BEGGING THE QUESTION

ACROSS

1 Sticky situation 5 Feeling no pain 9 Hard exterior 14 Rock projection 19 Field of study

20 On a cruise 21 Adele chart-topper that won three Grammys

22 __ skeleton

23 York, Jersey,

Mexico, etc.?

26 TV, radio,

newspapers, etc. 27 Minnesota twins? 28 Like modern

farmhouse decor 29 Small chess piece 30 “Breaking Bad” star

Cranston

31 More slippery 33 Legless reptile 35 Muse of poetry 37 Swiped, in a way 39 Doctrinal

breakaways

42 “__ a virtue, if you

have it not”: Hamlet 45 Vermicelli, e.g. 46 R?

50 Dallas NBAer 51 Midrange voice 52 Greek letter that seems like it should be last 53 Unaccompanied 54 Beethoven honoree 56 Neckwear pins 60 Fasten, as buttons 62 NCAA pt.

63 Get dizzy with

delight

65 Sierra __, Africa 67 Firmly decided 69 “Amazing!”

70 None, few, many,

most, __? 74 Juilliard subj. 75 Type of court

concerned with wills 77 Like a cold-weather

jacket

78 Western show 80 Logician’s “hence” 81 Soccer period 84 Generosity 86 Barrels of laughs 88 1973 Toni Morrison

novel

90 Aptly named cooler

brand

91 Nick at __ 95 Smithwick’s beer 96 Ralph Emerson? 100 Like corned beef 101 Orderly method

103 Art studio stand

104 Impulse-conducting

cells

106 Lock of hair

108 Soul singer Baker 111 “__ you clever!”

112 Informal name for

Google Talk

114 Old Dodge

subcompact

117 Hopeless cases 119 Hang loosely

121 Naproxen brand 122 “Mice guys finish

last”?

125 Stuff to sell

126 Respected figure 127 Seesaw sitter of classic tongue twisters

128 Not engaged

129 Lowered oneself? 130 Like the sound of

bagpipes

131 Mix together

132 Scallion kin

DOWN

1 Private home? 2 Humorously

twisted 3 Anchor venue 4 “Lah-di-__!”

5 The great outdoors 6 Puts to work 7 Softens

8 Washbowl

9 City with two MLB

teams

10 Has high regard for 11 Forearm bone 12 Whole bunch 13 “Chinatown”

screenwriter Robert 14 Scold harshly 15 Applies, as

pressure

16 Sesa Street? 17 Greek earth

goddess

18 Lively spirit

24 Ice Capades

setting 25 Cybercurrency 32 All things

considered 34 Hawaii’s Mauna __ 36 Cheer-full message 37 Health resort 38 Food regimen 40 Stepped heavily 41 Missile housing 43 37-Down staffer 44 Goings-on

47 Play for time

48 “Be silent,” in

music

49 Mild Dutch cheese 52 Apex

55 A.E. Housman’s “A

Shropshire __” 57 Sioux City state 58 Former German

Chancellor Helmut 59 Algae-eating

aquarium critter 61 House speaker

Nancy

63 In a regretful

manner 64 Guess __? 66 Italian peak also known as Mongibello 68 “Such a pity!” 69 Some musical works by Kaija Saariaho

71 Rental document 72 Emerald, for one 73 Nosed (out) 76 CAPTCHA prey 79 Academic status 82 Entice

83 Pet collar target 85 British school attended by many prime ministers 87 Most saccharine 89 Attacked 92 Raymond Burr

crime series 93 Sci-fi monster’s

appendage

94 Mag managers 97 “__ Pinafore” 98 Former Chinese

Premier __ Jiabao 99 Adjust, as car

wheels

100 Hex

102 Visit faraway

places

105 Tiny headphone 107 Seed scatterer 109 Sacred emblem 110 Fennellike herb 112 Goggle

113 Extended family 115 Burrowing

insectivore

116 Needing extra

sunscreen?

118 Etc. kin

120 __ Squad: Best

Buy tech support 123 Like unbuttered

toast

124 Zero, in soccer