Crossword

Note: This puzzle is part of Merl’s best-of series. ACROSS

1 The answer I was expecting to the riddle in this puzzle 7 Jabber 10 A card game, not a singing style 14 Jokers 18 They have mysterious odas 19 Get-together, of a sort 21 Remote refuge 22 Like bedroom eyes 23 Start of a riddle 25 Easy multiplier 26 Creepy creatures 28 Boyfriend 29 Start of a verse? 30 TV colleague of Goldie and Lily 31 The lessor amount 33 Sounds like a bomb 35 With 10-Down, a dead end 38 Riddle, part 2 43 Mimicked 44 Minor worker 45 Need replacing 46 Riddle, part 3 50 The “come back” kid 51 Penultimate letter 54 “... my soul ___” 55 Yvonne’s evening 57 Galileo and Garibaldi 59 Caution sign 61 City 155 miles SE of San Francisco 63 Discarded metal 64 Knockout props 67 Riddle, part 4 70 Pacing, perhaps 71 Gave the eye to 73 City near Cleveland 74 Blimp, e.g. 76 “It never ___ amaze me” 78 Murder, She Wrote doctor 80 Where peas live 84 Essential 85 Carpenter’s spinner 87 Riddle, part 5 89 Estate dividers 91 Bemused remark 92 “It’s ___ big mistake!” 93 Riddle, part 6 98 Most of the earth’s surface 99 Frasier’s brother 100 Pelvis parts 101 Time out? 103 ___ for effort 104 Connecticut Ivy Leaguers 108 Rifleman Lucas and son Mark 110 B. Favre and S. Young, once 113 End of the riddle 116 Prof’s security 118 Part of the country 119 Little links 120 The Night of the ___ 121 Frosty’s freaky cousin? 122 Where the sidewalk meets the road, in Britain 123 Tokyo, once 124 The answer I wasn’t expecting to the riddle in this puzzle

DOWN

1 David’s 1960s deskmate 2 Unusually good 3 Whacker for Faldo 4 Rendezvoused 5 Political refugee 6 Tie or track 7 Southerner’s boat? 8 “Cotton Candy” blower 9 Any of a wellknown nine 10 See 35-Across 11 Push-button alternative 12 Archetypal American co. 13 Melodic subject, in music 14 Convince (with “over”) 15 In itself 16 Russian opera composer 17 Defining “carriers” as “mailmen,” perhaps 20 Commercial claim! 24 Whips with a pistol? 27 Freezingtemperature word 30 221-B Baker et al. 32 Square root of nueve 34 Communications giant: abbr. 35 Players 36 At the level of 37 Pipe gripe 39 Sponsorship 40 Hawaiian girl 41 Serious speakers 42 Barrett or Jaffe 44 Slangy $100 bill 47 Part of 34-Down 48 Volare 49 Employers 51 Pal o’ mine on a palomino 52 Catch 53 1960s series with a Culp following 56 Does again, as a bow 58 Skating arena 60 Stimulated 62 Prefix meaning “standing” 64 Punch 65 Author-critic James 66 Word after word or sword 68 A word for God 69 Reprove mildly 72 Dispatched nits 75 Clinton and Gore after November 1992 77 “That’s ___ there is, there ain’t no Mort” (Herb Caen) 79 The H of W.H. Auden 81 Ton o’ dough 82 Enid’s home: abbr. 83 Grand old man 86 “Once ___ die” 88 “___ say more?” 89 Runner Sebastian 90 Major Idaho river 93 Sort of 94 Cassiterite 95 Red Bordeaux 96 Kidman or Miller 97 Added (on) as an afterthought 98 Lake in James Fenimore Cooper stories 102 Mischievous 105 Sure thing, in sports 106 “___ hollers ...” 107 The Lion King villain 109 In the matter of 110 University green 111 Part of “Bren,” the gun 112 Line of clothing? 114 My ___, Vietnam 115 Type of bone or joint? 117 Role for Whoopi, 1992 and 1993