The Silence of The Lampreys

NOTE: As I recover from this year’s American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, here’s my puzzle from last year’s event. As always, it’s a tad trickier than my usual puzzles (what can I say, it’s a tournament), but if you use a little “sound” reasoning (ahem), you should be able to conquer it.

ACROSS

1 Order (around) 5 Window part 9 Atlas letters, once 12 Man with a white scar 16 Shorten the lead, e.g. 17 “Too rich for my blood” 19 Had a roll in the hay? 20 Kin of “voila!” 21 Zero 22 Way to avoid kittens? 24 Insurance options, brief ly 25 Rome’s ___ Fountain 27 Type for titles: abbr. 28 Debussy contemporary 30 Sister city of Thigh, New York? 35 Muse of comedy 36 NYSE watcher 37 They change a lot on “SNL” 39 Sign of being unable to sit down 40 Holder and others 43 Neighbor of Mary 46 Hotel-ledge sound 47 Where some download lawsuits are settled? 50 Sequel to “Das Boot”? 52 Church recesses 53 Homophone of 67 Down 54 Lettuce-prep step 55 Ballpark buy 56 What appears between “Toys” and “Us”? 59 Collette or Morrison 63 Info site, ___.com 65 Curtain holder 66 RBI king 67 Q: “So, Tarzan, does the film actor rent his tuxedo?” A: “No, ___” 70 Saw a rock star in concert? 73 My cousin? 74 Fastidious TV character 76 Gets in return 77 “How odd ...” 78 TV money maven 80 Do a yard job 82 Tad 84 All 11 members of a football team? 89 With “ology,” the study of dreams 90 Tight feeling 91 Neck protector 94 Put in folders 96 It’s out of LeBron’s hands? 100 Eclectic mix 101 Assemble-it-yourself mecca 102 Mendes of movies 103 Rival of Simmons and Sealy 104 Traditional, quaintly 105 Gershwin heroine 106 “Not just ___” 107 Heat trappers 108 Strong cleaners

DOWN

1 Natural talent 2 Polecat’s defense 3 Billionaire publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair 4 Sugar substitute that plays a key role in “Breaking Bad” 5 Brand that may be creamy or crunchy 6 “What ___ bid?” 7 Pluck 8 Camel remains 9 Chess ploy, briefly 10 Eldest of the Fab Four 11 Do a price-change chore 12 Watcher over Odysseus 13 Juilliard attendee at age 7 14 Word that often follows “further ” 15 Eng. majors may get them 18 Problem word for Porky 23 “___ Have Left the Building” (an alternative title for this puzzle) 26 Mooring spots 29 Parish priests 31 Copter forerunner 32 Oliver Twist, for one 33 I, in Innsbruck 34 French pronoun that’s a Greek letter backward 35 Figure of speech 38 The way we usu. do things 39 Picket line crosser 41 Proofing mark 42 Thing with a rowel 44 Valhalla ruler 45 Mao’s successor 48 Published again 49 Stone city of Jordan 51 Adjusted to, as a thermostat 54 Mountain feature 56 Hamlet’s cousin? 57 Like Christmas stockings 58 “Fall back” interval 60 Nee, in a way 61 Three-trio combo 62 “Picnic” Pulitzer winner 64 Post-convention surge 66 Liquid or frozen items 67 Pal of Pooh 68 Mongolian tent 69 Vest features 70 Pond sounds 71 “Death Becomes Her” co-star 72 “Decorated” as a prank, brief ly 75 911 respondent 79 Queen Dido’s lover 81 Drinks on a list 83 “Chill!” 85 Dance troupe founder Alvin 86 Show to be true 87 Prestigious prize 88 Creator of Centipede 92 Take the subway 93 Opponents 94 Story, perhaps 95 Word on a ’50s button 97 Word with bran or bread 98 Classic Ford 99 Part of UNLV

New puzzle book available (88 pages, 50 puzzles). For info, visit sundaycrosswords.com.