LOS ANGELES TIMES SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

“HITTING THE BIG LEAGUES” ACROSS

1 Splendid display 5 Unable to decide 9 Stare in wonder 13 Leaf through 17 Superlative prefix

18 Quick attack 19 Causing the willies

20 Malek of “Mr. Robot”

21 *Discount ticket based on age 23 *Raffle rewards, perhaps

25 Sonata producer 26 Downed with an ax

28 Ration (out) 29 Grain in granola 30 Piece of cake 32 Acknowledge surreptitiously, maybe

34 Pretender 36 Checking account lure

39 Mo. with dog days

41 Winter’s day outburst

42 Most capable 44 One who gives a hoot

45 *Avocado misnomer 48 Investigate again, as a cold case 51 Itinerary abbr. 52 “Gimme a minute”

53 Part of a journey 56 Gets by 58 Downright or outright

60 Beer with a black eagle in its logo

62 Waze option: Abbr.

63 Playground response 65 Mexican buffet feature

67 Trio for A-Rod and Trout 69 *Cause of some back pain 72 Garden rodent 73 Lea Salonga, e.g. 75 Publisher Larry __, portrayal for which Woody Harrelson received an Oscar nomination 76 IOC country code three before Qatar

77 Virtual alter ego 78 Finds

81 Everest expert 84 __ Diego Padres 85 “The Irishman” Oscar nominee 87 Encountered 89 Many Oscar nominees 91 *Pre-wedding bash

94 Olive extract 95 “See ya!” 97 Brouhaha 98 Sweetie, in slang 99 Twitch stream annoyance

101 Civil War general

102 Cried in the cornfield

104 Aficionado 106 Squid’s squirt 107 Inquires

109 Exec’s aide 112 Having significant consequences 116 *It’s not 112-Across

119 Leaving the amateur ranks, and a hint to the answers to starred clues

121 B-school subject

122 Autobahn autos 123 Layered veggie 124 __ Millions 125 Puts in stitches 126 Part of a process

127 Golf great Karrie

128 Asian laptop brand

DOWN

1 Promotional campaign 2 Follow 3 Channel guide, say

4 Hamlet, for one 5 Like salves 6 “For You” cosinger Rita 7 Impulsive

8 Wall St.’s “Big Board”

9 Nat __ Wild: cable channel

10 Pizzeria allure 11 Bugs in cop shows

12 Held on to 13 Hindu honorific 14 Easy-to-play instruments

15 “To clarify ... ” 16 Not quite foggy 18 Hall of Fame quarterback Tarkenton

19 Sitcom sewer worker

22 Garfield’s frenemy

24 Supersedes 27 Dallas Wings’ org.

31 Grass-skirt dance 33 Monotonous sound

35 Yachter’s pronoun

36 Neighbor of Den. 37 Had to pay 38 *Building diagram

40 Building beam 43 Ladybug or weevil

45 “I’ll take that as __” 46 Understanding 47 Feature of Japan’s flag

49 Watch dogs? 50 L.A.-to-Tucson dir.

53 *Workforce 54 List-ending abbr. 55 “Chicago” star 57 Unstable subatomic particle 59 Spots for ski racks

61 Romp

64 Amp carrier 66 Language __ 67 Degs. for playwrights

68 Bounty rival 69 High seas concern

70 Dry spell at the plate

71 Blood bank category

74 Chicago NFL team’s founder 76 Push-up target 79 Marriage acquisition

80 Alton Brown cooking show “Reloaded” in 2018 82 Monetary trifle, in slang

83 La Scala highlight

86 Borrow from a library 88 Disneyland shuttle

90 Sneaky

91 Nap site 92 Engine parts 93 One who scoffs at bagged pekoe, perhaps

95 “No fighting!” 96 Informal “Get me?”

99 Laura of “Big Little Lies”

100 Total mystery 101 Silent performers

103 Line to the audience

105 Blood line 108 Retreats with peels

110 Pack away 111 Adjust for pitch 113 Crude cartel 114 Implore

115 Go sky-high 117 Walk-__: small roles

118 Quick drink 120 Celery piece