PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE
ACROSS
1 Spicy cured brisket 9 Competitive cowboy contests, informally
17 Roads: Abbr. 20 Trash-filled lots, e.g. 21 Distinctive feature of “DeVito”
22 “The Simpsons” barkeeper 23 2021 animated film featuring search-and-rescue dogs
25 Veneration 26 Light-splitting thing 27 Roman 901
28 That lady
29 Ticked off
31 Jillian of TV
32 High-end retail chain, informally
36 Shaq’s sport
37 2022 Marvel film with Chris Hemsworth
43 Last part of some plays 46 It’s close to Cedar Rapids 47 Ear: Prefix
48 2017 superhero film with Gal Gadot
52 Top of a “j”
53 Italian wine, for short 54 First-aid plants
55 — out a living
56 2013 superhero film with Henry Cavill
59 Goes bad
60 Navratilova of tennis 63 Texter’s hugs
64 Previous to
65 2015 sci-fi film with a dinosaur theme
69 “NCIS” airer
72 Brooch
73 Rescued person’s cry 74 Like limes
75 2014 fantasy film with Angelina Jolie
81 Brit. mil. fliers
82 Old Aegean region
83 Ever and —
84 Pub potable 85 2019 animated musical film set in Pride Rock 88 NBC show since ’75 89 Lie out to tan
92 Just so
93 2018 space Western film with Alden Ehrenreich 98 Chicken — masala 99 Dessert with a cookie crust
100 Pic that may be on a pec 103 Slip up a bit
104 “That hurts!”
107 [not my typo]
108 Bluish purple
110 Skater Midori
111 What each of eight long answers in this puzzle was 117 Agent, briefly
118 Heighten
119 Ballot casters
120 Radio spots
121 Not crying
122 Fish that swims upright
DOWN
1 Pig in a kids’ TV series 2 Spin — (do some taletelling)
3 Attach, as a coat lining 4 Dosage qtys.
5 Gad about
6 Craft
7 “Laura” lyricist Johnny 8 Brand of infant formula 9 Tax rate fig.
10 Rally cheer
11 Unlock, to a bard
12 Cup edges 13 “Conversely,” to a texter 14 Foo Fighters guitarist Grohl
15 Manning of the gridiron 16 Purchase in excess 17 Little bit of medicine 18 Wet wipe
19 Fruit core bit
24 Car for a VIP 30 Filmdom’s McKellen 32 “The Maltese Falcon” genre
33 Athletic shoe brand
34 An inert gas
35 Wood cutter
36 Food preservative abbr. 37 Ocean motions
38 Goes fast, old-style
39 Zip, in Spain
40 Brand of rodenticide 41 Latin jazz great Puente 42 Muddy up
43 Clued in
44 Palette option 45 Govt.-issued bond 49 Erode (away)
50 Cajun veggie
51 1986 Series winners
53 — Z (the gamut) 56 Non-PC computers 57 Origami feature
58 Apply turf to
60 Local bond, for short 61 “That so?”
62 Takeaway logic game 65 Brand of peanut butter 66 Ending for silver or stem 67 Ellipsoidal
68 Mortgage deal, for short 69 “Zip your lip!”
70 Pickling need
71 Theater part
72 Writer’s tool
74 Fine sweet wine
75 Swarm
76 Marked with comments 77 Suckers
78 Is unable to
79 Idris of “The Dark Tower” 80 Close at hand
82 “Are you — out?” 85 “There’s gold in them — hills!”
86 At this spot
87 Siouan people
89 Group of vessels for serving rice wine
90 D.C.’s home 91 Binary base
94 Approves of 95 Middling
96 Livens (up)
97 Stir to laughter
100 Private teacher
101 States boldly
102 Curt
103 Pre-euro coin
104 Community rec center 105 Sharif of film
106 In fine health
108 A lot
109 In re
112 Purpose
113 “Norma —”
114 “Butter” K-pop group 115 The, in Arles
116 Arthur of “Maude”