The New York Times Crossword
HEADS OF STATE By Aimee Lucido and Ella Dershowitz / Edited by Will Shortz
Aimee Lucido of Berkeley is an author. Her friend Ella Dershowitz of New York City is an actor. Says Aimee: “This puzzle came about the way a lot of our collaborations come about. We decide we miss each other, get on a Zoom call and start brainstorming.”
ACROSS
1 Miss
5 Fairy-tale monster
9 Meat in rag al cinghiale
13 “Everyone knows the secret
now’’
19 Lincoln or Ford
20 Purchase in the board game Catan worth one wood and one brick
21 Singer Guthrie
22 Genre for Nirvana and
Soundgarden
23 Forgetfulness experienced by soon-to-be moms, informally
26 Final innings, usually
27 Heinie
28 What a baby might start
eating at around 6 months
30 Universal donor’s blood
type, informally
31 A, in Aachen
32 “Dancing With ____ Hands
Tied’’ (Taylor Swift song)
33 What well-connected people
may have
37 Scented plug-in brand
40 “Afternoon, pardner!’’
44 “Oh yeah? Give me an
example!’’
46 Response to a texted joke
47 Worldly wisdom
49 Deg. for a creative type
50 Booting
53 Juice cleanse, essentially
55 Cocktail made from gin,
vermouth and Campari
56 Big letters in home security
59 In Latin, it’s “stannum’’
60 Pound part
61 Church council
62 Succeed in life
64 Portfolio listings
65 Common sense
68 The “gone girl’’ in “Gone
Girl’’
70 A negative one might be
positive
71 Used colored pencils, say
74 “____ be a real shame ... ”
75 Jovian planets, by another
name
78 Changes back to factory
defaults, say
80 Way too loud
81 Figure in the iconic “We Can
Do It!’’ poster
85 Quite enough
86 Bit of fiction
89 Suffix with quack and mock
90 National law enforcement,
informally
92 Simple flotation device
95 Arranges in random order
96 URL ending
97 TV display option
101 ____ tai
102 Picked up
104 Above
105 Like the bread ideal for
bread pudding
107 Theoretical primordial
substance
108 Word on an Irish plane
110 Oscar-winning director Lee
111 Obama’s birthplace
113 Playing to the crowd
117 Japanese condiment
sprinkled on rice
121 Go back to the start, in a
way
124 Slogan about willpower ... or a hint to four pairs of answers in this puzzle
126 Courtroom cry
127 “Something From Nothing:
The Art of Rap’’ director
128 Aptly named bus driver on
“The Simpsons’’
129 Catering vessels
130 “Whatever you say,
sweetheart’’
131 Unilever tea brand
132 Bert who played the
Cowardly Lion
133 Children’s author DiCamillo
with two Newbery Medals
DOWN
1 Nordic native
2 Invisible energy field
3 Proofreader’s directive
4 Words moaned while eating
a cheeseburger, maybe
5 Give one’s address
6 Get ready to sleep, cutesily
7 Candidate’s focus
8 Ice cream surname
9 British nobleman
10 Like some traditions
11 Et ____ (and others)
12 Sonata movement
13 The uninformed masses,
colloquially
14 The Jonas Brothers, e.g.
15 Dish named for a day of the
week
16 Toronto’s prov.
17 “What a mess!’’
18 Your: Fr.
24 Bar ____ 131
25 Queen’s “We Will Rock You,’’
e.g.
29 2K, for one
31 Sheep
34 Award hopeful
35 Passes along to, in a way
36 Like the winner of a
handwriting contest
37 Narrow valleys
38 Very affectionate
39 Get on the same page, in
corporate-speak
41 URL ending
42 Alternative to fiber or
satellite
43 Leave off
45 Early PC software
47 Planting more than one kind of seed in a field, per Deuteronomy
48 Pollution stat
51 Historical subject of Hilary Mantel’s 2009 novel “Wolf Hall’’
52 Action item
54 Brings back to use
56 Home of Guinea and GuineaBissau: Abbr.
57 “Yo ____’’ (internet meme
with rapper Xzibit)
58 Prioritization process
63 It added “essential worker’’
in March 2021: Abbr.
64 Author Rand
66 Quaint contraction
67 Title that comes from
“Caesar’’
68 Assist
69 Day celebrated by “Star
Wars’’ fans
71 Curtains
72 Interior design job
73 Support, as a belief 76 Fellow
77 Like bacon and lobster, in
Jewish law
79 Prime-time slot
82 Home of the National Voting
Rights Museum
83 Perfect
84 Nail-polish brand
86 Like some nachos and
questions
87 “Real’’ ones were first
issued in the 2010s
88 Muppet who hosts the “NotToo-Late Show’’
91 Fifth-century invader
93 Poisonous shrub
94 Suffix with Euclid
95 Metric for online traffic, in
brief
98 Get ready for action
99 The “C’’ of D.R.C.
100 World of Warcraft, e.g., for
short
103 One who’s at home on the
job?
105 Branch of Islam
106 Thai taxi with a repetitive
name
109 Send, as payment
112 Mail, e.g.
114 Actress Taylor-Joy of “The
Queen’s Gambit’’
115 Costa ____
116 Mother of Don Juan
117 Cheese on a meze platter
118 Gillette razor
119 Daily Planet reporter
120 Gaelic tongue
121 Sorority letter
122 “Yikes!’’
123 Pile of cash
125 TV button: Abbr.