THE NYT CROSSWORD PUZZLE
ACROSS
1 First name in 1990s alternative rock 7 Hall of Fame QB John
12 Showing embarrassment 18 Enormous 20 Target competitor 21 Results of an iron deficiency?
22 Buck, in slang 23 A.P. Stylebook entry that lost its hyphen in 2011
24 Like Constantinople from 1453 to 1922
25 Under the counter, say
27 One on the links? 28 Carpenter’s curve cutter
29 Hagen who wrote ‘‘Respect for Acting’’ 30 Lydic of ‘‘The Daily Show’’
31 Group of connected PCS 32 Nashville attraction, with ‘‘the’’ 33 Dust-up 35 Something you might break into 37 Fedex alternative 38 John Denver’s ‘‘Thank God ____ Country Boy’’ 39 ‘‘Succession’’ family name
40 App used to track fertility
41 Joins a pot 43 Response to ‘‘Are we there yet?’’ 46 With sickly pallor 47 Enjoys a homecooked meal 49 Psychoanalyst Alfred
50 Submitted with Turbotax
52 When ‘‘golden goals’’ are scored, for short
53 Bel ____ cheese 54 Covering for a pomegranate seed 55 Capone adversary, informally 58 Substance originally made with animal fat and wood ash
60 Without much thought
62 Wraps (up) 66 Dirty water inside a ship
68 Home to Millennium Park 72 Swamp creature, informally
73 Brew
74 A bull market it is not!
76 ‘‘Bond. James Bond,’’ e.g. 77 First-and-second bet
79 Existential threat in 2021’s ‘‘Don’t Look Up’’
80 Spoke at length 82 Martini & ____ (beverage brand) 84 Mythical bird 85 Stop on a major tour
86 Gas-station convenience 89 Mozart’s ‘‘Così Fan ____’’
91 Conked out 92 Biden’s signature 2022 legislation addressing rising prices, for short 95 Once-popular rug style
97 Outstanding 101 With ____ to (acknowledging) 102 Bowed
104 Disappear . . . like the circled creatures might do, if not for the 112-/114-Across 106 Dishes
107 Tiny ‘‘canvas’’ on which to paint
109 Shows signs of disuse
110 Mission honored by the ‘‘Fallen Astronaut’’ lunar memorial
112 With 114-Across, conservation law that celebrated its 50th anniversary in December 2023 114 See 112-Across 116 Before now 117 Not fine
118 New ____ 119 Sushi garnish 120 Web portal with a butterfly logo 121 Senator Joni of Iowa
122 Screens, say 123 Some U.K. Lords
DOWN
1 Social media symbols
2 BEFORE: Coupon stipulation
3 Greek heroine tempted by golden apples
4 Salt, symbolically 5 Signed
6 Like Troy in the ‘‘Iliad’’
7 Pull (out), as a win 8 City in San Bernardino County 9 BEFORE: Game with annoying popups?
10 Turns off 11 High-fashion inits. 12 Cardiac conduit 13 Smith who wrote ‘‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’’
14 Country whose national animal is the elephant
15 Member of an elite fighting force 16 BEFORE: Theme park chain
17 QVC alternative 19 BEFORE: Rearend, e.g.
21 BEFORE: Having physical form 26 Bouncy melody 28 Meeting places 29 Basic cable channel 34 Route
36 BEFORE: Begin operating effectively 40 BEFORE: December temp worker
42 I.R.S. ID
44 Like some ancient Greek poetry
45 Cargo
46 Game console that debuted in 2006 48 Mobile platform 51 Loose item at the bottom of a fast-food bag
55 Basic cable channel 56 AFTER: Tiny amount
57 Soccer star ____ Morgan
59 Scoff in Offenbach 61 Scat syllable 63 Suffix with Paul or marion
64 AFTER: Slangy ‘‘Amen’’
65 Broadway letters of success
67 Theme park known for its international food 69 ‘‘Are you ____ out?’’ 70 AFTER: Military pattern
71 Two shakes 72 Brobdingnagian 74 AFTER: Like some statues
75 AFTER: Target of a facial cleanser 78 Houston sch. 81 Back, in a way 83 Langston Hughes poem about racial inequality
85 Baldwin who was the first to play Jack Ryan
86 All together 87 Hordes
88 Philip II of ____, father of Alexander the Great
90 Pinnacle achievement, metaphorically 91 Solar phenomenon 92 How one might bolt upright
93 ‘‘The Future of Law Enforcement,’’ according to a 1987 movie
94 Pop-ups can lead to them
96 AFTER: Actress Rowlands
98 Ooze
99 Some linemen: Abbr.
100 Scatterbrained 101 AFTER:
Shakespearean title starter
103 Get down, so to speak
104 Extract
105 Sails in a zigzag way
106 Cape Colony settlers
108 Assistant of classic film
111 Painter Mondrian 113 Monopoly set, for short
115 Before, to Shakespeare