The New York Times Crossword
TODAY: WATCH YOUR STEP! (0206)
Ross Trudeau is a writer and puzzlemaker in Cambridge, Mass. His crosswords appear regularly in The New York Times (this is his 48th), The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and other venues, including his own website, Rossword Puzzles, where he posts an original (and free) puzzle every week. In 2019 Ross collaborated on a Times crossword with another imaginative person — his father, Garry Trudeau, the creator of ‘‘Doonesbury.’’ — W.S.
ACROSS
1 Rock subgenre named for its vocal aesthetic 8 Like some spacesaving beds
14 Styles that are picked, informally
18 Amateur
20 Disinclined (to)
21 Royal figure of sci-fi
22 Grammy for Kendrick Lamar’s ‘‘DAMN.’’ or Cardi B’s ‘‘Invasion of Privacy’’
24 Shuts down
25 American, abroad
26 Apt name for a worrier
27 Moving toward equilibrium, in biology
29 Legerdemain
31 Horse color
34 Prepares for a Ms. Olympia competition, say
36 Tiny foragers
37 ‘‘Here’s an example . . . ’’
41 Insect with distinctive pincers
44 Without stop
45 Subj. for some future bilinguals
46 Sources of music
in musicals
50 Splinter group
51 Brewing brothers
54 Capital of Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture
55 It might be broken in overtime
56 Waits to publish,
as an article 59 Second-rate
61 Pronoun pairing 63 Loop trains
64 Hornswoggle 67 De-creased
69 Luxury Hyundai
70 ‘‘Still da ____’’ (Trina title track of 2008)
72 Fluster
74 Kind of squash
77 One using cloves or garlic
79 What gets filled at a shell station?
80 Monthly condition, for short
83 Hairstyle protectors
85 Tabbouleh topping
87 Build, as interest
89 Kind of test 90 Board figure, informally
92 Recipe unit
95 Goddess in a peacock-drawn chariot
96 Marilyn Monroe wore a fuchsia one while singing ‘‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’’
99 Beverage that was a medieval source of nutrition
100 ____ President 101 Literary protagonist raised by wolves 102 ‘‘The Sound of Music’’ household 105 ‘‘Horned’’ creature
107 Turn one’s back on
109 Laces (into) 110 Apelike
112 University of Montana city
115 Weasel word?
118 ____ Fielding, co-host of ‘‘The Great British Bake Off’’ beginning in 2017
119 Suffering from a losing streak, in poker slang
122 Secret exits represented five times in this puzzle’s grid
125 ‘‘Bus Stop’’ playwright
126 Camping shelter
127 Advocates
128 Romanov ruler
129 Vulnerable
130 Most likely to
inspire ‘‘thirst’’
1 Twins, e.g., for short
2 Site with tech tutorials
3 Gets out of a grave situation?
4 Scores for placekickers
5 Mental health org.
6 They’re thumped at supermarkets
7 Balls
8 Overly simplistic
9 Bake-off equipment
10 Major-____ (pro ballplayer)
11 OB/GYNs, e.g.
12 Application
13 Royal pain
14 Circus apparatus
15 Laugh or cry, say
16 ‘‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’’ sounds
17 N.Y.C. retailer with a famed holiday window display
19 Rum ____ Tugger (cat in ‘‘Cats’’)
23 Like a romantic evening stroll, perhaps
28 [someone else’s error]
30 Cause chaos
32 —
33 ‘‘That’s it?’’ 35 Camping shelter 37 Only person to
DOWN
win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony in the same year (1973)
38 Kitty ____, stunt performer once known as the ‘‘fastest woman in the world’’ 39 Four-limbed
animals 40 ‘‘Raiders of the
Lost Ark’’ biter 42 Plato’s P 43 Halloween decorations that can be made with cotton balls 46 Heavy metal’s ‘‘Prince of Darkness’’ 47 ‘‘Am ____ only
one?’’
48 Level
49 Some skin-care products
52 Power up
53 A.L. East squad: Abbr.
57 Slice, for one 58 Give the ____ 60 Stopover
62 —
65 —
66 Put on ice 68 Traffic control org.
70 Disco ____ (iconic garment for Lady Gaga)
71 ‘‘Chandelier’’ singer, 2014
73 Longtime record label
74 Annexes
75 Rube Goldberg machines, e.g.
76 Like some vaccines
78 A, in Berlin
80 Incline
81 Expansive work of art, usually
82 Disreputable
84 Annual Austin festival, familiarly
86 ‘‘This is too much’’
88 One to be dethroned
91 One being coddled, maybe
93 Lacking any
adulteration
94 Zing
97 One who may have attachment issues?
98 Small Nintendo console, once
100 Spring month in France
102 ____ 1, Yuri Gagarin’s spacecraft
103 Cries in a tattoo parlor
104 Frothy coffee invented in Greece
105 —
106 Sign of resistance
108 Some bank deposits
110 Foul mood
111 Pelicans’ home, informally
113 —
114 Girl in a tartan
116 Miner discoveries
117 Relative of ‘‘Hey!’’
120 March Madness ‘‘trophy’’
121 Road goo
123 Maliciously reveal personal info about online
124 ‘‘Mais ____!’’