The New York Times Crossword
TODAY: PI R SQUARED (1018)
Gary Larson, of Edmonds, Wash., is a retired comedian. He spent the last 15 years of his career entertaining on cruise ships, where crosswords were a way to pass the time between shows. One day a clue-and-answer combination in a New York Times crossword cracked him up, and he thought, Why don’t I try making one of these? I love writing jokes. How hard can it be to fit them into a puzzle? He found out. This is his 592nd puzzle. It’s his fourth in The Times. — W.S.
ACROSS
1 Examples of attention to detail 9 Yearbook-award word 13 Lift weights 19 Gingerbread man, often 20 British pop singer Lily 22 In the Caribbean it’s known as ‘‘the chicken of the trees’’ 23 ‘‘The government has discovered aliens but isn’t telling us,’’ e.g. 25 Port on the Loire 26 Missouri site of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival 27 Applications 29 Actress Ward 30 Acronym for a North American quintet 33 Intertwine 35 Pains in the neck 38 Spanish article
39 Power of a square 42 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez 43 Nocturnal bloodsucker 46 Steal 48 Stuff 49 It requires no oxygen for growth 50 Pants with baggy legs 52 Task 54 Noodles often eaten cold in the summer 55 Square things 56 Cause of joint pain 59 Relatively new relative, maybe 61 Small songbird 62 Cornmeal bread 63 Wood for violin-making 66 Brian who cofounded Roxy Music 67 ‘‘You rang?’’ 68 Means of breathing 74 Calming retreat
77 Subject of 199 silk-screen paintings by Warhol 78 Present from birth 79 Activist ____ Alamuddin Clooney 83 Hesitating sound 84 Unremarkable 86 Goes out for a bit? 88 Valorous 89 Specialty 91 The continents, e.g. 94 His resignation triggered the first invocation of the 25th Amendment 96 Start up again 98 Wacky 101 Like some flights 102 Triangular flags 103 Aerial maneuver 104 Kiddy litter? 105 Mature 106 Power issue 107 Computer image format 109 More up to it 111 South American mammals with trunks 113 Introductory course? 115 Brand of allergy spray 118 Lime and rust 121 It was known by the Algonquin as the ‘‘Father of Waters’’ 126 Extends 127 Similar 128 Castle in ‘‘Hamlet’’ 129 More out there 130 ‘‘May God bless and keep the ____ … far away from us!’’ (line from
‘‘Fiddler on the Roof’’) 131 Return to the fray
DOWN
1 Grumpy co-worker 2 Spanish gold 3 Old country-music channel 4 French for ‘‘cup’’ 5 Locale of Kings County and Queens County, fittingly 6 Like some batteries and parties 7 Sapa ____ (title for Atahualpa) 8 Not merely cut 9 Gospel singer Jackson 10 Fútbol cheer 11 Doesn’t sit right? 12 Snippy, in a way 13 Spare part? 14 Sch. for Bulldogs 15 ’60s sitcom family 16 What ‘‘X’’ marks on a treasure map 17 First-year law student 18 Mission-driven org. 21 ‘‘Science Guy’’ Bill 24 Shades 28 Glittery glue-ons 30 Wheel cover 31 Acting mindlessly 32 ‘‘____ Brando: Larger Than Life’’ (1994 biography) 34 Dog in classic films 36 Flowing forth 37 Steeple feature 40 Cleverness 41 Universal donor’s blood type, for short 43 Peacockish
44 Activist Hoffman 45 Milk dispensers 47 Lost cause 51 Only player with three 60+ home run seasons 53 Rest of the afternoon? 57 Slant skyward 58 2010 sci-fi film subtitled ‘‘Legacy’’ 60 Trouble 64 Catering container 65 Color for the right eye of a pair of 3-D glasses 69 Only bird with calf muscles
70 Talking back 71 Graceful spins 72 Informal assents 73 Country singer Price 74 # 75 When doubled, 1934 Cole Porter comedy short 76 Absolutely dazzling 80 Book that’s rarely read cover-to-cover 81 Right, as a wrong 82 More N.S.F.W., maybe 85 Mimics 87 Vodka or gin 88 Low-dose pain reliever 90 Mass recitation 92 Symbol meaning ‘‘still typing’’ 93 Tugboat sound 95 Dedicatee of the 1980 song ‘‘Woman’’ 97 Opposite of wide: Abbr. 99 Like slippers versus dress shoes 100 Milky gems 107 Muscly 108 Stumper question 110 Life form 111 Went like the
dickens 112 Got rid of 114 German granny 116 Where the infant Moses was found 117 Cathedral recess 119 Maa, in 1995’s ‘‘Babe’’ 120 Ukr., e.g., once 122 Genre pioneered in 1950s-’60s Jamaica 123 U.S. overseas broadcaster 124 Unit of work 125 Food writer/TV personality ____ Drummond