NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Tracy Gray lives in Sparks, Md., near Baltimore, where she and her husband own and operate a lawn-and-landscaping business. Tom Pepper lives in Eden Prairie, Minn., next door to Edina, of crossword fame. In April he plans to retire from his position of finance director for the city of Eagan after 29 years. Tracy and Tom met at a crossword tournament several years ago and have been exchanging theme ideas ever since. — W.S.

ACROSS

1 Getting warm, so to speak 6 It was established by a 1926 royal charter 9 Ulan ____, Mongolia 14 Be against 18 Send, as payment 19 No. 1 of 50, alphabetically: Abbr. 20 Former basketball star Gilbert . . . or the places he played 22 Garb in a duck blind, informally 23 Way into a garage, typically 25 California wine region 26 Road-trip guessing game 27 Freak (out) 28 Tennis star who won at least one Grand Slam title for a record 13 straight years 29 Initialism that can include an ‘‘h’’ for ‘‘humble’’ 30 Old-timey ‘‘OMG!’’ 32 GPS guess 33 Variables in πr? and 2πr 34 Nickelodeon competitor 38 Bagless-vacuum maker 40 Savvy couple? 42 ____ the Kid, nickname for N.H.L. star Crosby

43 Party game similar to Catch Phrase 44 Grows increasingly more irksome 47 Starbucks sizes smaller than grandes 49 Dove bar, e.g. 50 Given as a bequest 52 Suffix with mega- or multi54 Ones making strong impressions? 56 ‘‘Je t’____’’ (words from a beau) 57 Prince Andrew’s younger daughter 60 On the main 61 Prominent women’s rights lawyer 63 Member of an Iraqi minority 65 Obscure knowledge 70 Violent, maybe 71 Certain laundrydetergent capsule 73 Causing constriction of the pupils 74 Nailed the test 75 007’s alma mater 76 Visual phenomenon created by short flashes of light 78 Linguist Chomsky 80 Dense fog, metaphorically 82 When repeated, a Hawaiian fish 83 Major utility pipeline 87 Whimper

88 It has its pros and cons 90 Part of P.R. 91 Far from wild 93 Pesto ingredient 96 For one purpose only

98 Org. that takes many forms 99 Five-star 100 Quark-antiquark combo 104 Some entertainers at children’s birthday parties 107 Europe’s longest river 110 Trouble

111 O icon 112 Western Hemisphere grp. 113 Legendary firefighter Red 114 Curler’s surface 115 Kind of palm cultivated for its fruit

117 Prove wrong 119 Awards show that airs at night, ironically 121 Part of une éclipse 122 Submits an online return 123 Brown. ender

124 “

125 What’s more, it’s said

126 Down stream? 127 Easy target 128 Buddy of ‘‘The Beverly Hillbillies’’

DOWN

1 Sang one’s own praises 2 Humor regarding a serious matter

3 ‘‘w’’-like letters 4 Anthony Hopkins, for one 5 Wi-Fi alternative 6 Complained about getting fleeced? 7 Subject of a Sleeves Up campaign 8 French luxury jeweler 9 ABCs 10 Lead-in to therapy 11 Jazz instrument pitched in the key of B flat 12 Peace activist Yoko 13 Classic dormroom meal 14 Fading process for jeans 15 Deep-toned cousin of an English horn 16 One whose calling is making calls? 17 American Kennel Club designation 21 Stuffing herb 24 Green on the screen

31 QB’s passing stat: Abbr. 35 Up to

36 Din from a den 37 Keystone ____ 39 Put forward 41 TV channel that owns the website The Undefeated 45 Beer in a green bottle

46 Part of a college visit, typically

47 Prepare to swing, say 48 Unseal furtively, as an envelope 50 Floral fragrance note 51 Behave theatrically 53 Restored to mint condition 55 Lesser Antilles native

56 City that’s home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites 58 ‘‘Go ____!’’ (coach’s encouragement) 59 Computer menu with Undo and Redo

60 Expand upon 62 Tony winner Menzel 64 Antarctica’s ____ Ice Shelf 66 Nestlé creamer 67 Bothered persistently 68 Not for mass audiences 69 When the Battle of Yorktown occurs in ‘‘Hamilton’’ 72 Took steroids, say 77 Like loud phone conversations in public 79 Designed to deter stealing 81 T-Bonz dog treat brand

83 Word before bag or bar 84 Musical with the opening number ‘‘Every Story Is a Love Story’’ 85 Sallie Mae prod- ucts 86 Marshmallow- filled snacks 87 University of Montana city 89 Hitchhike 92 Shapiro of NPR 94 Emulates the Mongols

95 Old genre for 12-Down

97 Z4 or Q50 99 Judge

101 Pool competitions

102 Immature egg cell 103 Star of the ‘‘Taken’’ trilogy 105 Like snow leopards and Siberian tigers 106 What tots might go after? 108 Easy two points 109 ‘‘Scram!’’ 115 ____-American 116 Tool for pool 118 Old-timey cry of disgust

120 Will Smith/ Tommy Lee Jones film series, for short