CROSSWORD PUZZLE: WORD LADDERS By Sam Trabucco
ACROSS
1 Something blurred to avoid
trademark infringement 5 “Well, that’s ridiculous!”
9 One method of coffee-making 13 Fully intends to
18 Reason for people to hide 20 Bit of ancient text
21 Home of Roma
22 Expert on nutrition 23 Bantering remark
24 Feature of Captain Ahab 25 Many M.I.T. grads: Abbr.
26 End of many a name on the
periodic table
28 Doctor’s hand covering 30 Tokyo, before it was Tokyo 31 Not wanted
34 Pop star Grande, to fans 35 French movie theaters 37 “Ki-i-i-i-nda”
38 “You’re on!”
41 Black-market, say
43 Occasion for male bonding, in modern lingo
Pressing need when on the go? Part of a media-sales team, informally
“Agreed”
Philosopher who tutored Nero Message made with cutout letters, stereotypically 57 Chowder ingredient
60 Game in which each player
starts with a score of 501 61 West Bank grp. 62 Social-media avatar, for short 65 Thing given as a concession 66 Castle defense
67 Nobel winner Morrison 68 One who has a lot to offer? 71 Yellow variety of quartz 73 Norse troublemaker 76 Spotted
77 Fenway team, familiarly 78 “However hard I try ...” 81 Child-care expert LeShan 82 Parts of ziggurats
85 Twin of Jacob in the Bible 86 Lifetime-achievement ceremonies, e.g.
Bequeaths
Difference between dark and light, in a way
95 Bacterium in some raw meat 96 Center of a cobbler
99 Clorox cleanser
101 Leaves alone
102 Uses a modern engine
106 Kenan’s partner on an old
sitcom
107 The “L” of BLM
108 “Geaux Tigers!” sch.
110 Love of money, per
I Timothy 6:10
113 Brand of nail polish
114 Appeasing
117 School closing?
118 One of the former Big Three information services, along with CompuServe and
Prodigy
119 Words from a present giver
121 Sweetheart, in Rome
123 “That one’s mine!”
128 Word often confused with
“least” 46 48
49 53 55 91 93 129 Frenzied
130 Sweet Mexican dessert 131 Backsides, to Brits
132 Certain sneak
133 Caesar’s accusation
134 Like a fox
DOWN
1 Counterculture drug, for short 2 Geneva accord?
3 Newbie
4 Chose
5 Bit of butter
6 Govt. org. with the motto “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity” Dramatic touches
Comedian Judy
Nickname for basketball star Julius Erving
Is sorry about
Photo-sharing app, familiarly 14th-century king of Aragon Written using an outline
Witch
Basketball star nicknamed “The Answer”
Kind of test with unproven accuracy
Largest city of Nigeria Wordladder,Part1
Big milestone for a start-up Slangy “I messed up” Wordladder,Part2 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15
16
17 19 21 27 29 106 Curtain call honoree
108 Portends
110 Soak (up)
112 ___ Cooper
114 Isabel Allende’s birth country 117 Fable takeaway
118 Oceanographer’s climate
concern, and a theme hint 122 Make a speech
123 Disciple
124 “Thank U, Next” singer Grande 125 Threw some hooks, say
126 Feudal farmer
127 Lady friend
DOWN
1 “I don’t love it ...”
2 Like neon shirts
3 Pulitzer winner Morrison 4 “Yes, honey”
5 Brought back
6 Like 2019 but not 2020 7 ___ eagle
8 Wipe away
9 TiVo, e.g.
10 Japanese cookers 11 Name hidden in “reliable” 12 Inclusive kind of pass 13 Ctrl-Alt-___
14 Not conventional 15 Junction point 31 Old food-label std.
32 Where an auto racer retires? 33 Enjoyed home cooking, say 36 “I Love It” duo ____ Pop 37 Letter-shaped beam
39 When repeated, king of Siam’s
refrain in “The King and I” 40 Result of peace talks
42 Some smartphones 44 Oppressive ruler
45 Lacking + or –, electrically 47 “____ and Janis” (comic) 50 Whirlybirds
51 Óscar’s “other”
52 Gas that’s lighter than air 54 Nile danger
56 Fire in “Jane Eyre,” e.g.
58 Like most lions
59 Mrs., abroad 63 Wordladder,Part3 64 Subsided
66 , and
69 Where to find some
cliffhangers?
70 Unpopular legislation of 1773 71 N.F.L. referee, at the start of overtime
____ Valley
(San Francisco area)
74 Gem that’s also a name
75 New Zealander
77 Start of some Quebec place
names: Abbr.
72 16 17 18 20 23
28 30 32 34 36 37 38 39 42 43 45 46 49 51 55 57 59 60 64 65 66
69 70
, say
Fried noodle dish
Aquarius, Gemini and Libra Two-cup measures (Abbr.) Scaling awkwardly, with “up” Eight-time Best Actor nominee Peter
Honey
Glass of radio
Old film channel
Approves
“A Death in the Family” writer Musical bar type Self-indulgent “journey” University board members Largest pelvic bones
Nights before
___ apparent
Two-time NBA MVP Curry Hula strings, briefly
Slightly
Vacuum maker
Strikes through
Explosive for Wile E. Coyote Staircase section
Steeped South American drink Pretend to be hip
“The Barber of Seville” composer
Nail polish brand
Gloria Allred’s Philly alma mater 79 French filmmaker Jacques 80 Celebrity chef Eddie
83 Way to go
84 Hot-cocoa brand 87 Sublease
88 “Be sharp!”
89 Frequent tabloid cover
subject
90 Spot for a houseplant 92 Letters on a Cardinal’s cap 94 Greenpeace or the W.W.F.,
for short 97 Wordladder,Part4 98 Optimistic assertion
100 “____ Beso,” Paul Anka hit
103 Prospector’s find
104 Start streaming, e.g.
105 Internet meme with grammatically incorrect captions
107 Shower scrubber
109 Eel, on a sushi menu
111 Wordladder,Part5
112 Prospectors’ finds
115 Mel of baseball
116 Understand, informally
120 Clarifying word on a
school-reunion name tag 122 Tinder bio info
124 Amazon worker
125 “Kill Bill” co-star Lucy
126 Jazz composer Beiderbecke 127 Like a fox 71 “Howdy, mate!”
72 Krypton, for Superman 73 Cooped (up)
75 Was analogous to
78 It borders Myanmar 79 Profound
80 “Let me handle this”
81 Ohio Players player
84 NPR bag
85 City west of Raleigh
86 Seuss character with a yellow
mustache
88 Dwells in
90 Secretive org.
93 Sloths’ workplace in “Zootopia” 94 Old secretive org.
96 Last part of an “i,” often 99 “___ queen!”
101 Austin Powers’ foe
105 Biotech giant
107 “Aida” or “Tosca”
109 See romantically
111 Workplace safety initials
113 “That ___ even a thing!”
115 Gain, as a benefit
116 Bone under a bracelet
117 Rowdy crowd
118 Saint Jhn genre
119 New Deal org.
120 Gamer’s frustration
121 Blueberry picker of kid lit