IT’S ALL ON THE TABLE
Greg Slovacek is a software engineer from San Francisco. This is his first published crossword. He finds puzzle making similar in a way to programming — each involves problem-solving within constraints. He enjoys puzzles that have layers to be uncovered, which is certainly true of today’s. — W. S.
A note on Texas hold’em (useful for completing this puzzle): Players seek to combine up to two of the cards they hold with cards laid out on the table to make the best possible five-card poker hand.
ACROSS
1 Italian almond-flavored
cookies
9 Highland boating spot
13 Thick slices
18 Local at St. Mark’s
Square
19 Put right
21 Bridal path
22 Plant with clusters of
tiny white flowers
23 Come forth
24 Do OK, academically
25 Instinctive
26 Source of the phrase ‘‘Look before you leap’’
28 Opportunity for making professional connections
30 Little cells
31 Traditional Easter
entree
33 MGM rival, once
34 Part of a sword
35 Hurriedly
38 More versed in
esoterica, maybe
41 Reason one might not go out for a long time?
43 ‘‘Forbidden’’
fragrance
46 Biblical verb with
thou
47 One after the other
50 Model Banks
52 Bhutanese bovines
53 Fire-resistant tree
57 Fruit also called
blackthorn
58 Works as a mixologist
60 Raid and plunder
62 Taken (with)
65 Waterworks, e.g.:
Abbr.
66 Zip
69 Put on the map, say
71 Control element in
medical trials
73 Anger
75 Do some hemming,
but not hawing
76 Zip
78 Waters of the world,
figuratively
80 From Serbia or
Croatia, say
81 Anne Hathaway’s role in 2010’s ‘‘Alice in Wonderland’’
83 Actress Perlman of
‘‘Cheers’’
85 Uses a ride-ordering
service
86 Public discussion
venues
88 1975 Wimbledon
winner
90 Daybreaks
92 Roulette bets with
nearly 1:1 odds
94 Old imperial title
96 Steve Martin, Tina Fey and Drew Barrymore, all more than five times
101 Fraser of 1999’s ‘‘The
Mummy’’
103 Groups within
groups
106 100 percent
107 Part of U.S.D.A.:
Abbr.
108 Original first name
of Mickey Mouse
111 It can have a French
or pistol grip
112 What can keep a
bubble from bursting
115 Trumpeter
Armstrong
119 F.D.R. initiative for
workers’ rights
120 Sci-fi author Asimov
121 ‘‘That’s cool, man’’
123 Some loungewear
126 ‘‘Whole ____ Love’’
(Led Zeppelin hit)
127 Artifacts
128 Held in high regard
129 Scornful look
130 Philosopher
Descartes
131 1998 Matt Damon film featuring this puzzle’s game
DOWN
1 Pop culture sister site
of The Onion
2 ‘‘I’m back’’
3 Flowers like marigolds
and petunias
4 Takes on, as a tenant
5 French summer
6 ‘‘____ consummation/ Devoutly to be wish’d’’: Hamlet
7 Yarn
8 Aplenty
9 Apollo vehicle, for
short
10 Legislative vacancy
11 Insertion mark
12 Like a geocentric orbit in which the orbital period is more than 24 hours
13 Wise
14 Actor Schreiber 15 Footnote indicator 16 They might be down
for a nap
17 Economy part
19 Some tow jobs, for
short
20 Aired again
27 Hour, in Italy
29 Resort chain since
1950
30 Tuna type
32 QB stat: Abbr.
35 The Tabard in ‘‘The Canterbury Tales,’’ e.g.
36 They’re picked by the
picky
37 Schleps
39 123-Across’s holding that wins this puzzle’s game
40 Letter starter
42 Indicator on a clock
. . . or one of four in this puzzle?
44 How words may be
recited
45 Language in which ‘‘khoobsurat’’ means
‘‘beautiful’’
48 Frolic
49 ‘‘America’’ singer,
1981
51 Noted sparkling wine
region
53 Some gear for a gig
54 Register ring-up
55 Fore, for the H.M.S.
Pinafore
56 Consume
59 Recycling receptacles 61 Site of a counter
offer?
63 Literature, theater, filmmaking and others
64 Rave attendees, for
example
66 ____ the way
67 Title meaning
‘‘commander’’
68 Benching targets,
informally
70 Statistics, e.g.
72 Home of Iolani Palace
74 Place to wear goggles 77 Cardinal point?
79 Good judgment
81 Small songbird
82 Fireplaces
84 Em or Bee, e.g.
86 Missouri site of 2014
civil rights protests
87 Think too highly of
89 Entering gingerly
91 Counterpart of ‘‘Thx’’
93 Humphrey Bogart
role
95 Common component
of a tiki-bar cocktail 97 Honest and caring
98 Diana Ross, once
99 One picking up the
tab
100 Spot
101 ‘‘Purple’’ and ‘‘Thai’’
herbs
102 Polite refusal
104 Big swigs
105 Sign of a full house
109 Public-transit
customer
110 Patterned fabric
113 Kismet 114 Place to dine on a
train
116 Account creator,
maybe
117 ‘‘____ Excited’’ (Pointer Sisters
song)
118 Yearly January
speech to Congress: Abbr.
122 Chill
124 Give new hope to
125 1960s campus
activist grp.