NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE

HAMMER TIME

Nathan Hasegawa, of Oakland, Calif., is a junior at Harvey Mudd College majoring in mathematics. This is his second crossword for The Times. His first was in 2021, during his senior year in high school, when every student had to pursue a yearlong project and Nathan’s was to get a crossword published here. This follow-up, which has a multifaceted theme, was two years in the making (on and off ). — W.S.

ACROSS

1 Toy on a racetrack 8 Soccer star who has won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards 13 Like ‘‘t,’’ ‘‘k’’ and ‘‘p,’’

in phonetics 20 What Hemingway claimed he did to the ending of ‘‘A Farewell to Arms’’

39 times 21 Dartmouth and Penn,

e.g.

22 Fled 23 Mnemonic start 24 Actor Leary 25 Flowerlike sea

creature 26 Massive victory . . . or a high score in

113-Across? 29 Really enjoys oneself 31 Doofuses 34 Wetland 35 Objections

36 Be part of an uprising 37 Lowercase letter that

resembles an ‘‘n’’ 39 Las Vegas resort with a music-inspired name

41 But

42 Resort amenity 45 Medical procedure,

for short 46 Overabundance 47 Vodka drink,

informally 49 Tremble

Contaminating trace

52 53 Chemical-solution

strength 54 ‘‘Yeshiva boy’’ played

by Barbra Streisand 55 Author who penned the line ‘‘Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart’’ 56 Climate issue addressed in the Montreal Protocol 58 Approach something with gusto 60 What’s the matter? 61 Sunder

62 Shapes of many

carrot slices 64 Currency worth a little more than dollars 66 Spreadsheet command

67 Spot for a loft 68 Muesli bit

70 Make a pile, perhaps 72 Rentable transportation options 76 Fracas

78 Music’s Little ____ 83 Used TurboTax, say 84 Journalist’s accessory 86 Knuckle-headed act? 87 Biblical man who lost

his birthright 88 2017 musical retelling of the stories of Henry VIII’s wives 89 Symbol for torque, in

physics

91 Many a viral post 92 Point of no return? 95 Ace

98 Coast

101 Ellipsis element 104 Aviator’s maneuver in a crosswind landing 108 Proportional 109 ‘‘The Last Supper,’’ for one

111 Spot on an afternoon schedule? 112 Doofuses 113 Game represented visually in this puzzle

116 Talks like Tom Waits 117 Justice Kagan

118 Try for a seat in the Capitol 119 Fifth-century pope dubbed ‘‘the Great’’ 120 Constant nuisance 121 Like some postage and parking spaces 122 Fish whose juveniles can climb walls

DOWN

1 Many prom attendees: Abbr.

2 Niihau neckwear 3 Symbol of wisdom 4 Lock 5 Mountebank 6 ‘‘Nice work, little fella!’’ 7 Dreamy state 8 Skirts that go below the knee

9 Giant slalom at the Olympics, e.g. 10 Choir director’s command 11 Tremor

12 Put out

13 Make perfect, maybe 14 Frustrating highway driver

15 Short tennis session 16 Gregor ____, Franz

Kafka character 17 ____ Jima

18 Small band transport 19 Image at the top of the pyramid on the back of a dollar bill 27 ‘‘____ la vista, baby!’’ 28 Insertion mark

29 Put on a pedestal, say 30 Jennifer of ‘‘The Morning Show’’ 32 ‘‘White Noise’’ author Don

33 What a shock!

34 11,111 vis-à-vis

123,454,321 38 Swear (to) 40 Tweak, say 42 Ejects forcefully 43 Primitive camera

feature

44 Like a winner of a mountain marathon, in two senses 46 First name of Julius Caesar 48 Unrefined mined find 50 Finish line for the first stage of the first Tour de France 51 Giant name in

Giants history 52 Cinemax competitor 57 It’s facedown on a

poker table 58 Negroni spirit 59 [I’m SO mad!] 60 Cotton fabric often used in bandages 63 Hosp. areas 65 Gondola propeller

67 Honey

69 Verb sometimes abbreviated to its central letter 71 Prefix with tourist or hotel

72 Series finale 73 Counterfactual starters, in logic 74 Karachi-based carrier 75 Certain urban nightlife 76 Military hiding spot

77 Place that’s cramped

and squalid 79 Something a presidential candidate often wins 80 Gray, say

81 Part of a hoop

82 It may be repeated

after ‘‘fiddle’’ 84 Oregon-based

athletic brand 85 Podium

88 Items in a hardware

store bin

90 Acting as one 93 Capital in the Himalayas 94 Company originally known as Control Video Corp. 96 Shelley’s ‘‘____ to the West Wind’’ 97 Converges on 98 Source of a sleeper

hit, perhaps 99 ____ Holmes, Netflix character played by Millie Bobby Brown

100 Pitkin County ski town

101 Old Venetian money 102 Give a keynote, say 103 Performer with lions 105 Cotton fabric often used in hosiery

106 Urge

107 Some dinero

109 Part of a lion

110 Ear piece 114 Bottom line? 115 Container component

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