STAR SEARCH

Chandi Deitmer, of Somerville, Mass., is a social worker in the fields of psychiatry and geriatrics. She got hooked on crosswords in college via the AVCX puzzle in The Onion (which was only in print in those days). She started constructing a year or two ago, mainly for ‘‘indie’’ venues. This is her Times debut. The puzzle has a multilayered theme, whose subject is indicated by the designs in the grid. — W.S.

ACROSS

1 Symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt 4 Wouldn’t stand for it? 7 They have springs in the middle 12 ____ Perez, former Democratic National Committee chairman 15 Nutritional fig. 18 Apple tablet option 20 Popular analgesic 21 Belgian city that hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics 23 One of the rooms in Clue 24 N.B.A. superstar Durant 25 Voting ‘‘aye’’ 26 Gilbert and ____ Islands (former colonial names of Kiribati and Tuvalu) 27 Give way 28 Levy of ‘‘Schitt’s Creek’’ 29 When the Lascaux caves were painted 32 Furthermore 33 Much of Goya’s output 35 Japanese beer brand 36 San Francisco’s ____ Valley 37 In which ‘‘Stella’’ means ‘‘star’’ 38 Seaweed used to wrap sushi 41 Descriptor of almost a million and a half Californians 44 Porridge, essentially 48 Real surname for the authors Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell 51 With a yawn, say 52 Less certain 54 Onetime material for tennis-racket strings 55 ‘‘That much is clear’’ 56 Symbol of Mexico 57 Country with roughly 6,000 islands 59 Where a pop-up leads 61 Alpha and Beta Ursae ____ (pointers to 68-Across) 64 Noodle soup 68 Guiding light 72 Gentille figure of a French folk song 74 Lord’s title 75 Originally from 76 Place to take a suit 77 Executive producer of HBO’s ‘‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’’ 80 Risk 81 ‘‘____ Lang Syne’’ 82 Pesky insect 84 Something to notice in passing? 87 It’s between microand pico88 Horace’s ‘‘Hymn to Mercury,’’ for one 89 New York political family 91 Fifth-century conqueror defeated in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 93 Rap’s Lil ____ X 94 Reliable supporters 95 Glazer of ‘‘Broad City’’ 97 Online source for film facts, in brief 99 Repugnance 102 Disguised 105 Author ____ Carol Oates 109 Wine that may be made spumante or frizzante 111 Little 112 Bested 114 Gritty, in a sense 115 Ones committing a party foul . . . or the images depicted in this puzzle’s grid? 118 Camping-gear brand 119 Letters before an alias 120 Surprising wins 121 Jeu d’____ (witticism) 122 Little one 123 Female mallard 124 Grommet 125 Black-eyed ____ (flowers) 126 Kind of protein in tempeh DOWN 1 They get the wheels turning 2 Like proverbial milk 3 Poet Neruda 4 Company that makes recoverable and reusable rocket boosters 5 Overdue amount 6 Content of a Kinder Egg 7 Like many Chardonnays 8 Last czarina of Russia 9 Celestial figure depicted in this puzzle’s grid, in Roman folklore 10 Unforgivable acts, say 11 iPhone button with an up arrow on it 12 Duty 13 About to enter the stage, say 14 Subject of Hokusai’s ‘‘Thirty-Six Views’’ 15 Delight (in) 16 Go on and on 17 Avant’s opposite 19 Celestial figure depicted in this puzzle’s grid, in African American folklore 22 Celestial figure depicted in this puzzle’s grid, in Babylonian folklore 30 Joe and co., e.g. 31 Sharing maternal lines 33 Excoriated 34 Akira Kurosawa film 38 Peacock streaming inits. 39 Italian time unit 40 Utter nonsense 42 Like five-star hotels vis-à-vis three-star ones 43 Gather 45 Rose of rock 46 Nickname on a ranch 47 Spanish title: Abbr. 49 Tower topper 50 Digital writing 52 Buffoon 53 Brawler’s memento 58 Is at the Forum? 60 Steamy place 61 ____ Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China 62 For all to hear 63 Unit in thermodynamics 65 Chump 66 Unaccounted for, briefly 67 Fumble 69 Went into syndication, e.g. 70 Singer Aguilera’s alter ego 71 Star performances, maybe 73 This is a test 75 ‘‘Gee, that’s swell!’’ 78 Like Vulcans, typically 79 Central Asia’s ____ Mountains 82 ‘‘Gloomy’’ guy 83 ‘‘That’s just unacceptable’’ 85 1969-74, politically 86 Tree that lends its name to a programming language 89 Matured, in a way 90 Like the three-toed sloth, among all animals 91 New wings 92 Tweaks 94 Clear, as crystal 96 Like Parmesan, but not mozzarella 98 Bouncy jazz genre 99 Noted book-club leader 100 Male mallard 101 Certain caucus voter 103 1938 prize for Pearl S. Buck 104 Big name in trading cards 106 W.W. I Belgian battle locale 107 Green with the 2010 hit ‘‘Forget You’’ 108 Enlighten 110 Roger’s cousin? 113 Ireland, poetically 116 Smartphone network std. 117 Home to the Nittany Lions, for short