SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD | FUNNY BUSINESS
BY JOHN WESTWIG, EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ
John Westwig is a software engineer in Seattle. This is his ninth crossword for The Times. His first one appeared in 2015, when he was 17. John says, “I think I got into constructing because, when I was done solving a puzzle, I would look at the answer grid and wonder how someone could possibly have created such a thing!” Note the long answers at 16- and 50-Down, each crossing three theme entries. Very elegant. — W. S.
ACROSS
1 Begin to flower
4 In conflict 9 Basketball-stats category
16 Neckwear provided at some restaurants
19 Pikes Peak people 20 One-dish meal 21 “You’re playing with fire!”
22 Game-night cry 23 “First, I founded an aerospace start-up, but I never … ”
26 Messy room
27 Make the first bet 28 Go back over 29 Proverbial hard workers
30 Bourne’s employer in “The Bourne Identity,” in brief
31 Popular indoor tree 33 Total revolution? 34 Ardennes assent 35 Singer’s asset 37 Daughter of Muhammad
39 “When that fell through, I tried my hand at fishmongering, but we …”
43 Sensitivity
45 Common resolutions 46 Squat, so to speak 47 Pop singer with noted bangs (and bangers!) 48 Go back down
51 J. M. Barrie, for one 53 What Ralph represents in a Freudian analysis of “Lord of the Flies” 54 Betrays
56 “Next, I pivoted into breakfast restaurants, but competitors … ” 61 Passages 62 Medal-earning mettle 63 Purchase printout: Abbr.
66 New Year’s Day 67 Place of prayer
69 Sat ____ (GPS system) 70 Behind
72 Library section 73 Broski
75 There are 768 of these in a gallon
77 “When I tried candlemaking, all my workers … ”
81 Section of the nosebleed seats
83 Poetic preposition 84 Lead-in to zone 85 Some music collectibles, for short 86 Whiz
87 Counterpart of science, they say 88 Freight, e.g.
90 Uncles, in Uruguay 92 “I decided to try operating an airport, but just before launch we … ” 96 Goes first
100 Wrote, as a bad check 101 Moose’s mating season
102 Universal donor’s designation, informally 104 Betray one’s standards
105 Bridge component 106 “We’ll see”
108 Backdrop
110 Exclamation before an ill-advised action, maybe
111 Creature that swallows its prey whole
112 “Finally, I decided to buy a grocery store on an intersection, but a rival had … ”
115 “Wise” one
116 “Enjoyed” some humble pie
117 Bolting Bolt
118 Union contract?
119 Counterpart of “thx” 120 Corrupting influence 121 Full ____
122 Over time period?
DOWN
1 “Leave me alone!” 2 Heaven on earth
3 Pick up on
4 State lines?
5 Hammer wielder of myth
6 The missus
7 ____ Butts, inventor of Scrabble
8 CVS competitor 9 Thunderstruck
10 Slump
11 Big name in jeans 12 Quintessential
13 Turn (off)
14 Spam holders 15 Health-class subj. 16 Sloan or Wharton 17 Opposite of relief, in printmaking
18 ____ wonder 24 Traditional makers of anoraks
25 Like kale vis-à-vis lettuce
30 Call of a raven 32 Break, as a window 34 Aid in getting a leg up? 35 Knot again!
36 Pizazz
38 Bow (to)
40 Desert bordering Sinai 41 Regarding
42 Harry Potter’s mother 44 Hubbub
48 Disney theme park 49 Yankees manager Aaron
50 Absolute minimum required
52 Listlessness
55 Soul
57 Portmanteau pastry 58 1972 Bill Withers hit whose title sounds like a command
59 “Allegory of the cave” philosopher
60 1956 Elvis hit whose title sounds like a command
64 Centerfold, say
65 Bits of troubleshooting 68 Football receiver 70 Yiddish word meaning “woe”
71 Eradicates starting from the bottom 73 Follow closely
74 Zac of “Baywatch” 76 Share a side 78 Identity theft, for one 79 Snow-day project 80 The 380-foot-tall Hyperion, for one
81 Bit of carefree fun 82 Trendy treat of Brazilian origin
88 Swiss cheese
89 Man cave, maybe 91 Bacchanalian beast 93 Ref. work that began as a Philological Society project
94 Swiss “cheese” 95 “Whatcha gonna do about it?”
97 Cub or colt
98 “Holy ____!”
99 Perfect in every way 103 Extract
106 Tiniest bit
107 Talking horse of ’60s TV 108 Apt rhyme of “nude” and “crude”
109 Send off
111 Catchy song, in slang 112 Thing to catch in a city
113 Tobiko or masago 114 ____ second