WRAP STARS
Drew Schmenner of Pacifica, Calif., is a technical writer and editor for an education nonprofit. He was formerly an investigative reporter for The Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs. This is Drew’s fifth crossword for The Times and first Sunday. He and his wife have two daughters, ages 6 and 3, who were angels at their church’s Christmas Eve pageant in San Francisco. — W. S.
ACROSS
1 Using the bow, in music 5 Guesstimate
9 XXX
13 Private retreat, of a sort
17 Charged exclamation during a court trial
18 “La ____ de los Espiritus,” debut novel for Isabel Allende 19 Littlest sucklings 21 Contents of a pot 22 Ancient landmark whose name translates to “high city”
24 Shadow
25 Reporter’s coup 26 One who’s not afraid to brag
29 Fermented honey concoction
30 Let
31 Bygone Seattle hoopsters
34 Sympathize with 36 Computer command 38 What you might get when you purchase Christmas ornaments on Dec. 26
40 Part of a sleigh 41 Contraction that’s a homophone of 13-Across 42 Lover of Hero, in Greek myth
44 With significance
46 In the manner of 47 “Ithaca is ____” (punny slogan)
48 Actress Diana of “The Avengers”
51 Arthur Ashe Courage Award, for one 52 Number of lords a-leaping
53 Surprise birthday parties often involve them
54 Quantity of beer … or monkeys?
56 Max or X
58 Name of Lincoln’s favorite dog
59 Branding need
60 ____ buco
61 End of autumn? 64 Highly prized collectibles, in lingo 65 Bad design feature for a Christmas stocking? 67 Fourth word in “Jingle Bells”
68 Hurt
70 Take a risk
71 “Illmatic” rapper 72 Skateboard tricks started by kicking with the back foot
73 Dry, as Italian wine 75 O’er and o’er
78 Bring on board 80 Actress Skye
81 Barks, perhaps
82 Mr. Potter vis-à-vis George Bailey, in “It’s a Wonderful Life”
83 “King Lear” daughter 85 Fixes, as broken 93-Down
87 Scary sight at the beach
88 Olympic gymnast Korbut
89 Sign of approval 92 Kim’s ex, in tabloids 93 Formal “you,” in Spain 95 Muffle
97 Actress Wen of “The Mandalorian”
99 Dude, in modern slang 100 Workers seen in five squares in this puzzle? 106 Make ends meet 108 End of turn?
109 Binds tightly
110 Speedy Northeast train
111 Topples (over)
112 “____ Misbehavin’ ” 113 Relative of a cassowary
114 Midnight Mass leader 115 Hurdle for a prospective J.D.
116 Some cats, chameleons and chinchillas
117 Locale of the final scene in “Vertigo”
DOWN
1 “Regrettably … ”
2 Like Ebenezer Scrooge 3 Sweet custardy concoction
4 Start of a well-known address in Verona
5 Dress down
6 “The Winter’s ____” 7 Clearance-sale warning 8 Iconic features of “Under Pressure” and “Come Together”
9 What awaits a tragic hero
10 Bactrian pair 11 Hereditary
12 Walked assuredly 13 Brings to a boil 14 Colorful background 15 Uncle ____ (“Seinfeld” character)
16 Madrid’s home, in the Olympics
20 Uncle ____ 21 Regarding
23 Tree in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” 27 Dispatches
28 Capital just below the 60th parallel
32 Musical style associated with Harry Belafonte
33 What a filthy mess! 34 Order
35 Magazine based in Paris
36 Record kept on an employee
37 What transforms Bruce Banner into the Hulk 39 Spongy dessert 42 Article of clothing that might be decorated with candy canes
43 Full of sex or profanity, maybe 45 Business-card no. 47 Beam
49 Goddess of the rainbow
50 [I’ve had enough!] 54 Puts to sleep, say 55 Analyzes, as a metaphor
57 “The Bells” poet 58 Two or three
59 Big name in book publishing since 1817 60 “God bless us, every ____!”
61 1040 fig.
62 Down, at the casino 63 No longer at the top of one’s game 64 Destruction 66 Aphrodite’s frequent companion
69 “Hustlers” star, familiarly
72 She/____
73 Fictional band fronted by David St. Hubbins 74 Start of a playground rhyme
75 Not custom, as merchandise
76 ____ gras
77 Incline
79 Breezy, as a book 81 Incline
83 Word added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954
84 “____ everyone?” 86 Heart diagnostic, in brief
90 Heineken brand 91 Floral symbols of purity 93 See 85-Across 94 First-class 96 Mononymous Irish singer
98 Wafer brand
99 Tops 101 Pose
102 Member of a wet quintet
103 Word with witch or treasure
104 Repentant sort 105 Neuter
106 Hiatus
107 Prefix with friendly