NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE

THE INSIDE SCOOP | BY SID SIVAKUMAR | EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ

Sid Sivakumar is an M.D./Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis, training in biomedical engineering and neuroscience. This is his 17th crossword for The Times. Since the theme material appears mostly in the middle, Sid made the grid’s sides — and especially the corners — quite open, giving them a themeless feel. ‘‘I was very fortunate they turned out so clean and fresh,’’ Sid says. ‘‘I’m usually not so lucky!’’ — W. S.

ACROSS

1 Mess-hall patrons, in brief 4 Theater backdrop 9 Stressful work? 13 Disorganized stack 17 Home-screen array 19 Port container 20 Clean hands, so to speak 22 Spill (over) 23 Strict sales limit, informally 24 Slow-cooked entrees 25 Boos-y drink? 27 Olympic gymnast Raisman 29 Charge (with) 30 Involves 31 Some kennel personnel 34 Only U.S. coin that does not explicitly indicate how many cents it’s worth 35 Eschewed pork and shellfish, say 37 Arena seating sections 38 Perfume ingredient 39 Civil wrong 40 Comedy character who once asked the U.N. secretary general if Disneyland was part of the U.N. 42 Org. whose initials are aptly hidden in ‘‘foreign satellite interception’’ 43 Really hurt 44 Orders more of than necessary 48 Oktoberfest purchase 49 ‘‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’’ airer 52 ‘‘Gross!’’ 53 Excessively 54 Checkout unit 56 Eyeballs, e.g. 60 ‘‘Naw, no way!’’ 62 Hindu wedding adornment that’s said to get darker the more the newlyweds love each other 64 Lifesaving mission, for short 66 Its panhandle abuts British Columbia 67 Prudent 69 Texas A&M athlete 70 One fast-tracked in an interview pool 72 Like Loki 73 Absolutely devour 74 Fitting a little tight 75 Home to the Great Ziggurat of Ur 77 Common jeans feature 78 ‘‘Whoopde-____’’ 79 Subject of 1960s’70s addiction research 80 Purges 82Things that perceptive people might pick up 86 Picture taker? 88 Sound in ‘‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’’ 89 Windy part of a kite? 90 The ‘‘A’’ of the ACT UP organization 94 Thunderous sounds 95 Piece of info 97 Body of water adjoining Korea Bay 100 ____-de-camp 101 Proceeds 103 Putting together 104 Hardly worth mentioning 106 ID whose first five digits are sometimes ignored 107 Keister 108 Flight segment 111 Demographic group 113 Tiny member of a swarm 114 Big Ten school that plays home football games at Beaver Stadium 115 Much like 116 What hits the ground running? 117 Seat in the London Stock Exchange? 118 At the earliest chance 119 They get high by the beach 120 Airport screening inits.

DOWN

1 Winter housewarming option 2 ‘‘That’s my goal’’ 3 Powerlifter’s helper 4 Marine predator often seen near shorelines 5 First Nations people 6 Best Melodic ____ Performance (Grammy category) 7 ‘‘My concern is . . . ’’ 8 Variety used to make Bordeaux wine 9 Dot on a die 10 Musical artist Yoko 11 Joins those on the stage 12 Counterparts of eves 13 With 61-Down, like some gossip . . . as represented phonetically by each set of shaded squares? 14 Like a bathroom directly connected to a bedroom 15 Feigns indignation 16 Bug 18 Address 19 Barbecue-grill fill 21 Camp bed 26 Summer Olympics host between London and Tokyo 28 Comics sound when something is snatched 31 Clenched, as teeth 32 Recordholder for most games played in the FIFA World Cup (26) 33 Modern ____ 36 Trains above street level 38 Delivery that can’t be returned 41 ‘‘Well, don’t wait out here!’’ 43 Goals 45 Sun shield 46 ____-conscious 47 Variety commonly found in jellies and pies 48 Wax figures? 49 Golf-tournament division 50 President who campaigned on the slogan ‘‘Our best days still lie ahead’’ 51 Real pickle 55 So . . . or a word following ‘‘so’’ 57 Fit for a king 58 Sees red 59 Word before dating or skating 61 See 13-Down 62 Dance at a luau 63 More open to the elements 65 Lake-house rental 67 Unnerves 68 Sea hawks 71 Lyft request 73 Lithium-____ battery 76 ‘‘Don’t ____ me . . . ’’ 78 1994 single by Hole whose cover art depicts a miniature wedding dress and veil 81 Real-time PC exchanges 83 Man, woman and child, e.g. 84 Little lifter 85 Snore loudly 86 One dropping amorous hints 87 Trigonometry units 88 B-baller in Big D 91 ‘‘Am I mistaken?’’ 92 Turndowns 93 Hot herbal brew 94 Place to pamper pets that purr 95 Some rivers have them 96 Variety that shares its name with a Mideast capital 98 Game with big prizes 99 ‘‘I’m not working right now,’’ in email shorthand 101 Believer in Jah 102 Mushroom added to ramen 105 Org. with the phone number 1-800-TAXFORM 107 Cornmeal cake 109 Info you might send someone when you’re running late 110 Liven (up) 112 Stashed away