THE NYT CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Note: Standing between you and the score of a lifetime are the seven locks of this safe. After completing the puzzle, rotate each dial 90 degrees, 180 degrees or 270 degrees to the only other position that forms four valid crossword answers. The new letters in the 12 o’clock (circled) positions will spell out an appropriate exclamation.
ACROSS
1 Sta symbol
6 Items on the backs of some Jeeps
13 Test pilot’s attire 18 Bedridden 20 Creditor, in legalese 21 Champion boxer Errol ____ Jr.
22 Once or twice 23 Like Mary Shelley when she wrote ‘‘Frankenstein’’ 24 Marketing expenditure
25 Bearing
26 Natural source of rubber
27 County that’s home to the White Cli s of Dover
28 Unimpressed 29 Sheet under a tent 30 Sharp pain
31 Major vessel 32 Chinese ____ (bonsai choice) 34 Rhyme for ‘‘away’’ in ‘‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’’ 35 Agent Deirdre Beaubeirdre’s org. in ‘‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’’
37 No. on a résumé 38 Ewes’ guys 40 ‘‘Invisible hand’’ subj.
42 Quattro e quattro 44 President during the Mexican-American War 45 Ice-cream shop employee, e.g. 47 Shakespearean misanthrope
51 Small Southwestern birds of prey
53 ‘‘ e Harlequin’s Carnival’’ painter 54 Nickname for a British relative 55 Brouhahas
56 Buds
59 Ben who starred in Broadway’s ‘‘Dear Evan Hansen’’
61 Role for Michelle Williams in ‘‘ e Fabelmans’’
65 Wordle player’s pride
66 ‘‘Who, me?’’ 67 Partner ship? 68 Belief
69 ‘‘____ magic!’’ 71 Title pig of kids’ TV 74 Schmear topper 75 Annoying bot
79 ey have the Guinness distinction of Longest Running Fan Club for a Group 80 Work like the devil? 84 ‘‘Who, me?’’ response 86 Pixy Stix containers 88 Carpentry vise 91 ____ service 92 Percival of legend, for one
93 Mystical Buddhist text
97 Minecra material 98 Cooper’s tool 100 Folder ap
102 End of a sports movie, o en
103 Advance
104 Block (up)
105 Some four-year degs.
107 Letters that sound out a sentence
108 First-rate
109 Playful hit
111 Speculative ction subgenre that envisions a sustainable-energy future
115 Limited number 116 Bitter-tasting salad ingredient 119 Fun facts
120 Sophisticated 122 Farm machine 123 French form of ‘‘Stephen’’
124 Area 51 sighting 125 ‘‘C’mon, you’ll love it!’’
126 ‘‘And ____ . . .’’ 127 Celebration in late January or early February
128 Tweaks
DOWN
1 Ascends with one’s hands and feet 2 Escalade, e.g.
3 Blanks’ opposite 4 Shangri-las
5 Hair of the dog
6 ‘‘See ya later’’
7 Not normal
8 Like beach towns in the winter
9 Cannes subject 10 Tennis great known as ‘‘the Punisher’’ 11 Former name of the electron
12 Ignore, as a shortcoming 13 Application g. 14 Casio rival
15 Shore hazard
16 ‘‘ at much is obvious’’
17 Speeches with an 18-minute limit 19 Channel with on-air fund-raising
21 Mole, e.g.a
33 Taunt
36 Shout at an auction 39 1916 battle site, with ‘‘the’’
41 Boast
43 Blue-green 44 Hypothesize
46 City on the Arno 48 Taking the place (of ) 49 ‘‘Here’s looking at you, kid’’?
50 Like old audiobooks 52 Why some app users check their noti cations constantly, for short
56 Several CBS dramas 57 Link letters
58 ____ Major 59 Classroom surprise 60 Passage of a planet across a star, e.g. 62 Noted export of Portugal
63 Common eld-trip destinations
64 ‘‘Need You Tonight’’ band, 1987
70 Blubber
72 Stew tidbit 73 E.M.T.’s technique 76 One-named singer on 1998’s ‘‘Ghetto Supastar’’
77 Distracted Boyfriend, e.g.
78 One of Eleven’s powers on ‘‘Stranger
ings’’
81 ____ milk
82 Gi on the seventh day of Christmas
83 Mr. Burns supposedly received the second one ever on ‘‘ e Simpsons’’: Abbr. 85 What Tom and Daisy embody in ‘‘ Great Gatsby’’
87 Gi for an aspiring conductor
88 Last name in latenight
89 Ol’ Blue Eyes, e.g. 90 Quadrennial occurrence
94 District attorney turned Batman foe 95 Ethylene gas, to tomatoes
96 Key components 98 Some batteries 99 Ginormous
101 ____ choy
105 row in the towel 106 Didn’t save 110 Appliance that may self-clean 112 Renaissance instrument
113 ____ Reader 114 Kind of tradition 117 N.Y.S.E. debut 118 Afore
120 Letters on the Saturn V rocket 121 Protester’s word