SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

Hoang-Kim Vu, of Washington, D.C, works in global public health. This is his 10th crossword for The Times — fitting, given the theme! — and his first Sunday. He wanted a theme that made full use of the larger grid, which resulted in this ambitious and impressive interlock. As a born-and-bred New Jerseyan, he hopes solvers will excuse 34-Down, with which he’s “probably more comfortable” than most.

ACROSS

1 Loosefitting garment 8 Things packed for a sleepover, informally 11 Cavs, on a scoreboard 14 Effects seen on FX, perhaps

17 Nation on the Red Sea 18 Helmsman on “Star Trek”

20 High times for the petroleum industry

23 X, but not Y

24 It might help you keep up with old classmates 26 Big-eyed baby 28 Excerpted passage 29 China’s Sun ____-sen 30 Carrier of goods by rail 34 Player of 45s

35 Haim of “Licorice Pizza” 37 Iconic role for Carrie Fisher

38 Certain porter 40 “Right you are!” 43 Contest

45 Some Kiwis

47 Stop on a publicity tour

50 When repeated, gung-ho

51 Dish often topped with marinara sauce 54 Dorm décor, often 56 Rave

58 Trivial

59 ____ Paz, 1990 Literature Nobelist

60 The “e” of i.e. 61 Chosen name of five popes

63 ____ Equis

65 Prepare (oneself) 66 Fundamentals 69 Alternatives to Pumas 71 Break for a bit 73 Ctrl-Z command 74 Does some fieldwork 76 ____ Rose of Guns N’ Roses

77 Standings column 78 Leb. neighbor 80 French desserts whose name translates as “small ovens”

82 Flair

84 Thor, e.g.

88 Makeup of some sleeves

89 TV chef who wrote “Semi-Homemade Cooking”

92 ____ Sremmurd (hip-hop duo)

93 White Russian ingredient

94 Playwright Eugene 95 Michelangelo masterpiece

97 Camelot figure 100 It can be written in scripts known as naskh and ruq’ah

102 Require

103 Tree with “eyes” on its bark

106 They can be tapped out

108 Concern at the end of a space journey 110 X

111 Ambitious sort 114 ____ Cherry, 1989 Grammy nominee for Best New Artist

115 “Take it easy once in a while!”

118 Sonny and Fredo, for two

123 They’re all pulling in the same direction 124 Keep it in mind! 125 Classy

126 Chinese-dish eponym

127 End of days?

128 You might take them out for a quick spin, informally

129 Rages

DOWN

1–

2 ____TV (network for “Impractical Jokers”) 3 Lower, as lights

4 Hwy.

5 Coding headache 6 Naval engagement 7 One taking interest in your education?

8 H.S. exam

9 7/

10 Heaps at publishing houses 11 Edward Jenner used it when developing the world’s first successful vaccine 12 Sigmatism, by another name

13 The blonde in “Legally Blonde”

14 What might unfold at camp

15 Exclamation on April Fools’ Day

16 Words of clarification 19 “Yeah … pass” 21 Checks for bugs 22 Mlle., in Madrid

25 –

27 Wrap up by

30 Distress signal

31 Put on the air again 32 –

33 Letter after sigma 34 Borough of New Jersey noted for its indoor shopping malls 36 Landed on a licorice space in Candy Land, say 39 Male swan

41 Put side by side 42 Relative of a gator 44 Their eggs are dark green

46 Camera spec

48 –

49 Brought before a jury 52 This, in Spanish 53 Malibu, e.g.

55 One way to go

57 “This guy? We’re together”

61 –

62 Accounts 64 Greenlights 66 Schedule slot filler: Abbr.

67 Grim

68 Terra ____

70 One doing the lord’s work?

71 Birch bark and pine cones, e.g.

72 – 75 Missing work? 77 Exchange words? 79 Trickle (through) 81 –

83 Language spoken in Luang Prabang 84 Government bonds? 85 Welcome 86 Consumer

87 Set … or word said before set

90 Estuary

91 “Three Tall Women” playwright

96 Overnight site 98 Cold feet and cold shoulder, for two 99 Emperor before the Year of the Four Emperors

101 Louisiana cooking style

103 “Flick of the Switch” band

104 Curt

105 Aches (for)

107 Classic soda brand 109 –

112 ____-Ball 113 Education orgs. 114 Hush-hush pacts, in brief

116 –

117 Good name, informally 119 Some smartphones 120 Something bent or lent

121 –

122 Norm: Abbr.