NY Times Puzzle No. 0830
ACROSS
1 Once ___ a time,
5 not so ___ ago,
9 ___ was a girl
named Ava.
14 Ava’s ___ joy was
15 her prized ___.
16 She had ___ her
skill in band,
17 despite sitting next
to the noisy ____,
19 which were an ___
distraction.
20 One day, after school, Ava called a ___.
21 It hadn’t come ___
as she muttered,
22 “___, I guess. At least the week’s over.”
23 She was ___ with
her music,
25 and school was
hardly an ___.
26 Just then, Dana, a bandmate Ava was crushing on, walked up lugging a ___. 29 As Ava ___ nearby, gathering her courage,
31 Dana bent down to ___ the heavy instrument.
34 Ava ___ at Dana.
36 “Would it be a stretch to say I dig your ___ T-shirt?,” Ava asked.
38 Dana’s reaction was the start of an ___ for Ava.
39 Wheezing laughter like an ___ in an old tire and deep blushing
41 were ___ that Dana
was smitten, too.
43 “That was a ___ joke!,” Dana sputtered.
44 “I got the shirt from ___; glad you like it.”
46 Ava mustered every ___ in her brain
47 and felt her heart
___ as she blurted,
49
51
52
54
56
57
58 Though Dana wanted to visit Timbuktu in ___
61 and Ava preferred
Accra in ___,
62
65
66
67
68
69
70
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 With distinction
8 “I’d love to hang out some time, no ___!”
Dana grinned. “Then meditating together in corpse pose ___ an option!”
Ava wrinkled her ___ and laughed.
After that spark, the pair bonded in large ___.
Dana learned that Ava loved chocolate ___ cookies,
and Ava learned Dana loved “Much ___ About Nothing.”
the pair still felt the ____ of their connection.
One night, after watching “___ Python,”
bingeing subtitled dramas from ___, and
listening to Nat King ___,
Ava and Dana shared their first kiss over cream ___.
And, of course, ___ lived
happily ___ after.
DOWN
Trojans’ sch.
Straw vote, e.g.
Skin cream brand
Round, squishy toy
Actor Chaney
Followed
Daring deed
PUZZLE BY ALEX EATON-SALNERS
9 Contraction before
“be great”
10 Obergefell v. ___, Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage
11 Conclude miserably
12
13
18
24
25 Curtain trims, e.g.
26
Shipwreck site
Reds great Roush
Figure skater Midori
Like buses and bicycles
Bygone Russian rulers
27 Inuit skin boat
28 It’s a sure thing
30 Dawn goddess
32 Synthetic fabric
33 Never existed
35 Wide shoe spec
37 Just a number, it’s
said
40 Alabama governor
Ivey
42 Bother
45 Language from which we get bupkis and shtick
48 Starting place 50 Knuckle-headed
gesture?
53 Neuters
55 911 responder
56 When repeated, a
toy train
57 Hamlet’s interrogative after “How now!”
59 Pope after
Benedict IV
60 Bali, for one
61 M.L.B. execs
63 Stuff in a loft
64 Title for “Game of
Thrones” knights