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Comical Mutation

New York Times, Sunday, February 1, 2026

Author:
Lance Enfinger and John Kugelman
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
106-Down : Raison d'___
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
37/30/20222/1/20261
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1010001
ScrabDebutFlowFresh
1.571645.357%
Lance Enfinger
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
167/30/20232/1/20263
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
14100100
CircleScrabDebutFlowFresh
11.6016541.664%
John Kugelman

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 136, Blocks: 76 Missing: {QZ} Puzzle has duplicate clues. This is puzzle # 3 for Mr. Enfinger. This is puzzle # 16 for Mr. Kugelman. Grid flow: 39.4 Sunday freshness: 81%
Will Shortz notes:
Lance Enfinger is a pharmacist from Mint Hill, N.C., near Charlotte. John Kugelman, of Gainesville, Va., is a software engineer specializing in cybersecurity. Lance started constructing ... read more
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© 2026, The New York Times2/1/26 ( No. 27,844 )
Across
1
Meter in a video game showing a character's health : LIFEBAR
8
Relative of a gazelle : IMPALA
14
Office square : POSTIT
20
Food additive named one of Time's 50 Worst Inventions : OLESTRA
21
Keep cruising, say : SAILON
22
On which Apple Pay can be used : IPHONE
23
Canio in "Pagliacci," e.g.? : CLASSICALCLOWN
25
Noxious atmosphere : MIASMA
26
Prefix with business : AGRI
27
"My house, my rules" : ISAYSO
28
QB Drew whom Tom Brady ultimately replaced : BLEDSOE
29
Get tuckered out : LOSESTEAM
32
Indian wedding wear : SARI
34
School subj. : ENG
35
Grab the chips and dip? : CASHIN
37
News hound? : TOPICALDOG
40
Atomic bond, essentially? : TWOPARTICLEHARMONY
45
Many visitors to national parks : HIKERS
46
Nearsighted person : MYOPE
47
Messing up on the big screen : DEBRA
51
Italy's third-largest island (after Sicily and Sardinia) : ELBA
52
Subterranean adventurer : CAVER
54
"Aaron Burr, ___" ("Hamilton" show tune) : SIR
57
Great number : SLEW
58
Cute, cutesily : ADORBS
61
Dropbox and Roblox : APPS
62
Hailed vehicle : CAB
64
Show interruptions : ADS
65
Some electrolysis targets? : FOLLICLESONONESFACE
71
Partner of vigor : VIM
72
Letter symbolizing the ratio of a circle's circumference to its radius : TAU
73
"Downton Abbey" countess : CORA
74
Warm winter coats : PARKAS
76
Like some early education, for short : PREK
78
W.C. sign : MEN
80
City where LeBron James was born : AKRON
81
Blemish : MARK
82
Bit of a character? : SERIF
84
Conspiring (with) : INBED
86
Spice Girl alongside Baby, Ginger, Scary and Posh : SPORTY
88
"Mainsail hoisted, check! Hatches battened, check!"? : WERENAUTICALWORTHY
94
Shark's singing rival in "West Side Story"? : LYRICALJET
97
Corral : CAGEIN
98
Yankee great Gehrig : LOU
99
Something a judge shouldn't have : BIAS
100
Very rude email, informally : NASTYGRAM
105
Never mind? : AMNESIA
108
Neglectful : REMISS
111
Bank (on) : RELY
112
Two-___ schooner : MASTED
113
Frozen treat for Bruins fans? : BOSTONPOPSICLE
117
Lacking scruples : AMORAL
118
Storm, say : INVADE
119
Noted early riser : ROOSTER
120
With a level head : SANELY
121
Thickets : COPSES
122
Embarrassing items to have revealed on an airport X-ray : SEXTOYS
Down
1
Person from the neighborhood : LOCAL
2
Volunteer's offer : ILLGO
3
Bogeymen : FEARS
4
Maker of Bikini So Teeny nail polish : ESSIE
5
Breakthrough K-pop group : BTS
6
Horror director Aster : ARI
7
Most suggestive : RACIEST
8
Like the Eid al-Fitr festival : ISLAMIC
9
Department store eponym : MACY
10
Pale lager, informally : PILS
11
___ gobi (Indian potato dish) : ALOO
12
Feeling down : LOW
13
___ Taylor (fashion retailer) : ANN
14
Home of the Preakness Stakes : PIMLICO
15
Early TV role for Ron Howard : OPIE
16
Atlantic fish : SHAD
17
Like Frisbees and some salads : TOSSED
18
Not stereo : INMONO
19
Hard-boiled Chinese snack : TEAEGG
24
Sapporo competitor : ASAHI
28
Bowler's edge : BRIM
30
Blemish : SCAR
31
Fixes, as a driveway : TARS
32
Cake not to be eaten : SOAP
33
French for "after" : APRES
36
Barry Bonds and Shohei Ohtani, notably, for short : NLMVPS
37
Hammer wielder : THOR
38
Furthermore : AND
39
Caustic solutions : LYES
40
Mother of Helios, in myth : THEA
41
Metaphor for a runaway success : WILDFIRE
42
Gen Z put-down of an elder : OKBOOMER
43
Bit of wisdom : PEARL
44
Orbit : EYESOCKET
48
Arcane technique : BLACKART
49
Iron-rich variety of fertile soil : REDEARTH
50
Exclamations in nurseries : AWS
52
Lead-in to "tech" : CAL
53
Primatologist's interest : APE
55
Give the cold shoulder, with "out" : ICE
56
Grating voice : RASP
59
Common diner order : BLT
60
Rodgers and Hammerstein musical setting : SIAM
63
Photog's undergrad degree : BFA
66
Stick on a table : CUE
67
Like Volvo and Nokia, by origin : NORDIC
68
Gold, in Guadalajara : ORO
69
London granny : NAN
70
Standard battle wear : ARMOR
71
No. 2's : VPS
75
Vodka in blue bottles : SKYY
77
New Zealander : KIWI
79
One studied in the art of invisibility : NINJA
80
Touch : ABUT
83
Govt. campaign watchdog : FEC
85
Scottish refusals : NAES
86
Loretta of "M*A*S*H" : SWIT
87
Small keg size : PONY
89
With zeal : RABIDLY
90
Director Kazan : ELIA
91
Neighbors of premolars : CANINES
92
Audibly shocked : AGASP
93
Landlords, more formally : LESSORS
94
Pack carriers : LLAMAS
95
Crack open? : YOMAMA
96
Is fueled by : RUNSON
101
Fill in a mill : GRIST
102
Right-hand page : RECTO
103
Strike zone? : ALLEY
104
Mike or Michael in movies : MYERS
106
Raison d'___ : ETRE
107
Close up tight : SEAL
108
Invitation letters : RSVP
109
Uber predictions, in brief : ETAS
110
Style : MODE
113
Zippo competitor : BIC
114
Co-producer of the documentary "The Beatles: Get Back" : ONO
115
"The Bells" poet : POE
116
Fenway team, familiarly : SOX

Answer summary:
11 unique to this puzzle, 1 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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