THE NYT CROSSWORD PUZZLE
HOW SWEET IT IS! By Michael Paleos Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz
ACROSS 1 Iraq War concern, in brief
4 An earl outranks him 9 Billiards maneuver
14 Exclaim
“@#%!”
19 Tilling tool 20 QB defenders, collectively 21 Relating to a certain arm bone 22 ____ Kenyatta, president of Kenya starting in 2013 23 Something set by a stove
25 Year of the final flight of the Concordes 26 French-speaking African nation 27 Eyedropper, essentially 28 Submission to a record label, once
30 Rodeo loop 31 Accessory with a bass drum 32 Major fuss 33 Wedding bands?
34 Way out there 38 Hand over 39 Take a mulligan on
40 “<<” button: Abbr.
41 Ricochet like a hockey puck 43 To a certain extent, colloquially
45 Ad phrase indicating higher pricing tiers 49 Amtrak stop: Abbr. 50 Infomercial imperative
52 Pill bug, biologically
54 Intake suggestion, briefly 55 Unlock, to Shakespeare 56 Third-longest river in Europe, after the Volga and Danube 58 Tear to shreds 59 Partner of 46Down in the frozen-food business 60 Brown seaweeds 63 U.S. island owned almost entirely by the billionaire Larry Ellison 65 Manic-looking, in a way 67 Neutral response from a therapist 68 Pattern once used for hospital volunteer uniforms, with a hint to this puzzle’s theme
70 Loser of a beauty contest, in myth
71 Birds known to mimic car alarms and human speech 73 Graduate’s “honor” 74 Carousel mount, to a tot 75 Mark of a scam artist
76 Hooked on 77 Laura of “Big Little Lies” 78 Emulate Johnny Appleseed 79 H, to Hellenes 80 “Ya dig?” in more modern slang
82 Get up in the face of
85 Emma Stone’s role in “La La Land” 88 Protagonist in Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” 90 Skate-park features
92 Place for regulars
93 Handel’s “____, Galatea e Polifemo” 94 Glenn Frey’s “The Heat ____” 96 Bad thing to come up in a title search
98 Total failure 100 Important members of the community, so to speak
103 Where menisci are found 105 What socks usually do
106 Bitter green 107 Regards covetously 108 Display piece for tchotchkes 110 Virtual sticky 111 Battling it out 112 Boondocks 114 One of 11 in a Christmas carol 115 Provide an address
116 French novelist Zola
117 Bit
118 Company that once offered “the Thrift Book of a Nation” 119 Excited, with “up”
120 Foil alternatives
121 Meditative syllables DOWN 1 Big fat lies 2 Where you might need to get a grip
3 In one’s heart of hearts
4 Pop covers 5 Stopped a flight 6 Frosty encrustation
7 Its square equals its square root 8 Types who think school is too cool
9 They’re kept under wraps for a long time
10 Nut extract used in skin care 11 Derisive chuckles
12 Didn’t just hint at
13 Verdi’s “____ tu”
14 Gold digger’s goldmine
15 Alma mater of Tesla’s Elon Musk
16 Jazzman Blake 17 Like a crowd when the headliner takes the stage 18 Pipsqueaks 24 Like some servings of Scotch 29 “You get the idea”
30 New Guinea port that was Amelia Earhart’s last known point of departure 33 Large, purple Hanna-Barbera character 35 Campaign … or a campaign topic
36 Original
N.Y.C. subway line
37 Nonpro 42 Heaps 44 Steamy 46 Partner of 59-Across in the frozen-food business
47 Dairy sources 48 Biweekly occurrence, for many
51 Actress Fay of the original “King Kong”
53 Neuf + deux 55 Abbr. between *and# 57 Separation at a wedding? 60 What x’s sometimes represent
61 Executor’s charge
62 Pounce on, as an opportunity 63 The “two” in “two if by sea” 64 Portuguesespeaking African nation
65 What lettuce lends to a sandwich
66 Popular D.I.Y. site
68 Endeavor recognized by the César awards 69 Reid of “The Big Lebowski” 72 They come through when you need them most
74 Total stunners 77 Sketch out 78 W-2 IDs
81 Its closest neighbor is Andromeda
83 Mr. Wrong 84 All-vowel avowal
85 Carry some relevance for 86 Mode, on a menu 87 Scatterbrains 89 Neon marker 91 Is blinded by rage
95 Cent : euro :: ____ : krona 97 Modern, in Munich 99 Epic narrative 100 Tiny objections
101 What many a navel-gazer gazes at
102 Treatment for Parkinson’s 104 Jag
107 Word repeated in “____ ou ne pas ____” 108 Lake bordered by four states and a province
109 Yarn
111 Just ducky 113 Person who might call you out