TODDLER TALK
Katie Hale, of London, and Christina Iverson, of Ames, Iowa, are stay-at-home moms. Katie is also co-founder of a community organization that recycles children’s books. They connected online after Katie read about Christina’s first Times puzzle and reached out for mentoring. This is Christina’s seventh crossword for the paper. It is Katie’s debut. — W.S. ACROSS
1 Unloading point
5 Trait for a ballerina
10 ‘‘Wanna hear a
secret?’’ preceder
14 Not much
18 The ‘‘O’’ of OWN
20 Portrayer of Captain
Davies in ‘‘Roots’’
21 Bind with rope
22 Abacus column
23 Helpful
24 Accept payment from
Batman?
27 Eponymous Irish city
29 ____ pickle
30 Counterparts of
faunas
31 Cause for celebration at a pachyderm sanctuary?
36 ____ lecithin
(chocolate additive) 37 What most pens can’t
do
38 Jane portrayer in 1981’s ‘‘Tarzan, the Ape Man’’
41 Worry about,
informally
45 Flip (out)
46 Rock band that you might think would always be an opening act, with ‘‘the’’?
48 Ex-Giants QB
Manning
49 Finish scooping out a
big stir-fry? 54 Signal approval
55 Inexplicably missing,
say
56 Brontë who wrote
‘‘Agnes Grey’’
57 Target of permethrin
cream
58 Not very convincing
60 Highly skilled
61 Rare race outcome
63 Unimaginative
birthday gift
64 Is stertorous
65 Puritan’s goal in
17th-century Salem?
69 Changes topics in a
debate, perhaps
73 Scrapes (out)
74 The Rose Bowl, e.g.
79 Czar who co-ruled
with Peter I
80 Goes head to head
81 Indiana athlete
83 Sunburn soother
84 Specialist publication,
for short
85 Monopolize
86 Something a Parmesan vendor might offer?
89 Unflappable state of
mind
90 Baron Cohen of film
92 One of all fours?
93 Container words
94 2019 film whose title
means ‘‘to the stars’’
96 A dance and a dip
98 Cartoondom’s Olive
____
100 What a stoner actor smoked during rehearsal?
107 Beginning and end of ‘‘America’’
109 ‘‘Ha-ha!’’
110 Noise heard during the London Blitz 111 Domain for Jameson and Maker’s Mark? 116 Curl target, informally
117 Manual alternative
118 Soul singer Bridges
119 Bank investment?
120 Spanish dagger or Adam’s needle is a variety of it
121 New York football team, informally
122 Apt rhyme for ‘‘crude’’ and ‘‘rude’’ 123 It may need to be broken to move 124 Lucretia ____, abolitionist and women’s rights advocate
DOWN
1 Childbirth assistant
2 Choose to participate
3 Concern for Superman
4 Superman’s birth name
5 Like many a teenage
boy’s facial hair
6 First Asian tennis player to be ranked No. 1 in singles
7 Press
8 Bishop’s jurisdiction
9 Long period
10 Like some evidence
and bulbs
11 Doctor’s order
12 I.R.S. ID
13 Live broadcast no-no
14 In
15 One creating draft
after draft?
16 Andean empire
member
17 Some clicks of the
tongue
19 Slice of toast?
25 Comes out ahead
26 Dolts
28 Market launch, for
short
32 Amphibians that may
have toxic skin
33 Clichéd
34 Shakespeare villain with more lines than the title character
35 Kindle download
39 Skip the big
ceremony, say
40 They’re found around
Scots
41 Bony fish with prized
eggs
42 ‘‘Bottled poetry,’’ according to Robert Louis Stevenson 43 Active Sicilian
volcano
44 Filled with wonder
47 Without concrete
evidence
50 ‘‘Ad Parnassum’’ and ‘‘Fish Magic,’’ for two
51 Metaphor for a shared
experience
52 Be more important
than
53 Exaggerated kiss
sound
55 Fuss
59 Legal title: Abbr.
60 He wrote lyrics to ‘‘My Way’’ for Sinatra
62 Channel with a lot of house renovation shows
63 Keeps in the loop, in a way
64 Give a start
66 Prez with a rhyming
campaign slogan
67 Lab work
68 Cause of some brain
freeze
69 It comes in California and New York styles 70 Covered in vines
71 Celebrity who holds the Guinness world record for ‘‘Most Frequent Clapper’’
72 Half and half ?
75 Gallivants
76 On the safe side
77 Ancient kingdom in
modern-day Jordan
78 Elusive, in a way
80 Words to learn,
briefly
81 In itself: Lat.
82 ‘‘Oh, come on!’’
85 Aggressive pitch 87 Physically fit
88 Rock song?
90 Big cut of tuna
91 Fill with wonder
95 Attaches, as a button
97 Some shop tools
98 ‘‘Now it makes
sense!’’
99 ‘‘____ So Bad’’ (Tom Petty song)
101 Flying ____ drop (pro wrestling move)
102 Shocks, in a way 103 Hip bone
104 Classic brand of
wafers
105 Upright
106 The Apostle of Ireland, familiarly 107 It might come in a branded tote bag
108 Buddy
112 ‘‘____-haw!’’
113 Laid up
114 Formerly called
115 Perón of politics