The New York Times Crossword

CHEAP THRILLS By Christina Iverson and Samuel A. Donaldson / Edited by Will Shortz

Christina Iverson of Ames, Iowa, is an assistant crossword editor for The Times. Sam Donaldson is a law professor at Georgia State. This puzzle grew into a Sunday when they had too many ideas to fit into a 15 x 15-square grid.

ACROSS

1 Become hysterical, with “out’’

4 Elided title 8 Restaurant competitor of Pinkberry and Sweet Frog

12 Catchy tunes, informally 16 Sigh of lament

17 Where dancers have a ball?

18 Mcflurry mix-in

19 Furniture giant 20 Bad flight forecast

21 Reason

22 Hierarchy level

23 Certain U.S. time zone

24 Economizing, as represented by the circled squares?

27 “The bad news is ... ”

29 Whatsapp transmissions, briefly 30 Navy nay

31 Seizes eagerly, as an opportunity 33 Sean of “Stranger Things’’ 34 Part of an M.C.’S intro, often 36 Prohibition target 40 Economizing, as represented twice in 12Down?

45 “The Crown’’ role 46 Colorful kind of shirt 47 Offering from Dr. Mom, in brief 48 Senior partners? 50 ____ Hill, neighborhood of San Francisco

51 Bussing on a bus, for short 54 Memorable mission 56 “You’ve made your point,’’ slangily 57 Lead-in to an opinion 60 Zip 62 From not so long ago 63 Parts of a gig 64 Scrapbooker’s project 67 Honesty, resilience or a sense of humor, perhaps 69 Shield of ancient Greece: Var. 73 Manhattan is one: Abbr. 75 Attempt

77 Work that hasn’t yet entered publication 79 Little squealer

83 Fencer’s score

86 Hebrew version of the English pronoun “I’’

87 Confidentiality contract, for short 88 Welcome event

90 ____ drag (hockey maneuver)

91 Cellist’s need

93 In concert 94 Economizing, as represented in 58-Down?

99 Unwelcome, so to speak

101 Vote in favor 102 Trading places

103 Like some modern maps 105 Golfer Palmer, to fans

106 A/C meas. 109 “The Planets’’ composer

111 Economizing, as represented by the shaded squares?

115 Bad-sounding creatures? 116 Ditto, in legal footnotes

118 Word that means “ocean’’ in a religious title 119 Large crowd 120 It’s cried on a slide

121 Check 122 Classical poem 123 Beast with recurved horns 124 Triumphant shout at a crossword tournament

125 Freshness

126 Like some morning lawns 127 Smokey spot, for short

DOWN

1 Sharpens

2 “How ____ Your Mother’’

3 Work out

4 Some garlic prep

5 Regarding 6 Maker of the Nitro

5 gaming laptop

7 “The year’s at the spring/ And day’s at the ____’’: Robert Browning 8 Yankees manager before Girardi 9 Zealous activist

10 C-note

11 Tranquil discipline

12 Former name of a Kansas arena that commemorated a 1976 U.S. anniversary 13 It helps make a stew a goo

14 Poached fruit 15 Garnish for una margarita

16 Source of many a name on a campus building, informally 17 Starts eating 20 Poli _ _ _ _

25 Reply to the Little Red Hen 26 Name hidden in “before long’’ 28 It makes a red velvet cake red

32 Cancoen cash 33 Hamburger’s beef? 34 Word with pepper or tower 35 Like some ancient pyramids 37 Acceleration, e.g.

38 Quelques-____ (some, in French) 39 Quantity multiplied by acceleration in Newton’s second law

40 Pioneer in global aviation 41 Words of defeat

42 “Don’t sweat it,’’ informally

43 Educ. supporter 44 Once-popular devices discontinued in 2022

49 Cousin of a weasel

52 “What’s the ____?’’ (“’Sup with that?’’) 53 Suffer

55 Farmyard cry

58 Not in a relationship

59 “The Last O.G.’’ network 61 Vile Nile reptile 65 Out-and-out

66 Foreign leader whom Nixon met in 1972 68 That’s history!

70 Kind of knife of infomercial fame

71 Like Urdu or Hindi

72 Was very ripe 74 Round figures 76 Montana city SW of Helena 78 The main antagonist? 79 [Ugh, this is horrible!] 80 ____ facto 81 Like some highlighter colors 82 Relish 84 Plant whose name derives from Quechua 85 Devious snicker 89 Barely gets the words out 92 Pros with deliveries, in brief 95 Painter Jan van ____

96 “Let’s do this!’’ 97 Civil rights icon ____ Helen Burroughs 98 Power structure?

100 Capers 104 Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’’ has five of them 105 Beaming, as with joy 106 Liberal arts college in Kentucky

107 Locally focused lecture franchise

108 Pac-12 player

109 Santa’s favorite Hostess dessert?

110 Wilson of film

112 Carded at a bar, informally 113 Common spot for a sunburn

114 Gaggles 115 Chain email abbr.

117 Grammy winner ____ Lipa