Crossword
“SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER”
The first letters of the starred answers spell out a fitting seasonal word.
ACROSS
1 Stereotypical outdoor spaces for frolicking 7 Misstep, as on a wet floor
11 Ancient region that encompasses Athens 17 Ventilate
18 Squalid shelter 20 Minor opposite 21 *Archipelago divided between Argentina and Chile whose name means “Land of Fire” 23 *Receiving financial aid from the state 24 Contents of tables 25 Electronic dance music setting
27 Coal transporter 28 “The Book of ___” (Denzel Washington film) 31 Edge 33 Megaphone sound 35 “On the Beach” author Nevil
36 *Wilco album whose title consists of three letters from the NATO phonetic alphabet 40 Decapod’s leg count 41 Achieve great things, say 42 Romanian’s neighbor 43 Carpentry item 45 Completely
47 Greets cordially
50 Of whom an art patron said, “He is a loathsome, offensive brute, yet I can’t look away” when viewing a painting of him on “Seinfeld”
54 The S of ASL 57 Meadow beast 59 Mystical sphere, maybe 61 Prefix with technology 62 Sees if one can 64 *Scientist who invented the first electric generator in 1831 69 Period divided into eras 70 “A few weeks ___ ...” 71 Second sound 72 Christmas ___ (seasonal drink from Great Lakes Brewing Co.) 73 CEO or CFO’s degree, perhaps 74 *Spongy desserts
77 Green pool target
79 “Carpe ___!” 80 Grass-covered surface
81 Org. planning Take Your Family to School Week
82 Some weapons in the game “Skyrim”
83 Letters you can’t read 86 Performer wearing geta 90 Mole digging through one’s property?
92 Genre for many mystery films 94 Imminent
95 Ready to graduate, say? 99 “Mixed-ish” network
102 *“It will be our little secret” 107 Informal complaints
109 Ones a-milking in a Christmas carol
110 Moved on in one’s life?
111 Like tennis legend Margaret Court’s last name 112 “Malcolm in the Middle” actress Kaczmarek 113 Software-testing phase 114 “Attack,” as the fridge 116 *Auto executive for whom an infamous failed car was named 118 *Author of the 1931 novel “The Brontës Went to Woolworths”
126 George of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
127 “Same with me”
128 “And heaven and ___ sing” (lyric in “Joy to the World”) 129 Forgot-you-had-anexam-today emotion
130 Song sung in pews
131 Most devious
DOWN
1 ___ Tuesday
2 30 percent of X 3 Poet’s palindrome 4 One a-leaping in a Christmas carol 5 Coppertop battery brand 6 Figure standing outside the ballpark, maybe 7 Bookcase section 8 Comedian Costello
9 “All These Things That ___ Done” (2004 song by the Killers) 10 Coat rack piece 11 Composer Thomas whose surname is an anagram of 94 Across 12 Service after a breakdown
13 Like December, among all months
14 Stuck at some boring job 15 Manage, as exhibits 16 Theoretical evolutionary intermediates 19 Environmentalist with a mustache in kid lit 20 Exercise power 22 200-meter race, e.g. 26 Musical Garfunkel 28 Site of rods and cones 29 Easygoing 30 Business abbr. 32 Chasers in a saloon? 33 Ringing steeple section
34 Sends high overhead 35 Mix, as in a soup bowl 37 Cartoonist Bil 38 Oolong, e.g.
39 It sprouts from an acorn 44 “Young and Beautiful” singer ___ Del Rey 46 “Drop it!”
48 Snacks that one should give to Santa rather than cookies? 49 Trailblazing stage actor Aldridge
51 Film hero who battles in the Thunderdome 52 Pave the way for 53 Lorde song with the lyric “Let me be your ruler” 54 Places
55 Like the Who’s opening lyric “The song is over” 56 Spice used in some Christmas cookies 58 Frequent hiking site for Calvin and Hobbes
60 Capital of Northern Ireland
63 ___ Tomé and Príncipe 64 Union general George 65 “That grosses me out!” 66 Guevara seen in “Evita” 67 False name 68 Dinosaur of Pixar films 75 Oingo Boingo singersongwriter Danny 76 Watch gear’s tooth, e.g. 78 Boggy Louisiana area 81 Medicare section that covers inpatient hospital stays 84 Vessels for fried rice 85 Fabricator’s product? 87 Like sharp images on TV 88 Sunken treasure sites 89 Santa ___ (Christmas accessory)
91 Like the biblical son who wasted his fortune 93 Lozenge, for a cough 96 Bit of ThirdLove lingerie
97 Medium’s alleged skill 98 City where many Dutch monarchs were buried 99 Really wretched 100 Parish officer who sounds like an insect 101 Remove a curse word 103 Portion of butter 104 Sparkling crown 105 Fairy tale behemoth 106 Has a deep desire (for) 108 Empathize with 113 ___ Rabbit (trickster in African American folklore)
115 Moral obligation 117 “Why” musician Yoko 119 ___ Wednesday 120 Small coral island 121 “Let’s see ...”
122 Like Santa’s little helpers
123 Bring litigation against 124 Surgery sites, briefly 125 Mesh under a trapeze