New York Times Crossword No. 0221
Lisa Bunker, of Exeter, N.H., is the author of two novels for young readers — “Zenobia July,” about a trans girl with a troubled past starting over with a new family and school, while tackling a cybermystery; and “Felix Yz,” about a boy fused with an alien facing a risky procedure to separate them. Both were published by Viking. She also represents Exeter in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. This is Lisa’s sixth puzzle for The Times and her first Sunday. — W.S.
ACROSS
1 Percussion instrument
in a marching band
7 Prefix with sexual
10 Prefix with sexual
14 Animals in a pod
19 Start of a playground
taunt
20 Kitchen brand with a
palindromic name 21 What an article may
come with?
22 Drain, as from soil 23 Fatsis who wrote
‘‘Word Freak’’
24 Most feathery, as
clouds
26 ‘‘Thong Song’’ singer,
2000
27 Sharp, in a way
28 Early tie
30 The ones over here
32 In the capacity of
33 Some Ivy Leaguers
34 Born yesterday, so to
speak
36 Calm
38 Comfy slip-on, in brief 39 What an outstretched arm with an open palm can mean
41 Fleet org.
42 It means business
43 Stakes
Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 4,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). 44 Narrow 46 Group tour vehicle 49 Playground comeback 52 Build up 53 Sci-fi publisher of ‘‘Ender’s Game’’ and ‘‘The Wheel of Time’’ 54 Popular beer brand,
briefly 57 With 3-Down, one of
the Avengers 59 ____ smear 61 Reduced 63 Opposite of a standing
order? 64 ‘‘Do me this one favor
...’’ 67 French vineyards 68 Prats 69 Contrariwise 71 North African capital 72 Nongendered, as
language: Abbr. 73 Sui ____ 74 Kind of dash 76 Best Supporting Actor winner for ‘‘Dallas Buyer’s Club’’ 78 Prefix with friendly 79 Rules out? 80 West Coast beer
brand, in brief 81 ‘‘____ ruled the world
...’’ 83 : 86 Capital of Yemen 87 Kind of modern office
plan 89 Smell of a rose
92 Smell of a rosé
95 ____ Fridays
96 Barrister’s deg.
97 Bench tool
99 Quibble
101 Student’s bonus points
103 Drawn-out campaigns
105 When doubled, another name for dorado
106 Call ____ night
107 Eighth letter
109 British tennis champ who invented the sweatband
111 ____ impasse
112 Guardian spirits
114 Especially
116 Soubise sauce is made from them 118 Greenish-brown
119 ____ cake (dim sum dish)
120 Suffix with social
121 ‘‘Wheel of Fortune’’ freebies
122 Sharp
123 Label for Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes
124 Latin king
125 Sea lion, for one
DOWN
1 Word with sound or
solar 2 Few
3 See 57-Across
4 Subsequent versions
5 Thurman of ‘‘Kill Bill’’ 6 Word before and after
‘‘a’’
7 Turned on
8 Kind of symmetry
9 A pretty capable sort 10 Singer DiFranco
11 Big name in bubbly
12 Small woodland
songbird
13 ‘‘Town square for the global village of tomorrow,’’ per Bill Gates
14 Jimmy of the Daily
Planet
15 L. L. Bean competitor 16 Medieval helmet
17 Exonerate
18 Prime snorkeling
spots
25 Like many stuffed
animals
29 PX shopper
31 The Quran, for one
35 Mango Madness and
Go Bananas, for two 37 Ones initiating
handoffs, for short 39 Some mattresses
40 Indulgence
45 Capital of French
Polynesia
47 Show again
48 Caterer’s container
50 A fine mesh this is! 51 Debussy prelude inspired by a water sprite
54 Outcast
55 Out of focus
56 Surface anew, say
57 Post production
58 Without a doubt
60 Turkish officers
62 Timid sort
63 Instrument in
‘‘O! Susannah’’ 64 They’ll be mist
65 Super Bowl of 2022
66 Place with robes and
sweaters
70 Seasick sea serpent of
old cartoons
71 Bank posting
73 Words after throwing
a ball
75 Grams
77 Unbalance
82 Packaging list
84 ‘‘L’chaim!’’
85 (a, b), e.g.
87 Anthem contraction 88 Suit perfectly
90 France from France 91 Singer who founded
Fenty Beauty
92 What ponies express? 93 Field-plowing duo
94 Poem piece
97 Notable point in
geometry
98 U.N. member since
1949: Abbr.
100 Glittery decoration
102 Listing
104 Beau ____
105 Ones with plenty of reservations
108 Blade brand
110 Days of old
113 Suffix with court or cash
115 Deli supply
117 Surveillance org.