SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
Rich Katz, of Park City, Utah, does freelance work in corporate restructuring. This is his second crossword for The Times, following “The Final Frontier” in January. That puzzle had answers like DEATH EATER reinterpreted as D.E.A. THEATER (“Staging of a narc sting?”) and PARK AVENUE as PARKA VENUE (“Iditarod, for one?”). For both puzzles, Rich’s computer-savvy son searched databases for phrases that Rich could use as examples of his themes’ wordplay.
ACROSS
1 Noon, in France
5 “Good Times” and “Happy Days,” e.g. 12 Trees whose berries flavor gin
20 Thick soup noodle 21 Kind of nerve that runs through the leg 22 Clearing
23 This puzzle has 21 of them
24 Entitle?
26 ____ horribilis (1992, per Queen Elizabeth) 28 Unconventional protagonist
29 Snoopy grp. 30 Disreputable sorts 32 Seasickness?
38 Hash ingredients, informally
39 Neighbor of Georgia 42 Sport with two diacritics in its name 43 Record holder 45 Russian legislature 48 Catch some rays 49 Topped, as Tupperware
51 Omission?
55 Like this clue’s number 56 Occurs to, with “on” 58 Big ____ (props) 59 Craft project with rubber bands
60 Bumbler
62 The “Y” of JPY
63 Start of some praise 65 Lay one’s cards on the table? 66 Pelvic exercise 68 Befriend?
71 Hanukkah pancake 75 200 in the Indianapolis 500
77 Door latch
78 It might be pulled in a secret signal 80 19th-century adversary of an 18-Down 81 Child of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 84 Suffer
85 Phil Dunphy of “Modern Family,” for one 87 Second picture in an alphabet book, maybe 88 Gee whiz?
92 Rang
94 “____ Twist, Scientist” (hit children’s book) 95 Designer Gucci
96 Idly amuses oneself 98 Some unnamed addressees
100 Ultimately be fine
103 Puts forward
105 Peashooter?
108 Their sales spike in December
110 Last installment of “The Godfather” (for now) 111 Decorate again
115 Because
116 Embosses?
122 Chew
123 Without letup
124 Like tires
125 Last-minute cry at a surprise party
126 Exponentially
127 “Egad!”
128 Title that shares etymology with “kaiser”
DOWN
1 Artwork that’s hard to move
2 Words beginning 32 assertions in Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” 3 Depose?
4 Put down
5 Info that’s often only partly revealed: Abbr. 6 Frigidity
7 Costa Ricans, informally 8 Sammy with 31 Oscar nominations
9 “But then again a text
10 ____ marker
,” in 11 Few and far between 12 Rahm who won the 2023 Masters 13 News-agency inits. 14 Classic brand of candy wafers
15 Finish coloring, as a tattoo
16 Versailles, for one 17 Before, once 18 19th-century adversary of an
80-Across
19 Perhaps
25 Pronto
27 Blockaded, militarily 31 When “I’m in love,” in a 1992 hit by the Cure 33 Protagonist of a touching story?
34 Rough up
35 Got off the fence 36 Pioneer in psychedelics
37 Like flourless cake 39 Canine calls
40 Battle of Britain grp. 41 Picture of good health, one hopes?
44 Megagram
46 Speck
47 Popular typeface 49 Car-key button
50 Not up to much 52 Funny sort
53 Surface alternative 54 Wait
57 Some haunted-house decorations
61 Home of India’s National Museum
63 To the slightest degree
64 “Miracle Workers” cable channel
65 Pair
67 Ali who retired undefeated
69 Like most Iranians 70 Hell of a guy? 72 Tee-ball game? 73 Common site for a scrape
74 Scraped (out) 76 Certain spa treatment 79 Blue, Charlie, Delta or Echo in “Jurassic World” 81 Speechless with shock 82 Word with station or silence
83 “Of course,” in Spanish 84 “The thrill of victory and the ____ of defeat” (“Wide World of Sports” catchphrase) 85 Unintended signal 86 Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, for two
89 Ancient theaters 90 Politician with a famous “like” button? 91 Part of some rappers’ names
93 “Eh? Eh?” [nudge, nudge]
97 Way to get ahead in Life?
99 Came and went unnoticed
101 Laura of “Big Little Lies”
102 December door décor
104 Singer Jon with the 1992 hit “Just Another Day”
106 Rice dish simmered in broth
107 Deceive
108 “The Godfather” brother 109 Pipe down?
112 Farm-related prefix 113 Animal on a road sign 114 First name in neo-Marxism?
116 Keep ____
117 ____ moment 118 Savage of “Savage Love”
119 Name of two Spice Girls
120 Throw in
121 QB’s stat