BLANK EXPRESSIONS
Brandon Koppy works for a digital ad agency in Austin, Texas. His daughters are 2 and 4 years old — which he calls “black-hole ages” that seem to consume all his time. This puzzle started with a general idea and a title (above). 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-thecounter 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
Answers will be printed in next week’s crossword puzzle page.