NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Jeremy Newton, of Austin, Texas, is an engineering manager for a mobile-games company. Tracy Gray, of Hunt Valley, Md., owns and operates a lawn-and-landscaping business with her husband. They initially connected via Facebook. They shared the work of making this puzzle throughout, even in the end splitting the duty of writing the clues — one of them the Acrosses and the other the Downs. — W. S.

ACROSS

1 ‘‘Nah, you’re not!’’

retort

8 Comedy-club sounds 13 Port of Mexico

19 Where to hear amateur bands? 20 Wear down

21 ‘‘It is better to be ____ than to be pitied’’: Herodotus

22 Spaceship battle?/An

iconic van Gogh

24 Big hit

25 Timbre

26 ____-nest

27 Some fairy-tale

characters 29 Coffee-maker insert 30 Student-council

electee, informally 33 Booze it up, old-style 34 Grp. with

cryptanalysts 37 Sounds of saxophones 38 Flying invention by a classic automaker?/ An iconic Klee 41 ‘‘You’re on!’’

44 Why cases might go

cold

47 N.F.L. sportscaster Andrews

48 Slangy reply when Bart’s sister asks, ‘‘What’s Covid?’’/An iconic Leonardo 50 West Coast football powerhouse, in brief

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51 Gravy, you might say 52 Curmudgeons

53 Come next

55 Maximal ending 57 Anago or unagi

58 Dance accompanied by pahu drums

59 Blue berry

61 Popular a.m. show,

familiarly

63 Essential qualities 65 Reason Mercury gets eclipsed?/An iconic Botticelli

69 Remark from the financially or vertically challenged 72 ‘‘Don’t judge a book

by its cover,’’ e.g. 73 War game

74 Put out

78 Word of advice 79 Academic must: Abbr. 80 Cause of some Yellowstone traffic jams

82 Hang loose?

83 Like some covers and

kisses

85 Zip it!

88 Post-dinosaur period?/An iconic Magritte

91 What a wristwatch wraps around

92 Hated with a passion 94 No small favor 95 Opposite of liberal doves?/An iconic Hopper

98 Participate in a marathon, say

99 Notice

100 Notice 101 ‘‘Unfortunately, yes’’ 105 Schumer of comedy 108 In fashion?

111 ‘‘Cute’’ vowel sound 112 California city whose name means ‘‘tar’’ 113 Dalmatians, e.g. 115 Planning one’s 24-hour itinerary?/ An iconic Michelangelo, with ‘‘The’’

119 Ill considered

120 U.S. swimming gold medalist Ledecky 121 Private meeting

122 Like in-flight smoking

123 Tell jokes until PowerPoint unfreezes, e.g.

124 Apt word spelled by the new letters that alter this puzzle’s seven works

DOWN

1 ‘‘Yippee!’’

2 Touch up, as text 3 Bottom of the Thames? 4 Cowlick concealer 5 Rocky Mountain state:

Abbr.

6 Flag carrier in the

Mediterranean 7 Quagmire

8 Subject of the biography ‘‘Mr. Playboy’’

9 Crop up

10 Enjoy more than one’s

fair share

11 Focusing issue, in

brief

12 Pitted against one

another

13 Where fur coats get

cleaned?

14 Loosen, as a spool 15 Nefarious

16 Real doozy

17 No. for a résumé

18 Work of praise 19 Dot-com start-up? 23 Cornerstone figs. 28 Zoos, so to speak

30 Los ____, vacation hot spot in Mexico

31 One may be on the

house

32 Start for made or paid 35 Big ball

36 Records of the past 37 Relaxing soak

39 ____ de vie

40 N.Y.C. ave. east of Park

41 Hankering

42 Drive-____

43 Prey for a polar bear 44 N.F.L. team with the mascot Sourdough Sam, to fans

45 Old spy org.

46 Giggle alongside (not

at!)

49 First pope in a line

of 13

51 ‘‘How could you?!’’

playfully

54 Punk offshoot

56 Scored, as free throws 59 Super-dry

60 Rainbows in the sky, perhaps

62 Sporting a natural

style

64 It’ll cost you

66 Per musician Charlie Parker, ‘‘If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your ____’’ 67 Neighbor of the ‘‘~’’ key

68 Tree climbers, perhaps

69 Vampire’s cry in

sunlight

70 ‘‘Stranger Things’’ actress ____ Bobby Brown

71 Wipe clean, as a car

75 Baby’s first word, commonly

76 Hoppy offerings, in

brief

77 Good practice for a

half-marathon

81 That ship

82 Pooch, in slang

84 ‘‘Oh, cry me a river!’’ 86 Feature of décolleté

clothing

87 Run off at the mouth 89 ‘‘Hmm, never really

thought about it . . . ’’

90 Some vow takers 93 Org. with X-rays 96 African menace 97 Spoke menacingly 98 Embarrassing fail, in modern lingo

102 Whip around wildly 103 Canned tomatoes brand

104 Grammy winner DiFranco

105 Fire

106 Playground bully 107 ‘‘Aren’t I somethin’?!’’

109 It may lead to greener pastures 110 ‘‘Darn it all!’’ 112 Bugaboo

113 Baby hyena

114 Modern vaccine component

116 Info for a limo driver 117 Above, to a bard 118 A thick one may be found in a bank