GIMME A SECOND!
BY MICHAEL SCHLOSSBERG / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ
Michael Schlossberg is an internist in Bend, Ore., who has been making crosswords for The Times since 2020. He got the idea for this one after seeing 68-Across as a title at his local bookstore. Although themeless puzzles are Mike’s favorites to solve, he says he doesn’t construct them “because I get decision paralysis — they’re too much of a blank canvas. I need to have a theme set to build around.” — W.S.
ACROSS
1 “Old man”
5 “Yikes!”
9 Childproof-bottle contents, for short
13 Purchase at a cannabis dispensary
19 “Sounds ’bout
right to me”
21 False ____
22 Fine parchment 23 It might be pressed before work
24 It might be pressed before work
26 Post concerned
with etiquette
27 “Capeesh?”
28 Up-and-down,
as a relationship 29 Internet harvesting tool
34 “On Photography” author Susan
36 1918-2004 Fenway Park phenomenon, familiarly
38 Nothing-doing? 42 They’re home
to spinners
46 They’re home
to spinners
50 Luxury fashion
label
51 1990s workout
fad
52 “The Racer’s Edge” sloganeer
53 Says,
informally
54 Bay Area gallery,
for short
59 Late winter/ early spring, weatherwise
63 “____ and the Night Visitors” (opera)
65 Fragrant
bloomers
67 Animal that becomes a plant if spelled backward
68 Bandleader’s urging ... or an alternative title for this puzzle
74 New ____
75 Guides
76 Athleisure
portmanteau
78 Certain beach
top
83 Snooty
85 Many a Yemeni 86 Piece de
resistance?
87 Tourney round
89 Some goofs
91 One sailing through long passages
95 One sailing through long passages
99 Ready and
waiting
100 Gadgets for
truckers
102 Porterhouse
alternatives
106 Inspiration for many a lottery pick
111 Shame, e.g.
114 The yoke’s on
them
116 Chuck ____, TV director/ producer who’s known as the King of Sitcoms
117 Target of many a viral marketing campaign
119 Target of many a viral marketing campaign
123 Lead role in 1978’s “La
Cage aux
Folles”
124 Kind of terrier
125 Exclamation after
a rescue
126 Warm coat
127 Dash
128 Measurable impact, so to speak
129 Bad news for an
investor
DOWN
1 Spoke (up)
2 Petrichor, n.: The pleasant ____ of rainfall on dry soil 3 Bird also known
as a lapwing
4 150-mile-per-
hour train
5 Dawn figure, in
myth
6 Bovid named for the sound it makes
7 “____ was
saying ...”
8 Part of an
ellipsis
9 Skinflints
10 Novelist Ferber
11 Subject of a subway announcement
12 Remedy for a blink-andyou-missed-it moment
13 First lady?
14 Start of a classic request for advice
15 Bad reasoning
16 Rap’s ____ Chyna 17 Hang in the
shadows
18 TV award
20 Actress Ritter of
“Jessica Jones” 25 Serene,
informally
27 For the lady
30 Country singer
Stapleton
31 Remote-button
abbr.
32 Hotshot
33 Place for a
porter
35 Clip-on, for one 37 Superfund grp.
39 Bit of slander
40 Titan who gave
birth on Delos
41 Disney subsidiary 42 Story that isn’t a
quick read
43 BOGO, e.g.
44 Words after a
verbal gaffe
45 Accessory for a
ride-share vehicle 47 ____ cycle
48 “Aladdin”
sidekick
49 Amazing woman,
slangily
51 “Agricola”
author
55 Petal pusher?
56 Peace, in Russian 57 Stadium cheer
58 Big mouths
60 “Told you so!”
61 Ursine : bears :: anguilliform : ____
62 Dakota tribe
64 Staying power
66 Part of a process 69 “I’ve seen better” 70 Cool, back in the
day
71 “Good” day:
Abbr.
72 Santa-tracking
org.
73 Really annoy,
with “on”
77 Lift type
78 Just ... all right
79 Info in a party
invitation
80 Apple variety
81 Stephen of “Michael
Collins”
82 “Eww! Enough!” 84 Bittern, e.g.
88 Bimonthly business magazine
90 Election-night
news
92 Plant that may be mistaken for a dandelion
93 Landlocked
province
94 Grp. once led by
Arafat
95 Kind of lily
96 Hoover, for one,
in brief
97 “No idea,” in a
text
98 Like Ikea furniture assembly, for short
101 Sports jacket
103 “As if!”
104 Live and breathe 105 Feed
107 Storybook
ending?
108 “Nice job!”
109 People of western New
York
110 Sunders
111 Tourist mecca in
southern Asia
112 “Never ____ Kissed” (1999 Drew Barrymore film)
113 Part of A.D.
115 Singer with the album “Watermark”
118 Hunky-dory
119 Email-chain abbr. 120 Min Jin ____, author of the 2017 best seller “Pachinko”
121 You can dispense
with this
122 Complete
collection