SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
Garrett Chalfin, of New York City, is a first-year student at the University of Chicago, taking classes in biology, “Human Being and Citizen” and “Classics of Social and Political Thought.” This puzzle was a long time in the making. He thought of the theme idea over a year ago, then kept coming back to it until he felt he had it just right. Garrett writes, “I love subtle themes that slowly emerge to the solver.”
— W.S.
ACROSS
1 Landscaper’s purchase 4 Downright
9 [If you’ll allow me to butt in ... ]
13 “Gotcha!”
16 Anton ____, food critic in “Ratatouille” 17 Come-on
18 ____ years (old age) 20 Word with purpose or personality
21 “____ you ready?” 22 Enjoyed oneself 24 Major part of astronomy?
25 Tous ____ jours (French for “every day”) 26 Something dot something, say 27 Features of telephone directories
29 Emerged as a victor 31 Grovel
34 Writer Ayn
35 Fight (for)
36 Rest atop 37 Euphemistic cry of frustration
41 Sweetly, in scores 42 Actress Close 43 Japanese buckwheat noodle
44 2022 culinary black comedy, with “The” 45 Peabody-winning journalist Linda
47 Prefix with sphere 49 It can be a lifesaver, in brief
50 One might read, “Caution: Messy eater!” 51 Twilled fabric
53 Satyrs, say
55 Old nomad of Central Asia
56 Playroom collection 58 Where to see heads of gladiators, informally 60 Little fights
62 Degrees for most profs
64 Poet Ezra
65 Dark green Indian dish 67 “That was hilarious!” in textspeak
70 Totally committed to 72 Serves right?
76 Stuff refineries refine 77 Classifies
80 Part of a furniture measurement
82 60 minuti
83 Senator Klobuchar 84 Whole shebang 85 Figure of speech in which words are reversed for effect, like “Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you”
87 Vassal’s plot
89 Miss
90 Goldman ____ 93 Stylish women’s shoes 94 Hasty signature, often 96 Figures in Islamic mythology
97 Twit, to a Brit
98 Not fake 99 Formulates, as a plan 101 Craving
102 Movie hero introduced in 1981 106 Novelist Patchett 108 Go down slightly 111 King Tut, during most of his reign
112 Titular feature of fiction’s Lisbeth Salander 115 No. 34
116 Oomph
117 ____ vincit amor 118 Displayed
119 Trawler’s need
120 Red army member? 121 Caught
122 Blobby parts of blobfish
123 Much of the planet Saturn
DOWN
1 Product-safety indicator 2 Princess Fiona, e.g. 3 Treats favorably/Has a very good effect
4 Fall fruit
5 It may deliver a punch 6 What may come before Today
7 Gig part
8 Get bigger
9 Jacinda ____, New Zealand prime minister who, at 37, was at the time the world’s youngest female head of government
10 Blindly punch
11 Big, big, big
12 Like a momentous occasion/Office communiqué 13 Someone’s je ne sais quoi
14 Padlock holder 15 “Sorry to say ... ” 17 Speaks loudly 19 Firefighter famous for extinguishing burning wells
20 Lollipop with a “mystery flavor”
23 Film company behind “Amadeus” and “Platoon” 28 The “E” of E.S.L., for short
30 “Back in the good old days ... ”
32 Claim
33 50-50, e.g.
35 First ____ (Shakespeare collection) 37 Movers and shakers 38 Robotic anime genre 39 Enter
40 Switches allegiances, as a spy
41 You’re gonna pay for this!
42 Targets of some wipes 43 Got less hairy 46 Bracelet bit
48 Peak in the “Odyssey” 52 Masters/Elaborated 53 Gives kudos
54 Flying fish-eaters 57 Pool locale 59 Application of polish, e.g.
61 Grp. that goes on tour 63 Novelist Tami 65 They’re no longer “fresh”
66 Prefix with thesis 67 Enjoys doing nothing 68 Taunt, in a way 69 Philadelphia athlete 70 Drench
71 Worker at the Genius Bar
73 Large, as a lead 74 Blow
75 Give lip service? 78 Captain of M.L.B.’s Swingin’ A’s of the 1970s 79 What a Tyrannosaurus rex grapples with?
81 “Are you satisfied?”/ Common fairy-tale conclusion
86 “Not a problem” 88 Part of a potter’s process/Parts of a building’s safety system 90 Early evening hour 91 Actress Jennifer 92 Lead-in to gender 95 Arthur of “The Golden Girls”
96 Christopher Columbus, e.g. 99 Motherless calf 100 “Socrate” composer 102 Chichén ____ (ancient Mayan city)
103 Hamburg refusal 104 Bad impression? 105 Primatologist Goodall 107 Refusals 109 Store whose name is an acronym
110 Some motel prohibitions
113 Year abroad?
114 They might be wall-mounted