbiters 69 DJ’s transition 70 Where The Late

Shift debuted 71 Lovable Bert 75 %: abbr. 76 Poker bet 78 Mucky environs 80 N.Y. transit until ’55 82 Camp David Accords subject

83 Like your blood after a breath

84 Poi and glue (coincidence?) 86 Liquid hydrogen, e.g. 87 Singer who acts in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore 88 Watched the baby 93 Forcibly remove, as a car 96 Fabric-dyeing method 98 Mastroianni film about eating, La

Grande ___ 100 Introductions 101 Tombstone abbr. 102 Cut-up

103 Maui howdy 105 Part of a renter’s address: abbr. 107 Root beer brand, A ___ 108 Sing for Heidi 111 Part of Q.E.D. 112 Sax type 114 Oldies by Olds 116 Faux butter 117 Mountain for Moses 120 Dickens’ tiny hero 121 Who-you-are cards: abbr.

122 First chimp in space, 1961