SEALED WITH A KISS
Lisa Bunker, of Exeter, N.H., is the author of two novels for young readers — “Zenobia July,” about a trans girl with a troubled past starting over with a new family and school, while tackling a cybermystery; and “Felix Yz,” about a boy fused with an alien facing a risky procedure to separate them. Both were published by Viking. She also represents Exeter in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. This is Lisa’s sixth puzzle for The Times and her first Sunday. — W.S.
ACROSS
1 Percussion instrument in a marching band
7 Prefix with sexual
10 Prefix with sexual
14 Animals in a pod
19 Start of a playground taunt
20 Kitchen brand with a palindromic name
21 What an article may come with?
22 Drain, as from soil
23 Fatsis who wrote ‘‘Word Freak’’ 24 Most feathery, as clouds
26 ‘‘Thong Song’’ singer, 2000
27 Sharp, in a way 28 Early tie
30 The ones over here
32 In the capacity of
33 Some Ivy Leaguers
34 Born yesterday, so to speak
36 Calm
38 Comfy slip-on, in brief
39 What an outstretched arm with an open palm can mean
41 Fleet org.
42 It means business
43 Stakes
44 Narrow
46 Group tour vehicle
49 Playground comeback
52 Build up
53 Sci-fi publisher of ‘‘Ender’s Game’’ and ‘‘The Wheel of Time’’
54 Popular beer brand, briefly
57 With 3-Down, one of the Avengers
59 ____ smear
61 Reduced
63 Opposite of a standing order?
64 ‘‘Do me this one favor .?.?. ’’
67 French vineyards
68 Prats
69 Contrariwise 71 North African capital
72 Nongendered, as language: Abbr. 73 Sui ____
74 Kind of dash
76 Best Supporting Actor winner for ‘‘Dallas Buyer’s Club’’
78 Prefix with friendly
79 Rules out?
80 West Coast beer brand, in brief 81 ‘‘____ ruled the world .?.?. ’’
83 :
86 Capital of Yemen
87 Kind of modern office plan
89 Smell of a rose 92 Smell of a rosé 95 ____ Fridays 96 Barrister’s deg. 97 Bench tool
99 Quibble
101 Student’s bonus points
103 Drawn-out campaigns
105 When doubled, another name for dorado
106 Call ____ night 107 Eighth letter 109 British tennis champ who invented the sweatband
111 ____ impasse 112 Guardian spirits
114 Especially
116 Soubise sauce is made from them
118 Greenishbrown
119 ____ cake (dim sum dish)
120 Suffix with social
121 ‘‘Wheel of Fortune’’ freebies 122 Sharp
123 Label for Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes
124 Latin king
125 Sea lion, for one
DOWN
1 Word with sound or solar
2 Few
3 See 57-Across
4 Subsequent versions
5 Thurman of ‘‘Kill Bill’’
6 Word before and after ‘‘a’’
7 Turned on
8 Kind of symmetry
9 A pretty capable sort
10 Singer DiFranco 11 Big name in bubbly
12 Small woodland songbird 13 ‘‘Town square for the global village of tomorrow,’’ per Bill Gates
14 Jimmy of the Daily Planet
15 L.?L. Bean competitor
16 Medieval helmet
17 Exonerate
18 Prime snorkeling spots
25 Like many stuffed animals
29 PX shopper
31 The Quran, for one
35 Mango Madness and Go Bananas, for two 37 Ones initiating handoffs, for short 39 Some mattresses
40 Indulgence
45 Capital of French Polynesia 47 Show again 48 Caterer’s container
50 A fine mesh this is!
51 Debussy prelude inspired by a water sprite 54 Outcast
55 Out of focus 56 Surface anew, say
57 Post production
58 Without a doubt
60 Turkish officers
62 Timid sort
63 Instrument in ‘‘O! Susannah’’
64 They’ll be mist
65 Super Bowl of 2022
66 Place with robes and sweaters
70 Seasick sea serpent of old cartoons
71 Bank posting 73 Words after throwing a ball
75 Grams
77 Unbalance
82 Packaging list
84 ‘‘L’chaim!’’
85 (a, b), e.g.
87 Anthem contraction
88 Suit perfectly 90 France from France 91 Singer who founded Fenty Beauty
92 What ponies express?
93 Field-plowing duo
94 Poem piece 97 Notable point in geometry
98 U.N. member since 1949: Abbr. 100 Glittery decoration
102 Listing
104 Beau ____ 105 Ones with plenty of reservations
108 Blade brand 110 Days of old 113 Suffix with court or cash
115 Deli supply 117 Surveillance org.
Answers will be printed in next week’s crossword puzzle page.