NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Christina Iverson is a crossword constructor in Ames, Iowa. Katie Hale is a stay-at-home mom in London, England. They met online two years ago. This is Christina’s 11th Times puzzle and Katie’s fourth, and their second Sunday collaboration. They say that for a complex theme and tricky construction, as here, “It’s helpful to bounce ideas back and forth . . . and nice to have a partner to motivate you to get it right.” — W.S.

ACROSS

1 Almost 5 Oven setting 10 Portrayer of the boxer Clubber Lang in ‘‘Rocky III’’ 13 In case 17 When repeated, old-time call to listen 18 Part of a prank 20 Govt. organization with a two-syllable acronym 22 Kind of clarinet 23 Came to know, old-style 24 It empties into the Bay of Bengal 26 Radar spot 27 Bringing in, as income 29 ‘‘Keen!’’ 30 With 12-Down, spend much more than a fair price 31 Departmentstore department 32 Lay ____ to 34 Question that’s not one of the five W’s 35 Big consideration for the expecting 37 Ticket fig. 40 Wisteria and honeysuckle 42 Video game character in a hit 2020 film 43 Educator/writer ____ Johnson McDougald, first African American female principal in New York City public schools 45 Belief of roughly 25 percent of the world’s population 46 Director Craven 47 Downstairs 51 Kept in 53 Lets out 55 Vape’s lack 56 Martini & Rossi product, familiarly 57 Emmy-winning Ward 58 Took down, in a way 59 Fly around Africa 62 Doughy dinner item 64 Drug agent’s seizure 65 Deseret News reader, typically 66 Did nothing 67 Professor ____ 69 With 74-Across, gesture of approval 70 On fire 73 Champing at the bit 74 See 69-Across 78 One cutting down, so to speak 79 What babies do faster than college students 80 Feudal land 81 O’s, but not P’s or Q’s 83 Petty 84 Some posers 86 Self-titled rock album of 1958 88 Quaint contraction 91 Smoking spot, for short? 92 Former baseball commissioner Bud 93 Sound, e.g. 94 Moves like muck 96 I.T. help center, often 98 Ending with bear or bull 99 ‘‘Uncle!’’ 101 Rocker Rose 102 Heard in court 104 Promotion 105 Letters that might change your mind? 107 Prepare, in a way, as eggs 109 Irritable 112 En voz ____ (aloud: Sp.) 113 Insincere, as a remark 116 Kristen of ‘‘Bridesmaids’’ 118 Jaunty 119 Counterpart of ‘‘adios’’ 120 ‘‘Yes’’ or ‘‘No’’ follower 121 Old Icelandic work 122 Fivers 123 Idiosyncrasy 124 Greek performance venue 125 Alternative to Wranglers

DOWN

1 Blues group, for short? 2 Fully ready to listen 3 Loretta who sang ‘‘You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)’’ 4 Cold climate cryptids 5 ‘‘The ____ they are...’’ 6 Messenger ____ 7 Walk around at a rest stop, say 8 ‘‘Bus Stop’’ playwright 9 Be in store 10 ‘‘Who, me?’’ 11 Invitation letters 12 See 30-Across 13 Subjects of some tests 14 Actress Burstyn 15 What some insects and insults can do 16 Primo 19 Bit of bad weather, on a weather map 21 Indo-____ languages 25 They’re numbered in Microsoft Excel 28 More agreeable 33 Theodor ____ a.k.a. Dr. Seuss 36 Will Smith/ Tommy Lee Jones film franchise, for short 37 Flat-earther? 38 Like many a stuffed toy 39 Aware of 41 Word that, fittingly, contains all four different letters of APPEAL 42 Question following a clever trick 44 Shows scorn toward 46 Take by force 48 Wood strip 49 Peak in the ‘‘Odyssey’’ 50 One of the five W’s 52 Arcane matters 53 Panache 54 Leave gobsmacked 58 Scatter 60 Sudden sharp pain 61 Have seconds and thirds and fourths and . . . 63 Flatten 64 Lilies with bellshaped flowers 68 Rachel Zegler’s role in 2021’s ‘‘West Side Story’’ 70 Allow entry 71 Forehead mark on Hindu women 72 City SW of York 75 Safe bettor 76 Instruments with endpins 77 Some sources of leafy greens 80 F on a gauge 82 It’s just not true! 85 Easy opportunity for a basket 86 Vegas venue with an iconic fountain 87 Who might be on the trail 89 Candy bar fillings 90 Emergency request 92 Vikings’ foes 95 A goose egg 96 One reporting to an underboss 97 Nauseate 99 Bankrupt 100 Bizarre 103 One holding things together, perhaps 104 ‘‘____, Can You Hear Me?’’ (Oscar-nominated song from ‘‘Yentl’’) 106 Sub station? 108 Lemon or cheese product 110& 111 In cooperation 114 Sea-____ Airport 115 Fair-hiring inits. 117 Option for a range