The New York Times Crossword

Gary Larson of Edmonds, Wash. is a retired comedian. He spent the last 15 years of his career entertaining on cruise ships, where crosswords were a way to pass the time. One day a clue-and-answer combination in a New York Times crossword cracked him up, and he thought, Why don’t I try making one of these? How hard can it be to fit jokes into a puzzle?

ACROSS

1 Examples of attention to detail 9 Yearbook-award word 13 Lift weights 19 Gingerbread man, often 20 British pop singer Lily

22 In the Caribbean it’s known as “the chicken of the trees’’

23 “The government has discovered aliens but isn’t telling us,’’ e.g.

25 Port on the Loire 26 Missouri site of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival 27 Applications 29 Actress Ward 30 Acronym for a North American quintet 33 Intertwine

35 Pains in the neck 38 Spanish article 39 Power of a square

42 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez 43 Nocturnal bloodsucker 46 Steal

48 Stuff

49 It requires no oxygen for growth

50 Pants with baggy legs 52 Task

54 Noodles often eaten cold in the summer

55 Square things

56 Cause of joint pain 59 Relatively new relative, maybe

61 Small songbird 62 Cornmeal bread 63 Wood for violin-making 66 Brian who co-founded Roxy Music

67 “You rang?’’

68 Means of breathing 74 Calming retreat 77 Subject of 199 silk-screen paintings by Warhol 78 Present from birth 79 Activist ____ Alamuddin Clooney 83 Hesitating sound 84 Unremarkable

86 Goes out for a bit? 88 Valorous 89 Specialty

91 The continents, e.g.

94 His resignation triggered the first invocation of the 25th Amendment

96 Start up again 98 Wacky

101 Like some flights 102 Triangular flags 103 Aerial maneuver 104 Kiddy litter?

105 Mature

106 Power issue 107 Computer image format 109 More up to it

111 South American mammals with trunks 113 Introductory course? 115 Brand of allergy spray 118 Lime and rust

121 It was known by the Algonquin as the “Father of Waters’’

126 Extends

127 Similar

128 Castle in “Hamlet’’ 129 More out there

130 “May God bless and keep the ____ ... far away from us!’’ (line from “Fiddler on the Roof’’)

131 Return to the fray

DOWN

1 Grumpy co-worker 2 Spanish gold

3 Old country-music channel 4 French for “cup’’ 5 Locale of Kings County and Queens County, fittingly 6 Like some batteries and parties

7 Sapa ____ (title for Atahualpa)

8 Not merely cut 9 Gospel singer Jackson 10 Foetbol cheer 11 Doesn’t sit right? 12 Snippy, in a way 13 Spare part?

14 Sch. for Bulldogs

15 ’60s sitcom family 16 What “X’’ marks on a treasure map 17 First-year law student 18 Mission- driven org. 21 “Science Guy’’ Bill 24 Shades

28 Glittery glue- ons 30 Wheel cover

31 Acting mindlessly 32 “____ Brando: Larger Than Life’’ (1994 biography) 34 Dog in classic films 36 Flowing forth 37 Steeple feature 40 Cleverness 41 Universal donor’s blood type, for short 43 Peacockish

44 Activist Hoffman

45 Milk dispensers

47 Lost cause

51 Only player with three 60+ home run seasons

53 Rest of the afternoon? 57 Slant skyward

58 2010 sci-fi film subtitled “Legacy’’

60 Trouble

64 Catering container 65 Color for the right eye of a pair of 3-D glasses

69 Only bird with calf muscles 70 Talking back 71 Graceful spins 72 Informal assents 73 Country singer Price 74 #

75 When doubled, 1934 Cole Porter comedy short 76 Absolutely dazzling 80 Book that’s rarely read cover-to- cover

81 Right, as a wrong 82 More N. S.F.W., maybe 85 Mimics

87 Vodka or gin

88 Low- dose pain reliever 90 Mass recitation 92 Symbol meaning “still typing’’

93 Tugboat sound 95 Dedicatee of the 1980 song “Woman’’ 97 Opposite of wide: Abbr. 99 Like slippers versus dress shoes

100 Milky gems

107 Muscly

108 Stumper question

110 Life form

111 Went like the dickens 112 Got rid of

114 German granny 116 Where the infant Moses was found 117 Cathedral recess

119 Maa, in 1995’s “Babe’’ 120 Ukr., e.g., once

122 Genre pioneered in 1950s-’60s Jamaica

123 U. S. overseas broadcaster 124 Unit of work

125 Food writer/ TV personality ____ Drummond