Crossword: Exercise your brain

Laura Taylor Kinnel, of Newtown, Pa., teaches math and is the director of studies at a Friends boarding school near Philadelphia. Since her last puzzle appeared in March, she has spent lots of time with colleagues developing best methods and new processes for remote learning. Laura remarks that she was sitting and conducting classes from home in the same spot where she normally makes crosswords! — W.S.

ACROSS

1 1/48 of a cup: Abbr.

4 Ad Council offerings, for short

8 Home of the Kaaba 13 Spartan 17 ‘‘The Problem With ____’’ (2017 documentary)

18 Orator’s platform

19 ‘‘Never meet your ____’’ (maxim) 20 Less wild 21 Done working: Abbr.

22 About which you might always say, ‘‘Bee prepared’’?

23 They take the form of self-flying paper airplanes in the Harry Potter books

24 Topping for a 25-Across

25 Piece of cake, say

27 Improv-class exercises

29 Kids 30 Without aim 31 Mob

33 Fish whose males bear the young 35 Evening gala 37 Note-taking spot?

38 Sustained period of luck, as with dice 39 Litter critter 40 Floor-plan unit 42 Restless desire 46 What Franklin famously asked for 49 Floor-plan spec 50 Blog-feed inits. 52 Debtor’s letters 53 Email holder 54 Something lent to a friend

55 Set of skills, metaphorically

57 Father of Scout, in ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’ 59 Declare 61 Best-actor winner Malek

63 Normandy battle site

65 Wads

66 Last dance? 69 Managed an unmanageable group, figuratively

72 Wonder Woman accessory 73 Aware of 75 Playroom chest 76 Downwind 77 They’re worn on heads with tails 79 Store

81 Was first

83 Ka ____ (southernmost point on Hawaii)

84 Prefix with -graph

85 Run on 86 Singer Brickell 87 Believed something without question

89 Commercial lead-in to land

91 Elizabeth Warren vis-à-vis former chief justice Earl Warren, e.g.

95 It’s frequently under fire 96 Prepare to bathe 98 Olivia Benson’s division on TV: Abbr.

99 Conditional word

102 Expressively creative

104 First of the metalloids 106 Border 107 Flight recorder 108 ____ complex 111 A much greater quantity

113 Lead-in to fit or active

114 ____ New Guinea 115 Foreword 117 Org. that kicked off again in 2020 after a 19-year hiatus

118 Studio behind ‘‘Platoon’’ and ‘‘Amadeus’’

119 Salary negotiator

120 Adversary 121 Embodiment of slipperiness

122 Word before or after short

123 One of the six simple machines 124 State pair: Abbr. 125 Mrs., in Mexico

DOWN

Transportation for the Doctor on ‘‘Doctor Who’’ 2 Small suit 3 Tries to make the unappealing attractive 4 Eeyore-ish sentiment 5 Stocking stuffer 6 Donkey Kong, e.g.

7 Imbroglios 8 Play charades 9 Setting for a Sistine Chapel painting 10 Results from 11 Near 12 ‘‘Methought I was enamour’d of an ____’’ : Titania 13 Brand of rum 14 Improper 15 Best-actress winner Zellweger

16 Tiny fractions of joules

18 ‘‘____ Would Be King,’’ 2018 novel by Wayétu Moore 20 Attach, in a way 26 Stack topper 28 Iconic Chevy 29 ‘‘You nailed it!’’ 32 ____ page 34 Spanish ‘‘now’’ 36 Olympic pentathlete’s need 38 Well-being 40 Purse part 41 Flying Clouds and Royales

43 Be fully qualified .?.?. or a hint to this puzzle’s theme

44 Author of ‘‘The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure’’

45 Czech reformer

Jan

46 Coastal inlets 47 It might get a licking

48 Combination meant to change behavior 51 Starter earring 56 Play piano, informally

58 Machu Picchu builder

60 Something frequently made with the eyes shut

62 X-ray alternative, maybe

64 Spanish treasure 67 Anthem starter 68 Businesses with a portmanteau name

70 ‘‘It Ain’t Me Babe’’ songwriter

71 Percolate 74 Zip

77 No. in a directory

78 Wimbledon wear, perhaps

80 Chooses not to act

82 Academia figure

88 It follows the Hijri calendar

90 Protruding bit of bedrock

92 Form a new mental picture of 93 Got away 94 Sharing word 97 Canon competitor

99 Leaves weaponless

100 One participating in a new Summer Olympics sport in 2021 101 Fashion designer McCartney 102 Heads-up 103 Two to one, say

105 Time and again 107 Warner ____ 109 Like the Liberty Bell in 1846, for the last time

110 Big name in British art

112 Hall-ofFame catcher Campanella 114 Print maker 116 Tulsa-to-Des Moines dir.