METER READERS: A professional puzzle
Across
1 Beaver’s creation
4 Fedora fabric
8 Giant of rhyming kiddie lit
13 Well-mannered
18 Fútbol cheer
19 Lyft competitor
20 Far from plentiful
21 Keep entertained
22 Cleric’s assistant
24 Altimeter reader
26 Consider to be
27 Lee of Marvel Comics fame
28 Woodland
29 Self-centered sort
32 Short parody
33 Apple’s digital voice
34 Beer, so to speak
37 LAX posting
38 Micrometer reader
41 Two-speaker system
43 Liverpool lav
44 Carpet’s coverage
45 Magna __
48 Idyllic spots
49 Explorer who named Louisiana
52 Solar system circlers
54 Butterfly cousin
55 Rich layer cake
58 Parties with hulas
59 Comprises
62 Reveille player
64 Postal meter reader
66 Sleeveless top
67 Assumed names
69 NASA spacewalk 70 Be a go-between
72 Choral part
73 Taximeter reader
78 Something confidential
79 Hill builder
80 Float like a helicopter
81 Traditional battlers
83 Twosome
84 About 907 kilos
86 Minuteman’s hat
88 Stop it
92 Tavern servings
94 Spanish love
95 Wander (about)
98 Except if
100 Spectrometer reader
103 Calendar column heading
104 Dutch cheese
105 “That’s too bad”
108 Relax in the tub
109 Put a value on
111 Small silvery fish
113 Overwhelm
114 Italian wine region
115 Light meter reader
118 Offstage aide
122 W.H. of poetry
123 Fond aspirations
124 Mystical glow
125 Homophone for “air”
126 The nearest ones
127 Mails (out)
128 Shed tears
129 Signal to stop
Down
1 Come to terms
2 Quick tempo
3 Barometer reader
4 Cat’s coat
5 Fall back gradually
6 Zodiac feline
7 Test out
8 Near the hip
9 Be worthy of
10 Website ID
11 Stories with saucers
12 Mexican mister
13 Superhero’s garment
14 “My aim wasn’t so good”
15 Bird of prey
16 Prefix like equi
17 Allow
20 Gown fabric
23 “__ seeing things?”
25 Dwarf planet beyond Pluto
27 Do a slalom
30 Breaks into bits
31 The O’Hara abode
32 Israeli greeting
33 Leisurely walk
35 Cub Scout group
36 Sea plea
39 Scot’s ancestor
40 Observed
42 Hardy title heroine
46 “That’s a fact”
47 Frighten
50 Geographic reference
51 Period of history
53 Fists, so to speak
54 Disney film set in China
56 Stadium level 57 “King of Rock and Roll”
59 Audiometer reader
60 Fall flower
61 Editorial mark
62 Ali __
63 Scout’s mission
65 Underground chamber
66 Parish priest
68 Doesn’t discard
71 Conducts (oneself ) 74 Little Women girl
75 Bends downward
76 Interoffice no.
77 Start over, in pool
80 Weeding implements
82 __ Valley, CA
85 Vague degree
87 Thing: Sp.
88 Signal to speak
89 Phase out
90 Apple pie order 91 Many Middle Easterners
93 Certain analysts’ specialties
96 Severely simple
97 Had a yen for
99 Did karaoke
101 Becomes bitter
102 Jamaica’s __ Fleming Airport
106 December song leapers 107 In the know
110 Drain of energy
112 Nary a soul
113 River herring
115 Gentle touch
116 “What was that?”
117 Fenced-in farm spot
118 Fox’s foot
119 Have regrets about
120 Mine resource
121 Navigation aid