SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
BLANK EXPRESSIONS
Brandon Koppy works for a digital ad agency in Austin, Texas. Once he decided on the puzzle’s ‘‘meta’’ answer, he was off and running. After you’ve finished solving, look for an appropriate bonus phrase. — W.S.
ACROSS
1 You say it when you ‘‘get it’’
4 Cell connection inits. 7 Dope
12 Sorta
15 Writing tip
18 Film critic with a cameo in 1978’s ‘‘Superman’’ 20 Safe bets 22 ‘‘Levitating’’ singer, 2020
24 Stuffed up, in a way 25 Northern New Jersey town
26 Literally, ‘‘father of many’’
27 2020 No. 1 hit for Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion
28 Longtime cooking show hosted by Alton Brown
30 They may be classified 31 Resident of the second-largest U.S. city 35 Like some bulls 36 Dangerous part of a tour
41 Fan of the album ‘‘Aoxomoxoa,’’ say 43 Dress (up)
44 Flings without strings 45 Yogurt-based Indian drink
46 The Blue Marble 49 ‘‘Ditto!’’
50 Part of ‘‘fwiw’’
51 Sit in stir
53 Good people to ask for directions
55 Grok
56 Clothing store sign 58 Owed
59 Parts of many skyscrapers
63 Med. care option 64 South ____
65 Wilson of film
67 Loud and clear, as a call to action
69 First name among billionaires
71 Demean
74 Woolly ma’am
76 Chats over Twitter, for short
77 ____ al-Fitr (holiday) 79 Lump sum?
83 Hawaiian home parts 85 Grabbed the reins 88 The barber of Seville 89 Singer Grande, to fans 90 Diverse ecosystem 92 Christine of ‘‘The Blacklist’’
93 French 101 verb 95 Mustangs’ sch.
96 Back tracks?
98 Made bubbly
100 Not stop talking about 102 Supreme Court appointee before Thurgood Marshall
104 ‘‘Dios ____!’’
105 Firm
107 Pin points?
108 Spacecraft’s reflective
attachment
111 Ominous
112 Flexible spade, say 113 Like werewolves 116 Hairsplitter
120 Late actor Eisenberg 121 In which belts are
worn
123 Ideal beta tester 127 Gives a boost,
informally
129 Roger ____, first film critic to win a Pulitzer for criticism
131 Boots
132 Algebra I calculation 133 Worries
137 Calendar mo.
138 Captain’s log entry,
maybe
142 Quinceañera feature 143 2013 Bong Joon Ho
thriller
146 Hear out, say
147 N.Y.C. mayor after de
Blasio
148 Alien’s line of
communication?
149 Speedy travel option 150 Precept
151 John, abroad
152 Young ’uns
153 Cares for
DOWN
1 Pioneer in Dadaism 2 ‘‘That’s amusing’’
3 Rose of Guns N’ Roses 4 Passport, for one 5 Vegan protein source made from fermented soybeans
6 Big name in ice cream 7 1993 Salt-N-Pepa hit 8 Heart-shaped, as leaves 9 Entree with boiling broth
10 Dash figure
11 No. 1 N.B.A. draft pick
in 1992
12 Journalist ____ B. Wells 13 Outback, e.g. 14 Stereotypical football
coach
15 Org. with grants
16 It’s got hops, for short 17 Superhero comics
sound
19 Ties another knot 20 Bay Area airport code 21 Tennis division 23 Victor ____, role in ‘‘Casablanca’’ 28 Professional saver? 29 Fad accessory of the 1980s
31 It comes off the top of one’s head
32 ‘‘Cool beans!’’ 33 Verbose
34 The eighth of eight 37 Feeling bad, in a way 38 ‘‘August: ____ County’’ (Tracy Letts play)
39 Site of Hercules’ first labor
40 Ramps up or down? 42 Leave it to beavers 44 ____-Magnon
47 Author Gaiman
48 Plus
52 Pablo Neruda wrote one ‘‘to a large tuna in the market’’
54 Has online?
57 Slugger with 609 homers
60 Bit of cosmic justice 61 Unlikely feature for competitive swimmers 62 Some trattoria offerings
64 All tucked in 66 Eccentric
67 Top dog, for short 68 Wedding-notice word 70 Basket-weaving materials 71 Home of Gulf State Park 72 Behind-the-counter helper
73 Licorice-flavored quaff 75 ‘‘____ With Marc Maron’’ (popular podcast) 78 Rage
80 Main connection? 81 Some antique furniture 82 Like 100 vis-à-vis 99, say
84 The Trojan priestess Cassandra, e.g. 86 Two-syllable cheer 87 Contest
88 Softened expletive on ‘‘Battlestar Galactica’’ 91 Cutesy ending with most
94 Marijuana compound, for short
97 Some coding statements
98 United
99 Having less vermouth, say
101 Air or Ear ender, in
tech
103 ‘‘____ live and
breathe!’’
106 No longer funny 109 Jay with jokes
110 Does the same as 113 Blood typing, e.g. 114 Runnin’ ____ (N.C.A.A.
basketball team)
115 In and of itself
117 Shining brightly 118 Former Jordanian
queen
119 Formal accessory 122 Text file in a software
package
124 Inundate, as with
work
125 Runner Bolt
126 Like some parking 128 Attract while
exploiting someone’s
weakness
130 Shades
132 Cuts off the flow of 133 ‘‘P.D.Q.’’ in the O.R. 134 Way off the mark 135 Flair
136 Imbibe, old-style 138 Scrooge McDuck, for
one
139 Last word of the New
Testament
140 ‘‘All ____ .?.?. ’’ 141 Chapters in history 144 ‘‘Hunh?’’
145 P