The New York Times Crossword
TODAY: HEADS OF STATE (1121)
Aimee Lucido, of Berkeley, Calif., is a crossword constructor and children’s-book author. Her second book, ‘‘Recipe for Disaster,’’ came out in September. Her friend Ella Dershowitz, of New York City, is an actor who has appeared in films like ‘‘Knife Fight’’ and ‘‘Addiction: A 60’s Love Story.’’ Aimee writes: ‘‘This puzzle came about the way a lot of our collaborations come about. We decide we miss each other, get on a Zoom call and start brainstorming crossword ideas.’’ — W.S.
ACROSS
1 Miss 5 Fairy-tale monster 9 Meat in ragù al cinghiale 13 ‘‘Everyone knows the secret now’’ 19 Lincoln or Ford 20 Purchase in the board game Catan worth one wood and one brick 21 Singer Guthrie 22 Genre for Nirvana and Soundgarden 23 Forgetfulness experienced by soon-to-be moms, informally 26 Final innings, usually 27 Heinie 28 What a baby might start eating at around 6 months 30 Universal donor’s blood type, informally 31 A, in Aachen 32 ‘‘Dancing With ____ Hands Tied’’ (Taylor Swift song) 33 What wellconnected people may have 37 Scented plug-in brand 40 ‘‘Afternoon, pardner!’’ 44 ‘‘Oh yeah? Give me an example!’’ 46 Response to a texted joke 47 Worldly wisdom 49 Deg. for a creative type 50 Booting 53 Juice cleanse, essentially 55 Cocktail made from gin, vermouth and Campari 56 Big letters in home security 59 In Latin, it’s ‘‘stannum’’ 60 Pound part 61 Church council 62 Succeed in life 64 Portfolio listings 65 Common sense 68 The ‘‘gone girl’’ in ‘‘Gone Girl’’ 70 A negative one might be positive 71 Used colored pencils, say 74 ‘‘____ be a real shame . . . ’’ 75 Jovian planets, by another name 78 Changes back to factory defaults, say 80 Way too loud 81 Figure in the iconic ‘‘We Can Do It!’’ poster 85 Quite enough 86 Bit of fiction 89 Suffix with quack and mock 90 National law enforcement, informally 92 Simple flotation device 95 Arranges in random order 96 URL ending 97 TV display option 101 ____ tai 102 Picked up 104 Above 105 Like the bread ideal for bread pudding 107 Theoretical primordial substance 108 Word on an Irish plane 110 Oscar-winning director Lee 111 Obama’s birthplace 113 Playing to the crowd 117 Japanese condiment sprinkled on rice 121 ⏪ 124 Slogan about willpower . . . or a hint to four pairs of answers in this puzzle 126 Courtroom cry 127 ‘‘Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap’’ director 128 Aptly named bus driver on ‘‘The Simpsons’’ 129 Catering vessels 130 ‘‘Whatever you say, sweetheart’’ 131 Unilever tea brand 132 Bert who played the Cowardly Lion 133 Children’s author DiCamillo with two Newbery Medals
DOWN
1 Nordic native 2 Invisible energy field 3 Proofreader’s directive 4 Words moaned while eating a cheeseburger, maybe 5 Give one’s address 6 Get ready to sleep, cutesily 7 Candidate’s focus 8 Ice cream surname 9 British nobleman 10 Like some traditions 11 Et ____ (and others) 12 Sonata movement 13 The uninformed masses, colloquially 14 The Jonas Brothers, e.g. 15 Dish named for a day of the week 16 Toronto’s prov. 17 ‘‘What a mess!’’ 18 Your: Fr. 24 Bar ____ 25 Queen’s ‘‘We Will Rock You,’’ e.g. 29 2K, for one 31 Sheep 34 Award hopeful 35 Passes along to, in a way 36 Like the winner of a handwriting contest 37 Narrow valleys 38 Very affectionate 39 Get on the same page, in corporatespeak 41 URL ending 42 Alternative to fiber or satellite 43 Leave off 45 Early PC software 47 Planting more than one kind of seed in a field, per Deuteronomy 48 Pollution stat 51 Historical subject of Hilary Mantel’s 2009 novel ‘‘Wolf Hall’’ 52 Action item 54 Brings back to use 56 Home of Guinea and GuineaBissau: Abbr. 57 ‘‘Yo ____’’ (internet meme with rapper Xzibit) 58 Prioritization process 63 It added ‘‘essential worker’’ in March 2021: Abbr. 64 Author Rand 66 Quaint contraction 67 Title that comes from ‘‘Caesar’’ 68 Assist 69 Day celebrated by ‘‘Star Wars’’ fans 71 Curtains 72 Interior design job 73 Support, as a belief 76 Fellow 77 Like bacon and lobster, in Jewish law 79 Prime-time slot 82 Home of the National Voting Rights Museum 83 Perfect 84 Nail-polish brand 86 Like some nachos and questions 87 ‘‘Real’’ ones were first issued in the 2010s 88 Muppet who hosts the ‘‘Not-Too-Late Show’’ 91 Fifth-century invader 93 Poisonous shrub 94 Suffix with Euclid 95 Metric for online traffic, in brief 98 Get ready for action 99 The ‘‘C’’ of D.R.C. 100 World of Warcraft, e.g., for short 103 One who’s at home on the job? 105 Branch of Islam 106 Thai taxi with a repetitive name 109 Send, as payment 112 Mail, e.g. 114 Actress Taylor-Joy of ‘‘The Queen’s Gambit’’ 115 Costa ____ 116 Mother of Don Juan 117 Cheese on a meze platter 118 Gillette razor 119 Daily Planet reporter 120 Gaelic tongue 121 Sorority letter 122 ‘‘Yikes!’’ 123 Pile of cash 125 TV button: Abbr.