THE NYT CROSSWORD PUZZLE
ACROSS
1 Chow down on 6 ‘‘Exactly like this’’ 12 Word with mild or well
20 Character often found in children’s books
21 Emotionally process, in modern lingo 22 Repeated cry in 1931’s ‘‘Frankenstein’’ 23 *Perfect curveball? 25 Ivy League city 26 Jam
27 Crucial
28 White coat? 30 Course standards 31 Emergency-room concern
33 *Batting coach’s instruction to a lackadaisical hitter? 37 Habitual drinkers 39 Opposed (to) 40 *Apprentice groundskeepers? 46 Singer/songwriter Parks with the 2021 album ‘‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’’
47 It might get pulled in both directions 50 New York’s Mount ____ Hospital
51 Dark wine grape 52 Part of a heartbeat 54 Diplomatic official: Abbr.
55 Corn core 57 Cancels
60 Alacrity 61 Afternoon socials 63 Where dreams are made 65 *Overenthusiastic description of a routine base hit? 68 Stand-in for Middle America
71 Pair of socks? 72 *Umpire’s aid in judging foul balls? 78 GPS approximation
79 Sgt. and cpl., e.g. 83 Airer of ‘‘Nancy Drew’’
84 Old salt
86 Fury
88 State where M.L.K. marched: Abbr. 89 Some fins
92 King James on a court
94 Do as Henry VI did 96 Letters on some foundations
97 Jumpy sorts, in brief
99 *Long hours of fielding practice? 101 ____ only
103 Tilting
104 *Imperceptible fastball movement? 109 All over the place 113 Jimmy ____ (luxury shoe brand) 114 Scientist buried in Westminster Abbey 115 Pop artist who sings ‘‘Satisfied’’ on ‘‘The Hamilton Mixtape’’
116 New ____ (cap brand)
117 Trouble, metaphorically
120 Ballgame extenders .?.?. and what can literally be found in the answers to the asterisked clues 124 Beekeeper
125 ____ to go
126 RUN-D.M.C. and the Jonas Brothers, for example
127 Bands’ performance sheets
128 Unruffled
129 ____ Domingo
DOWN
1 Bird that can spend up to 10 months in the air without landing
2 Absolute bottom 3 Digital assistant 4 Food packaging abbr., once
5 What’s heard at many a coffeehouse 6 Group sometimes said to be ‘‘out’’ 7 French article 8 Pampering place 9 In use
10 Candle choice 11 Gumbo pods 12 Goddess with a sacred owl 13 Designers’ studios 14 Its capital is Sydney: Abbr.
15 ‘‘Uh-uh’’
16 Go by
17 Compete with 18 Part of EGBDF 19 Places to play cards, often
24 The Daily ____ (online news site) 29 ____ culpa
32 It plays a role in arm-twisting 33 ‘‘Venerable’’ saint 34 Manual readers 35 Air France hub 36 It brought Hope to the world
38 When doubled, a Nabokov protagonist 40 Pre-bar challenge, briefly
41 ‘‘Je t’____’’
42 Org. with Fire and Sparks
43 It was first won by the N.Y. Mets in 1969 44 Snowblower brand 45 Word on some Oreo packages 47 Nothing special 48 Tina Turner, voicewise 49 Goldenrod, e.g. 53 Append 56 Instrument with a flared end
58 Chinese steamed bun
59 Ratio of an angle’s opposite side to the hypotenuse 62 Blueprint details 64 Runs out of juice 66 Eye cream ingredient
67 Symbol on Captain America’s shield 69 Villainous English king in ‘‘Braveheart’’ 70 Outstanding pitcher
72 Former Ford models
73 Seller of Belgian waffles and French toast (fittingly, considering the ‘‘I’’ in its name)
74 Super Soaker Soakzooka brand
75 Like some orders 76 Ancient halls 77 Eldest Stark son on ‘‘Game of Thrones’’ 80 G.I.’S garb, at times 81 Speedskater Johann ____ Koss, winner of four Olympic golds 82 One-named Nigerian Grammy winner 85 Pained sound
87 In the Renaissance, they were known as ‘‘mala insana’’ (‘‘mad apples’’)
90 Baseball’s Gehrig and Piniella
91 Most reliable 93 Russian city on the Ural River 95 Butterlike spread 98 French West
Indies resort island, familiarly
100 Keep from flying, maybe
101 Profession
102 Camera inits. 104 ‘‘With any luck .?.?. ’’
105 Tag line?
106 Fancy pourers 107 Paper route hour, maybe
108 Headliner’s cue 110 Land between Togo and Nigeria 111 Insider’s vocabu- lary
112 Catch with a throw
113 Alternative to Chuck
115 Wistful sound 118 Man’s name that’s 123-Down reversed 119 Stanza contraction 121 Home of the world’s largest carnival
122 Word with red or army
123 Man’s name that’s 118-Down reversedlast year) since 2011. — W.S.