New York Times Crossword
Howard Barkin, of Hillsborough, N.J., is a software quality-assurance specialist. He has been making crosswords for The Times since 2014. The theme of this one started when he was driving one day and 15-Down ‘‘randomly came to mind’’ — which maybe reveals something about Howard psychologically? (Solve the puzzle to see.) But don’t judge. Traffic in New Jersey can be vicious. — W.S.
ACROSS
1 Like ‘‘American Pie,’’ ‘‘American Psycho’’ and ‘‘American Beauty’’
7 Proposed portrait for the $20 bill
13 Like sports fans who paint their faces, say
18 Drink with tapioca pearls
19 Peach relative
21 Run off (with)
22 Upbeat sentry’s emotion?
24 Many, informally
25 Regarding
26 More, on a music score
27 Auspice
28 King’s collaborator on the Grammywinning blues album ‘‘Riding With the King’’
30 Take the next step in an online relationship
31 Actress Blanchett
33 Scotland’s ____ Lomond
35 Winter Olympics maneuver
36 Some H.S. yearbook staff
37 Bacteriologist’s emotion upon a new discovery?
40 Jess’s best friend on TV’s ‘‘New Girl’’
43 Glib
44 Maker of Regenerist skin cream
45 Any member of BTS, e.g.
47 Pellet shooter
50 What Kit Kat bars come in
51 ‘‘I’m glad to hear it’’
53 It’s full of hot air
54 Mongolian shelters
55 Novice window washer’s emotion?
58 Scathing review
59 Complete set of showbiz awards, for short
60 Clownish
61 Really play that saxophone
62 Egypt’s Sadat
64 Powerhouse in international men’s ice hockey
66 Haul away
67 Art gallery tour leader
68 No. 46
69 Modern reading option . . . or where to read it?
71 ____ Building, Boston’s first skyscraper
73 Apt anagram of GIFT
75 Brownish-gray
76 Jester’s emotion after the king’s laughter?
79 Like Ignatius J. Reilly in ‘‘A Confederacy of Dunces’’
80 English-speaking
82 A fan of
83 Dionysian ritual
84 Ashleigh ____, 2019 French Open champion
85 Apathetic
87 Duchess of ____ (Goya model)
88 One-named winner of the 2021 Grammy for Song of the Year
89 Notation on a party invite
90 Wild horse’s emotion?
94 Huge tub
97 One who’s able to rattle off digits of pi, perhaps
99 Wine: Prefix
100 Like Eeyore
101 Hard-to-please type
102 Result of a snow day
105 Eddie Murphy’s org. in ‘‘48 Hrs.’’
107 Lifelike video game, for short
108 A mighty long time
109 ÷ and †, in typography
110 Cat’s emotion while sitting in its human’s lap?
114 Stuck
115 Brazilian beach made famous in song
116 Coming or going
117 Hits the paper airplane icon, perhaps
118 PC support group
119 Blocks
DOWN
1 Fired up
2 Quiets down
3 Wheel of Fortune’s place
4 Airport info, for short
5 Lesser-known song
6 Kind of tire
7 Pay with a chip-based credit card, perhaps 8 As much as
9 Actor Wilford of ‘‘The Natural’’
10 Old-style copies
11 Easy as pie
12 Column of boxes on a questionnaire
13 ‘‘Chill out!’’
14 Hair loss
15 Evil genie’s emotion?
16 ____ facto
17 ‘‘MacGyver’’ actor Richard ____ Anderson
18 Subpar athletic effort
20 Cable option for film buffs
23 Relentlessly competitive
29 Death Valley was once one
32 The Gettysburg Address, e.g.
34 Massage therapist’s substance
37 Some recyclables
38 Jumping the gun
39 Turn over
41 One might take you in
42 Gusto
43 Finished a hole
46 Justin Timberlake’s former group
47 When said three times, hit song for 46-Down
48 Famous toon with a Brooklyn accent
49 Farmer’s emotion during a dry season?
50 As compared to
51 Eat (at)
52 Commercial lead-in to Clean
56 Responded to the alarm
57 New Mexico art hub
60 One of his paradoxes claims that two objects can never really touch
63 Home mixologist’s spot
65 Interior design
66 Big name in lawn care
67 Oppose
69 Silk Road city near
the East China Sea
70 What ‘‘10’’ might mean: Abbr.
71 Sleeping spot for a
guest, maybe
72 It’s way above the recommended amount
74 Youngest recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (2010)
75 Apply sloppily
77 St. Cloud State University’s state: Abbr.
78 Laze
79 Follow
81 Identified, in Ipswich
86 Birth-control options
87 Rescue dog, e.g.
88 Estrogen or testosterone
91 Move from aisle to window, maybe
92 Recent delivery
93 Took steroids, informally
94 Brio, to Brits
95 Staves off
96 Auditory: sound :: gustatory: ____
98 Bursts in on
101 Willem of the ‘‘Spider-Man’’ series
102 Delicious food, in modern slang
103 Theatrical award
104 Nobel pursuit?: Abbr.
106 Putin’s parliament
111 N.Y. tech school
112 Castle door destroyer
113 Actor who was once crowned ‘‘America’s Toughest Bouncer’’