NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Will Nediger, of London, Ontario, is a professional crossword constructor. This is his 46th puzzle for The Times. A typical Sunday crossword has 140 answers, but this one has only 136, affording some longer ‘‘fill’’ outside the theme. Occasionally, as here, constructors include things personal to them in their grids. Will writes, ‘‘As a parent of two young kids, 49-Down next to 50-Down really resonates with me.’’ — W. S.
ACROSS
1 British dandy
5 Dennis the Menace types
10 Really grand
14 The ‘‘A’’ in STEAM, for educators
18 Maker of the Aspire laptop
19 Pain-relief brand
20 Recordings for oral historians
22 Bound
23 Slow-driving holiday parade in December? 26 ‘‘Huh, didn’t expect to run into you here!’’ 27 Musical piece like Smetana’s ‘‘Vltava’’
28 Club collections
29 Movie genre . . . or a shout on a movie set
31 Onetime Yves Saint Laurent employer
32 Make
33 Words at a pity party
34 Arrange by category
37 Update Wikipedia after the 2012 election?
41 Yiddish for ‘‘pancake’’
42 Enthralled
43 Like some landscape photography
44 Assert confidently
45 Banned, in a way
47 Brand of ‘‘old-fashioned’’ root beer
48 Delicate bit of hair
52 Subject of study for an insect psychologist? 55 ‘‘Don’t love it, don’t hate it’’
56 Against
57 Communication method that may be written with Stokoe notation, in brief
58 Investigative journalist Farrow
59 Heroes that don’t wear capes
61 Trademarked refrigerant
62 Kind of gel
64 Condiment drizzled on a taco
66 Shot followers
68 Drumroll followers
69 Blacken
70 Pale purple
72 Holi powder
73 Some announcements interrupting in-flight movies, for short
74 Intelligence grp. featured on ‘‘Quantico’’
76 Promise from actor Damon’s friends regarding his movie premiere?
79 ‘‘To Sontag, to Sondheim, to anything taboo’’ musical
80 Ceramic stewpot
82 Philosophy influenced by the ‘‘I Ching’’
83 Eager assistant’s declaration 84 ‘‘It is what it is,’’ e.g.
86 Corn ____
87 Art-shop purchase
88 Words accompanying an offering to the ruler of the donkeys?
93 Partner worth holding on to
94 Open acknowledgment
95 Uncreatively draws from
96 Busy locale in December
97 Leah who wrote ‘‘Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology’’
98 Ivan the Great, for one
99 Some holidaytree decorations
103 Home of the poet Forugh Farrokhzad
104 Arrive too late to see a hotel being built? 108 Number of worlds in Norse myth
109 Thought spot
110 Russian pancakes
111 Disney’s Queen of Arendelle
112 Pontiac muscle cars
113 ‘‘The Crown ____ Worth Much’’ (Hanif Abdurraqib collection)
114 One who questions people’s motives
115 Collect from the fields
DOWN
1 Arbitrator’s asset
2 Eight, in Spanish
3 Plant with no flowers or seeds
4 Southern dish often made with buttermilk and cornmeal
5 Tuchus
6 Film composer Bernstein
7 Ore locale 8 Electronics-aisle array
9 Jiffy
10 Ancient Italian region
11 Dealt with minor issues?
12 Some businessnews topics, for short
13 What’s still in cartoons?
14 Many
15 Bring back on board
16 Mount Rainier’s ____ Glacier
17 Small piano
21 Done hurriedly and carelessly
24 Skyscraper feature
25 First of all
30 Screenwriter/ actress Michaela
32 Moved cautiously
34 Soft white mineral
35 Snapshot of a gamer’s progress
36 Duo inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001
37 Aggravation
38 Grab a midday meal with someone 39 Trolleys
40 Heads or tails
42 Getting rid of
45 Berkshire school since 1440
46 Western settlement area led by Brigham Young
48 Major conflicts
49 Tired expression?
50 When to read aloud to kids
51 Bowling-alley device
53 Swimming/ cycling/running competitions, informally
54 Zero-____ game 60 Grow to a huge size
61 Part of a clock
63 Booby-prize winner’s place
65 Unflinchingly candid
66 Within a point
or two, as scores
67 Two-time Olympic gold medalist in soccer
69 Flagella relatives
71 Medium for a birthday message
74 Body part that a dog uses to shake, e.g.
75 77-Down’s color 77 75-Down gemstone
78 ‘‘To be continued ...’’
81 Charlotte Corday, to JeanPaul Marat
84 Word after better or worse
85 Simple graphics editor, informally
87 Guy
88 Getting along
89 No longer obsessed
90 Italian-style cheese
91 Strong strings
92 Adjust the spacing between, in typography 93 Like a deserved comeuppance
96 Soprano Nixon
98 Director Ming-liang
99 Pass the threshold
100 Memphis’s river
101 Pancake served with sambar
102 Onesie closure
105 Plan for the future, in brief ?
106 ‘‘America’s Got Talent’’ network
107 Do the Wright thing?