The new York Times crossword

TODAY: DON’T QUOTE ME (0616)

Seth A. Abel is a lawyer based in Columbus, Ohio, who works in commercial and industrial real estate. He has been making crosswords since 2003, often with themes involving gags. He thought of this one in 2008 and kept tweaking it over the years — ‘‘which has to be a record for incubation time for me,’’ he says. The title (above) was his starting point. This is Seth’s 13th crossword for The Times. — W.S.

Across

1 Exaggerated virility 9 Effortless assimilation 16 Alternatives to H.S. diplomas 20 Surgical removal procedure 21 What might raise the roof? 22 Come down, in a way

23 Line never said by 58-Across 25 Columnist Bombeck 26 Birth-control option, briefly 27 “Please hold the line” 28 Shopping center? 29 Excerpt 30 Subjects of expertise

33 Lay an egg, say 34 Targets on “chest day” 35 Hollers

36 Line never said by 83-Across

41 Lobster ____ diavolo 42 Official language of a U.S. territory 45 Medical research org. 46 “Gotcha, man!” 48 Dec. 31, e.g. 49 Diminutive for Theresa 52 Takes the plunge 55 Will who played Grandpa Walton on “The Waltons” 56 Big name in applesauce 58 Film villain who never said 23-Across, with “the” 61 Some purchasers of expensive gowns 64 Manhattan’s ____ Stadium

66 The “E” in Q.E.D. 67 Noses out? 69 Counterpart of pitch

70 Prefix with -lepsy

71 Title for two Beatles 72 ____-Locka, Fla. 73 Try, in a way 75 Woodworker’s tool 76 Digital-image format

79 3:00 80 Willowy 81 Washer/dryer unit 83 Commander who never said 36-Across 86 Former Mississippi senator Trent 87 The first recorded one was noted by the

Greek scientist Hipparchus in 134 B.C. 89 2014 hit film featuring Oprah Winfrey 90 Announcement from a band 92 Colorful fish 93 Surveillance aid 95 Word before check or drop 96 Overnighter 98 Chinese principle 99 TV detective who never said 121-Across 106 Exercise done

while sitting 108 Wax holders 109 What a plus

sign may indicate 110 Belief of

Benjamin Franklin 114 Already: Fr. 115 Lhasa ____ 116 May ordeal for some H.S. students

119 N.Y. engineering

sch.

120 Pop singer Jason 121 Line never said

by 99-Across 125 Last of the

Stuarts

126 Thoroughly enjoyed something 127 Birth

128 Obstinate

responses 129 “Oh, lordy!” 130 Corporations and

partnerships, e.g.

DoWn

1 Secret society 2 Moving too quickly to be seen clearly 3 Half of an old crime duo 4 Croque-monsieur ingredient 5 Plural suffix? 6 Drinks in moderation 7 Post-____ 8 Difficult kind of push-up 9 German artist Dix 10 “____ Love” (Cole Porter song) 11 G.I. grub 12 Without a buyer lined up 13 Seattle-based insurance giant 14 Least productive 15 Some beans 16 ____-Roman wrestling 17 British noble who never said 44Down 18 Anastasia’s love in Disney’s “Anastasia” 19 Irritably answers 24 Purchase for a lorry 31 Blood-typing letters 32 Politician’s goal 34 Impatient dismissals 35 London’s ____ Park

37 All over again 38 Not yet rented 39 Varicolored 40 Like BFFs 42 Formative 43 Shade of green 44 Line never said by 17-Down 47 Iraq War danger, for short 50 Rest of the afternoon 51 Economizes 53 Common landscaping tree with acorns 54 Puts the kibosh on something 57 Active ingredient in marijuana 59 Sport making its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020 60 Number of Spanish kings named Carlos

62 Small boat, maybe

63 Angel

65 Head, slangily 68 Home to the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi: Abbr. 74 Suffer

77 Part of Caesar’s boast

78 Las ____, Canary Islands 79 Opposite of kill 82 Elmer, to Bugs 84 “Sounds good to me!”

85 Many a northern Iraqi

88 Rubin ____ (classic illusion) 91 Try for a part 93 ____ Graham, Oprah’s longtime beau 94 Former Penn State football coach

97 Go green, say 100 Standing 101 Hilarious joke, in

slang

102 Titillating 103 Feudal estate 104 Cyrano de

Bergerac’s love 105 How paint is

usually sold 107 Stuns

111 Shiraz native 112 #, to a

proofreader 113 Performers in oldfashioned dumb shows

115 Stuck, after “in” 116 Buzzing

117 Stinky Le Pew 118 ____ Helens 122 Communication

syst. for the deaf 123 Comp ____ (coll.

major)

124 Crossed