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 politicsIt is Katie’s debut. — W.S.