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COLORFUL CHARACTERS

New York Times, Sunday, November 9, 2014

Author:
Tom McCoy
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
66-Down : Tabula ___
TotalDebutLatest
3511/14/20137/3/2022
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
19815200
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
471.6125342%
Tom McCoy

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 140, Blocks: 79 Missing: {QZ} Grid has mirror symmetry. Puzzle has duplicate clues. This is puzzle # 6 for Mr. McCoy. Sunday freshness: 61%
Tom McCoy notes:
In his notes for a recent puzzle, Joel Fagliano mentioned how it's useful to tinker with a theme until you find the best presentation for it. This advice was extremely applicable to ... read more
Will Shortz notes:
Tom McCoy is a sophomore at Yale, co-captain of the Yale Road Running team, and a 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholar. Two of his five previous puzzles in the Times have been named "Puzzle of ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
Such a clever concept! Tom has only recently emerged onto the crossword scene, but I've been as impressed with his body of work as any other newish constructor coming to mind. Today he ... read more
Jim Horne notes:

I liked this one even more than Jeff did. In fact, I named it my Puzzle of the Year for 2014.

1
H
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S
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M
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N
© 2014, The New York Times11/9/14 ( No. 23,742 )
Across
1
Extremely attractive bodies : BLACKHOLES
6
Bird found in this grid's lower-right corner : BLUEJAY
13
Building material in Oz : YELLOWBRICK
18
Female surfer : WAHINE
19
Words from a Latin lover : YOTEAMO
20
Byproduct of petroleum refining : ETHANE
22
1996 Olympic tennis gold medalist : AGASSI
23
Suffer remorse : FEELBAD
24
U.S.S.R.'s Brezhnev : LEONID
25
Sharp : TART
26
Side of a diner : SLAW
28
Background color of a $100 bill : TEAL
30
It might be stained : PANE
31
Hikers' snacks : TRAILMIXES
34
Facetious unit defined as the amount of beauty needed to launch one ship : MILLIHELEN
36
Young musician? : NEIL
37
Nail holder : TOE
39
Birds Eye bagful : PEAS
40
"That old" stuff of song : BLACKMAGIC
42
Sodium ___ (potato chip flavoring) : ACETATE
46
World's first national park : YELLOWSTONE
49
Dog's plaint : YIP
50
Leading : PROMINENT
52
Whitney who went to Yale, appropriately : ELI
54
Quaking ___ : ASPEN
57
Body of water found in this grid's upper-right corner : YELLOWSEA
58
Lawn tool : EDGER
60
Performing, say : ONSTAGE
62
Plagued : BESET
63
Vitamin used to fight Alzheimer's : BTWELVE
65
X contributor : MOTHER
66
Puts on eBay, say : RESELLS
68
"What a ___!" : RELIEF
69
"Methinks," in forums : IMO
70
Instruments in the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" and "Within You Without You" : SITARS
72
Hawaiian verandas : LANAIS
74
Prey for a cheetah : GNU
75
With 77-Across, when combined into one word, national trivia championship, e.g. : NERD
77
See 75-Across : FEST
78
Hardware store or nursery purchase : BULB
79
Gels : SETS
80
Beverage found in this grid's lower-left corner : GREENTEA
82
Ending with may : HAP
85
Injury found in this grid's upper-left corner : BLACKEYE
87
Bereavement : LOSS
88
Placeholder? : ATLAS
90
Prey of the Morlocks : ELOI
91
Give the go-ahead : GREENLIGHT
94
Relative of a panpipe : HARMONICA
97
Common muffin flavor : BLUEBERRY
101
Jai ___ : ALAI
102
Impersonal notes ... or what four groups of this puzzle's answers do (totaling 11 words) : FORMLETTERS
104
"Mon ___!" : DIEU
105
Josh : RIB
106
___ 6 : MOTEL
107
Fundamental : BASAL
109
Unit named for a telephone pioneer : BEL
110
Crass : VULGAR
112
Substance in some signs : NEONGAS
116
Inclined (to) : LIABLE
118
Eponymous Bloomer : AMELIA
119
Tranquil : ATPEACE
120
Print up? : EMBOSS
121
Owner of Columbia Pictures : SONY
122
Baby bird? : STORK
123
Super-rare occurrence : BLUEMOON
Down
1
Helga's "horrible" husband : HAGAR
2
Butler's maiden name? : OHARA
3
Banning from future work : BLACKLISTING
4
Nitrogen symbols : ENS
5
Earth-shattering, maybe : SEISMIC
6
Quaint way of sending documents : BYFAX
7
Lerner's partner on Broadway : LOEWE
8
Beehive Stater : UTE
9
Long, narrow fish : EEL
10
Insult : JAB
11
Centuries-old instrument : AMATI
12
Peak performance? : YODEL
13
Lily-livered sorts : YELLOWBELLIES
14
Course: Abbr. : RTE
15
"Fingers crossed!" : IHOPESO
16
Illusory sight on Mars : CANAL
17
Robotic dog on "Doctor Who" : KNINE
18
Bit of power : WATT
21
Paradise lost in "Paradise Lost" : EDEN
27
Rapper ___ Wayne : LIL
29
View from Neuchâtel : ALP
32
What you might bow your head to receive : LEI
33
Like some wine glasses : STEMLESS
34
Have good intentions : MEANWELL
35
Sunburn preventer, maybe : HAT
38
Idle : OTIOSE
40
"Koala bear," e.g. : MISNOMER
41
Modern purveyor of Scrabble and Monopoly : APPSTORE
42
"___ we done here?" : ARE
43
Who said "I can't prove it, but I can say it" : COLBERT
44
Trial site : TESTLAB
45
Pittsburgh-to-Wilkes-Barre dir. : ENE
47
Honeymoon attire : NEGLIGEE
48
110, to Bilbo Baggins : ELEVENTY
49
Sports star with size 18 shoes : YAOMING
50
"Ginger ___" (1952 Newbery winner) : PYE
51
Bill : TAB
53
"NO!" : IREFUSE
55
End of the Bible? : ETH
56
Scottish negatives : NAES
58
Some ovines : EWES
59
Director Guillermo ___ Toro : DEL
61
Swindles : GRIFTS
64
Like some councils : TRIBAL
66
Tabula ___ : RASA
67
Ignore : SNUB
71
Start of a round : TEESHOT
73
Rapt : ALLEARS
76
Home of India's Red Fort : DELHI
79
Went down a slippery slope : SKIED
81
"... just kidding!" : NOT
82
Web file format, for short : HTML
83
Burn alleviator : ALOE
84
Be winded : PANT
86
Frosty's pipe : COB
88
Decorative bands : ARMLETS
89
Chillax, say : SITBACK
91
Future imago : LARVA
92
Alternative name for Troy : ILIUM
93
Anne's home, in literature : GREENGABLES
95
Court locale : ARENA
96
Desist : CEASE
98
Top prize : BLUERIBBON
99
Film archive : REELS
100
December celebrations : YULES
102
Incursion : FORAY
103
Beaver State capital : SALEM
106
Chief : MAIN
108
Long ride : LIMO
111
Day-___ : GLO
113
Go (for) : OPT
114
Modern beginning? : NEO
115
Long, narrow fish : GAR
117
Blood type system : ABO

Answer summary:
9 unique to this puzzle, 3 debuted here and reused later, 1 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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