New York Times Crossword Puzzle
RISE TO THE CHALLENGE
ACROSS
1 Like the protagonist at the start of ‘‘28 Days Later’’ 8 –
14 Lady Macduff, e.g. 18 Group of fighters
19 One way to recoil 21 Male deer
22 ‘‘My ____’’ (No. 1 hit
for the Knack)
23 One of the two main
branches of Buddhism 24 N.B.A. All-Star Gobert 25 *Worker with a brush
[three rungs]
27 Fuel option
29 ‘‘Ciao!’’
32 Completely pooped 33 –
38 A.C.C. school
39 Place with counselors 40 Maker of Pilots and
Passports
41 Team ____
42 ‘‘____ Canto’’ (2001
Ann Patchett novel) 43 Structure resembling a
pergola
45 –
47 Airport with a BART
station
50 Mail, e.g.
52 Otis who founded the Otis Elevator Company
54 Expelled from the body 56 *Captain with a
periscope [four rungs] 58 Some military wear,
informally
60 Carpet specification 61 Former make of Ford 62 [I’m frustrated!]
63 Lab eggs
64 Animation and
sculpting, for two 65 Advances through corporate ranks ... and what the answer to each starred clue in this puzzle does 71 ‘‘Mon ____!’’
74 Singer Grande, to fans 75 Center
76 Celebrity gossip show with an exclamation point in its title 79 Map inits. until 1991 80 Pest control brand
81 –
84 ‘‘Really good work!’’ 86 Sung by a group 87 Writer known for his anthropomorphic animal characters 89 ‘‘When r u coming?’’ 90 *Seasonal orchard
worker [eight rungs] 93 Staple of Dutch Golden
Age art
95 Feeling while watching a volcanic eruption, perhaps
96 According to 98 Narwhal’s tusk, actually 99 Pleasant speech
cadence
100 Pen that aptly rhymes
with ‘‘click’’
101 *Worker for AT&T or
Verizon [four rungs] 103 Common wall mirror
shape
104 Sound on Old
MacDonald’s farm 105 Chicken scratch
106 –
109 Worker who probably
isn’t paid enough 110 Really, really spicy 115 1/100 of a franc
119 Dirt clump
120 Googles, e.g.
121 Like people in crowds, whether intentionally or not
122 Donations for the
needy
123 *One putting a coat on
outside [three rungs] 124 Surreptitious assents
DOWN
1 Communications on
Slack, e.g.
2 Org. funding Covid-19
research
3 In the manner of 4 Roughly
5 ‘‘Then again ... ,’’ in a
tweet 6 Upscale-hotel-room
fixture
7 One calling for a tow,
maybe
8 Visual depiction of the apparatus used by the starred professionals 9 ‘‘____ wise guy, eh?’’ 10 Like some humor 11 Important stretch 12 Stretch longer than an
11-Across
13 Mario who founded a
fashion empire 14 Snowboards well,
informally 15 Rabble-rouse 16 Something taken by a
waiter
17 ‘‘Cya!’’
19 ‘‘How ____ Your
Mother’’
20 Con’s vote
26 Mafia : Sicilia ::
Camorra : ____ 28 Harden
29 Latin for ‘‘trumpet’’ 30 Disinclined
31 Temple text
34 Beach in Rio de
Janeiro, informally 35 ‘‘From now ____ won’t be hanging around’’ (bluegrass lyric) 36 1600, in ancient Rome 37 Tick off 39 ____-by-the-Sea, Calif. 44 Welcomes, as the new
year
46 Narcissist’s treasure 48 Perceived
49 Output from Sappho 51 Cloud
53 Adjustable bike part 55 ‘‘I don’t wanna hear it’’ 57 Boxer Laila
58 Stephen who said: ‘‘Think books aren’t scary? Well, think about this: You can’t spell ‘Book’ without ‘Boo!’’’
59 Director DuVernay 66 Play title that superstitious actors avoid saying aloud in theaters 67 Certain sib
68 Currency to which the Maltese scudo is pegged
69 Opus ____ 70 Hypnotized, say
71 Sci-fi novel made into
films in 1984 and 2021 72 Skeptical reply to
‘‘That’s true’’ 73 Activity one tries to get
out of?
77 Sushi condiment 78 Strand, perhaps
80 ‘‘Silly me!’’
82 Pope of 1963-78 83 Government bonds? 85 Preppy clothing brand 86 Ending with leuko- or
oo88 Quick kiss
91 One with a marsupium,
affectionately 92 Bacardi, e.g., in México 94 Threat from a squealer 97 Antelopes with twisty
horns
101 Immune system agent 102 Like luxurious pillows 103 Breakfast that may be
prepared overnight 104 Former N.F.L. QB Kyle 105 Pet rescue org.
107 ‘‘The Black Cat’’ author 108 Genderqueer identity 111 Soccer star Messi,
familiarly
112 Delta ____ Chi, house
in ‘‘Animal House’’ 113 B&O and Reading:
Abbr.
114 Either half of pocket
rockets, in poker slang 116 ____ Jima
117 Rx from a doc, e.g. 118 Newsroom heads, for
short