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DOWN FOR THE COUNT

New York Times, Sunday, December 22, 2019

Author:
Laura Taylor Kinnel
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
36-Across : Govt. org. often impersonated on scam calls
TotalDebutLatest
612/22/201912/11/2022
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
5001000
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
411.585963%
Laura Taylor Kinnel

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 136, Blocks: 75 Missing: {QZ} Spans: 2 Grid has mirror symmetry. This is the debut puzzle for Ms. Kinnel. Sunday freshness: 80%
Will Shortz notes:
Laura Taylor Kinnel, of Newtown, Pa., teaches math and is the director of studies at a Friends boarding school near Philadelphia. She got her interest in crosswords at a young age through ... read more
Laura Taylor Kinnel notes:
It's particularly fun to debut on the Sunday before Christmas since my crossword creation habit began exactly a year ago when I decided to make a year-in-review crossword for our annual ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
Imagine this nerd's eyes, boinging wide with delight upon uncovering MULTIPLICATIVE INVERSE. Ooh, yeah! Wait. Somehow that's linked to THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY? FOR REAL? We're already at ... read more
Jim Horne notes:

RegEx can indeed be helpful. Here are some words with exactly three, four, or five Ts.

Click Help on our Finder page for some helpful RegEx web links.

1
L
2
C
3
D
4
A
5
L
6
E
7
L
8
O
9
P
10
N
11
A
12
W
13
O
R
E
14
S
15
S
C
A
L
16
P
17
M
I
N
S
18
K
19
R
O
B
E
20
M
U
L
T
21
I
P
L
I
C
A
22
T
I
V
E
I
N
23
V
E
R
S
E
24
B
L
O
U
S
E
25
R
A
G
W
E
E
D
26
E
C
H
E
C
K
27
A
L
U
N
S
E
28
R
29
P
E
O
N
S
30
M
E
R
M
A
I
D
31
R
E
S
32
U
33
R
I
34
A
35
V
A
36
S
S
A
37
D
R
E
38
W
39
T
E
E
T
40
O
41
T
42
A
L
E
R
43
S
44
P
O
S
Y
45
I
S
D
O
46
N
E
47
M
A
C
H
S
I
X
48
A
49
R
E
N
A
S
50
U
S
C
51
G
52
N
U
R
S
E
53
G
I
R
L
54
P
55
O
56
R
K
C
H
O
57
P
58
L
E
E
59
P
A
S
S
E
60
D
61
G
62
O
63
A
M
O
64
B
A
65
B
I
E
S
66
R
U
S
67
E
E
K
68
S
A
G
69
A
70
B
R
I
O
71
A
L
M
72
S
73
I
L
S
A
74
T
H
E
T
75
H
E
O
R
Y
76
O
77
F
78
R
E
L
A
T
79
I
V
I
T
Y
80
E
A
R
M
A
R
K
S
81
N
O
E
82
A
I
R
W
A
V
E
S
83
F
A
I
R
E
84
M
A
U
L
85
S
86
N
O
O
N
E
87
O
88
H
E
N
R
Y
89
F
O
R
R
E
A
90
L
91
S
N
A
R
92
F
93
S
94
N
O
D
95
P
A
R
R
96
A
M
E
97
S
98
Y
O
N
99
A
M
E
100
N
101
T
U
T
T
I
102
F
R
U
T
T
103
I
104
E
R
N
E
105
J
A
R
O
106
M
I
R
107
O
V
I
N
E
108
A
L
109
A
M
O
D
E
110
A
G
E
N
D
E
R
111
N
A
V
E
L
112
G
L
A
M
O
U
R
113
G
E
R
A
L
D
S
114
S
L
E
D
S
115
S
E
S
A
M
E
S
© 2019, The New York Times12/22/19 ( No. 25,611 )
Across
1
TV screen inits. : LCD
4
Steinful : ALE
7
Cut (off) : LOP
10
"Nope" : NAW
13
Lucky strikes? : ORES
15
Massage target : SCALP
17
Capital of Belarus : MINSK
19
Spa amenity : ROBE
20
24
Top type : BLOUSE
25
Hay fever irritant : RAGWEED
26
Online payment option : ECHECK
27
Record holder for the most Indianapolis 500 laps led (644) : ALUNSER
29
Lowly workers : PEONS
30
Mythical being depicted in bronze in Copenhagen Harbor : MERMAID
31
Followers of dos : RES
32
Home of the N.C.A.A.'s Rhody the Ram, for short : URI
34
Director DuVernay : AVA
36
Govt. org. often impersonated on scam calls : SSA
37
Picked a card : DREW
39
Abstainers ... or the central column's answers vis-à-vis 20-, 39-, 74- and 101-Across, respectively : TEETOTALERS
44
One in a pocketful : POSY
45
Has finished : ISDONE
47
Speed that would enable a 23-minute D.C.-to-L.A. flight : MACHSIX
48
Where fans are often placed on high? : ARENAS
50
Org. whose academy's motto in English is "The sea yields to knowledge" : USCG
52
One who might give you a shot : NURSE
53
Miss : GIRL
54
Food that Marge Simpson once served with "a whisper of MSG" : PORKCHOP
58
Big name in denim : LEE
59
Collected $200, say : PASSEDGO
63
"Te ___" : AMO
64
Former superstore chain selling diapers and strollers : BABIESRUS
67
"Egads!" : EEK
68
Quite a tale : SAGA
70
Spirit : BRIO
71
Charitable offering : ALMS
73
Film character who says "Kiss me as if it were the last time" : ILSA
74
It postulates a space-time fabric : THETHEORYOFRELATIVITY
80
Congressional budget directives : EARMARKS
81
San Francisco's ___ Valley : NOE
82
Radio medium : AIRWAVES
83
Renaissance-themed festival : FAIRE
84
Tears to pieces : MAULS
86
Who once had all 10 of the top 10 Billboard hits simultaneously : NOONE
87
"The Gift of the Magi" author : OHENRY
89
"Seriously?" : FORREAL
91
Gobbles (down) : SNARFS
94
Doze (off) : NOD
95
Mr. Incredible's actual surname : PARR
96
College town of George Washington Carver : AMES
98
Hither's partner : YON
99
"Absolutely!" : AMEN
101
Little Richard hit with "the most inspired rock lyric ever recorded," per Rolling Stone : TUTTIFRUTTI
104
Sea eagle : ERNE
105
Many-time N.H.L. All-Star Jagr : JAROMIR
107
Sheepish : OVINE
108
Fashionable : ALAMODE
110
Nonbinary identity : AGENDER
111
Focus of an egoist's gaze : NAVEL
112
Magazine with annual Women of the Year Awards : GLAMOUR
113
President Ford and others : GERALDS
114
Traditional, if bulky, presents in Santa's bag : SLEDS
115
Opening words? : SESAMES
Down
1
Super Bowl trophy eponym : LOMBARDI
2
Deep-fried doughy treats : CRULLERS
3
Picked nits : DELOUSED
4
___ tear (athlete's injury) : ACL
5
Thieves' place : LAIR
6
Yosemite attraction : ELCAPITAN
7
Hides one's true nature : LIVESALIE
8
Group with the 2012 chart-topping album "Up All Night," to fans : ONED
9
Ψ : PSI
10
"Why do you ask?" response : NOREASON
11
The 1 in (1,2), in math : ABSCISSA
12
Work times, typically : WEEKDAYS
14
Phaser setting : STUN
15
Admiral Graf ___ (German W.W. II ship) : SPEE
16
Leaf (through) : PAGE
17
Bearing : MIEN
18
One might be taken in protest : KNEE
19
Longtime NPR host Diane : REHM
21
Satellite inhabited continuously since 2000: Abbr. : ISS
22
Complement of turtledoves in a Christmas song : TWO
23
Obsolescent TV companion : VCR
28
Paris's ___ La Fayette : RUE
30
Disfigure : MAR
33
___ sleep : REM
35
Perturb : VEX
38
"The Caine Mutiny" author : WOUK
39
End of some school names, for short : TECH
40
Orbicularis ___ (eyelid-closing muscle) : OCULI
41
"We ___ Kings" : THREE
42
What fools might make of themselves : ASSES
43
"Je ne ___ quoi" : SAIS
44
Joint winner of FIFA's Player of the Century award in 2000 : PELE
46
Top-level foreign policy grp. : NSC
49
Monopoly quartet: Abbr. : RRS
51
Fold : GOBROKE
53
Fuel line : GASMAIN
54
Wallop : PASTE
55
1935 Triple Crown winner : OMAHA
56
Top-ranked professional tennis player for a record 237 consecutive weeks : ROGERFEDERER
57
Ark contents : PAIRS
59
___ fast one : PULLA
60
Labor day setting? : DELIVERYROOM
61
"Beau ___" : GESTE
62
Signs off on : OKAYS
65
"I tell ya!" : BOY
66
Charlotte of "The Facts of Life" : RAE
69
Universal self, in Hinduism : ATMAN
70
Preserves something? : BERRY
72
Houston A.L.'ers : STROS
73
Trump who wrote 2017's "Raising Trump" : IVANA
75
Tiny margin of victory : HAIR
76
When one usually goes through customs : ONARRIVAL
77
Purple pool ball : FOUR
78
Brushed up on : RELEARNED
79
Lucky ticket holder's cry : IWON
84
Famed Chicago steakhouse : MORTONS
85
A couple of Bible books : SAMUELS
87
Completely unrestrained : ONAJAG
88
Tribute : HOMAGE
89
Swollen, as a lip : FAT
90
Drain, as blood : LET
92
Swiss dish : FONDUE
93
Derisive expressions : SNEERS
95
Runs smoothly : PURRS
97
They can't do without does : STAGS
100
Prefix for a polygon with 140° interior angles : NONA
101
Headed for overtime : TIED
102
A short rest, so to speak : FIVE
103
He: Lat. : ILLE
104
Top female baby name of 2014-18 : EMMA
106
Year that Michelangelo's "The Crucifixion of St. Peter" was completed : MDL
109
Things the Energizer bunny may need : AAS

Answer summary:
9 unique to this puzzle, 6 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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