New York Times Crossword Puzzle

Answers on the next page

This crossword represents an escape room, with four articles you’ll need hidden inside. After you complete the grid, follow the directions at 41-, 70- and 99-Across to find what to do next. Working correctly will lead you to a four-word phrase with a total of 12 letters. ACROSS 1 Shakespearean father

of three

5 “I agree!”

9 Enjoys the sun 14 Pants material 19 Approximately 20 Sycophant

21 Earth tone

22 Movie with a shootout

at high noon, maybe 23 ____ Major

24 Band bookings 25 Outside the city 26 Any member

of Abba 27 Automotive

debut of 1957 29 Some univ. hirees 31 Turkish inn 33 Horror writer Peter 35 Stole, in slang

37 Cold treat 41 What’s needed in order to escape this crossword 44 Sandwich loaf 45 Pitcher Hershiser 46 Declares to be true 47 Indie rocker with the 2009

N0. 3 album “Middle Cyclone”

50 Not doing well

52 A snap

53 ____ jure (law phrase) 55 Tobacconist ____

Sherman 56 Virtuous ones 58 N.Y.C. subway org. 59 Words of denial 63 Round fig.

66 A little, musically 67 Charcuterie stock 69 Lycées, e.g.

70 What to do with the items referenced in 41-Across 74 Naturallight display 75 Move smoothly

to the next thing 76 Great ____

77 Billy ____ Williams 78 Like Russia

prior to 1917

80 One of a couple 81 Neon and others 83 Apollo, to Zeus 84 Offshore 86 Possesses,

to the Bard

87 Kind of battery 91 Final

desperate effort 94 Tickle the ____ 97 Prefix on some firstaid products 98 “____ had it!” 99 After following the instructions at 70-Across, how to escape this puzzle 102 Not as much 105 Ratings pioneer 106 Edmonton athletes 107 “Fine with me” 109 German name component, often 110 Uncool one 111 Unconventional 114 James of the West 116 “Just foolin’” 118 Algerian port

121 Get together 122 “Give it ____!” 123 Verdi soprano 124 Grp. founded by 12 countries 125 Luau, basically 126 Brothers’ name in R.&B. 127 Symbol of fire prevention 128 Vehicle that requires no fue DOWN

1 Name one can “skip to” 2 Goof 3 Confidently said 4 Pre-GPS staple 5 Subject with variables 6 Daily ____ (British paper) 7 Part of some physicals: Abbr. 8 Attribute of many political ads 9 Soup with a red color 10 Prefix

with pressure 11 React with

fear or delight 12 Ralph and

Alice, on old TV 13 Actress Ward

14 Trig function 15 Native Iowan 16 Citizen of: Suffix 17 Actor Beatty

18 It’s mined,

all mined! 28 Common middle name

for girls 30 Constantly fidgeting,

say

32 Game with 42 territory

cards 33 Slovenly type 34 Prefix with byte 35 “Famous ____” (slogan on Idaho license plates)

36 Pause

38 Went on and on 39 Yiddish cries 40 Second of April? 42 Wretched smell 43 “Hey! That hurts!” 48 Kind of Hollywood romance 49 Literary scholars

debate what’s in it 51 Getting

to the point? 54 Solution to a maze 57 Specks

58 They might drop down 60 Almost forever 61 Nothing more than 62 Latin 101 word 63 Petty disagreement 64 Also 65 Beleaguers 67 Horrible headache 68 Anesthesiologist’s concern

71 “The Bridge at Narni” painter 72 Internet sensation 73 Nut whose name sounds like a sneeze 79 Shock, in a way 81 Flowering evergreen shrubs

82 Bucks 85 Administrants of corporal punishment 86 “Can you explain that further?” 88 Requiring intellect 89 It might end in a ZIP code: Abbr. 90 Ph.D. requirement: Abbr. 91 Tiny “tiny” 92 Forum greeting 93 Former Yankee nickname

95 Soft and smooth 96 Happy wintertime news for schoolkids 100 Semi fuel 101 Golfer Michelle 103 Kinds 104 “Awesome!” 108 California city north of Ventura 110 Mythical queen of Carthage 111 Your and my

112 It has a big deck 113 Aunt: Sp. 115 Toledo-to-Columbus dir.

117 A Kardashian 119 Dined

120 Silent approval