NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE

David Steinberg, of Pacific Grove, Calif., is the puzzles and games editor for the Andrews McMeel Universal media company.

The Universal Crossword, which he edits, appears in many newspapers, including The Seattle Times, The Boston Globe and The Philadelphia Inquirer. David’s first crossword for The Times appeared in 2011, when he was 14. This is his 101st for the paper. — W.S.

Note: The middle letter of the answer to each starred clue can be replaced by a different letter to form two new words across and down. Read the new letters, in order, for a bonus.

ACROSS

1 Bank offerings, in brief 4 Twists

9 Losing roll at dice 13 In itself

19 Piece played with four

hands

21 Tart sorbet flavor

22 Kind of bed

23 *Opposite of

endearing

24 *Freely expressive 26 Winter eaves dropper 27 Some attacks on

castles

29 Día de ____ Muertos (Mexican holiday) 30 Stories that may or may not be true 31 12-year-olds, e.g. 34 Ballerina’s bend

35 App whose icon features a camera, in slang

37 Aimee with two Grammys

38 Plank targets

41 Only trisyllabic

rainbow color

43 Ferrari of automotive fame 46 *Communicating

(with)

49 *Contracting 52 Acceptance principle

of improv comedy 53 2-year-old, e.g. 54 What may connect the parts of a school assignment? 55 ‘‘Who ____?’’

58 Relative of an alpaca 60 ‘‘A Christmas Carol’’ cry

61 Dress in

62 Things people catch

and then ride

63 Fifth sign

64 Actress Hepburn 67 Poke

68 Nickname in baseball and gossip columns 69 *Harsh language

71 Up

72 Loses firmness 73 Country with the most archaeological museums in the world (110+)

74 Brand seen at

speedways

75 Cut off

76 French menu phrase 77 Sushi chef’s eggs 78 Uncle for whom an annual award is supposedly named 80 Not so many 81 When nothing goes

right

83 Dutch name starter 85 Frank Robinson or Brooks Robinson of the Baseball Hall of Fame

87 *Watered artificially 89 *Goes well with

94 Turn in a game 95 Canine coat

97 Instant, informally 98 Island with a

trisyllabic name

99 Sat around

101 In the thick of

103 Ending remark that’s surprising 105 Starting point

108 Suffix with labyrinth 109 Czar known as ‘‘the Great’’

112 Once called

113 *Noisy disagreement 116 *Ordered

120 Service with a Capitol Corridor route

121 Promote aggressively

122 Without accompaniment 123 Crows

124 Ones in hills or farms 125 Luxury vessel

126 The dark side

DOWN

1 Brains of a tech start

up?

2 Racket

3 Noticeable

4 Roused from a nap 5 Neighbor of Nev. 6 Barely usable pencils 7 ____ sandwich

8 Like some roller

coaster drops

9 Task for a crossword

constructor 10 Washed quickly 11 Bon ____ 12 Instrument used in a

medical checkup 13 Out of whack

14 Vessel with a hatch,

informally

15 The ‘‘teardrop of

India’’

16 Not exceeding 17 ‘‘Dark Lady’’

hitmaker, 1974 18 ____ Park, N.Y. 20 Christianity’s ____ Creed

25 Word with code or

card 28 Good witch in Oz 31 ‘‘That’s enough about

your sex life!’’

32 Pallid

33 Some have

combinations

36 Like J, alphabetically 39 English majors’ degs. 40 Having three unequal sides 42 Equal: Prefix 44 Outmoded storage

device

45 Witness

47 Some breads

48 Smitten

50 British exclamation 51 One of three for German nouns, or one of four for those in Africa’s Zande language

53 Like a tug-of-war rope 55 One may go off in the

middle of the night 56 Scientist whose name is associated with a number

57 Wine list section 59 Heavy medieval weapons

60 Robot sound

62 Hot condiment

63 Italian bread that’s no longer made

65 Comply with a peace treaty, maybe

66 Some camping excursions 67 ‘‘I’m relieved!’’

70 H.S. subject

73 ‘‘La Tauromaquia’’

artist

75 Come off as

77 Went ballistic

79 ‘‘Easy there!’’ 80 Small particle 82 Binder inserts with

tabs

83 Literally, ‘‘revenge’’ 84 Org. that evaluates

toothbrushes

86 Good cheer 88 Singer ____ Marie 89 Joins firmly

90 Epoch when palm trees grew in Alaska 91 In an obvious way 92 All-time connector 93 Big ____

96 Plan in detail

100 Puppy ‘‘kisses’’

102 Rot

104 Ill suited

105 9-5 automaker, once 106 Muppet who refers to himself in the third person 107 ‘‘At Last’’ singer James

110 Almond ____ (toffee brand)

111 Computer with a Pro model 114 Ship pest

115 H+ or I

117 A ticket may be given for a high one: Abbr. 118 Man’s name derived from the Bible

119 Man’s name derived from the Bible