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FINAL OFFER

New York Times, Sunday, September 13, 2020

Author:
MaryEllen Uthlaut
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
13-Down : Start of a magician's phrase
TotalDebutLatest
49/7/20105/15/2024
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1111000
ScrabDebutFresh
1.552229%
MaryEllen Uthlaut

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 140, Blocks: 75 Missing: {JQXZ} This is puzzle # 3 for Ms. Uthlaut. Sunday freshness: 11%
Will Shortz notes:
MaryEllen Uthlaut is a writer and homemaker in Charleston, S.C. Some years ago she was at her local library doing research for an article when she stumbled across a book about crosswords ... read more
MaryEllen Uthlaut notes:
The idea for this puzzle came from a study of the word "beachcomber." (In coastal South Carolina, where I live, we have quite a few of those.) As it turned out, I did not use BEACHCOMB as ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
Standard letter removal theme — I bet some cryptic crossword solvers figured out the notion from the title, FINAL OFFER parsed as FINAL OFF ER, i.e., remove the ER from ends of phrases. ... read more
1
O
2
A
3
T
4
H
5
A
6
M
7
P
8
A
9
T
10
A
11
R
12
I
13
H
14
E
15
I
16
S
17
T
18
S
19
S
L
A
Y
20
L
A
O
21
L
O
R
E
N
22
O
L
D
H
A
T
23
H
A
P
P
24
I
L
Y
E
25
V
E
R
A
F
T
26
C
A
L
I
C
O
27
A
S
S
O
C
I
A
T
E
28
A
B
S
O
29
L
U
T
E
P
O
W
30
O
N
S
I
D
31
E
32
N
O
S
E
D
33
P
34
L
35
A
N
36
C
A
V
37
I
38
T
39
I
E
S
40
M
41
E
42
T
43
P
H
O
N
I
44
E
45
S
46
A
D
I
O
S
47
P
48
A
49
G
O
D
A
50
R
E
C
Y
C
L
I
51
N
52
G
C
E
N
T
53
T
I
T
A
N
I
C
54
I
N
K
55
S
T
A
T
U
S
56
A
57
M
E
N
B
R
O
T
H
58
C
O
E
59
R
60
C
E
61
G
O
A
T
62
S
63
O
N
S
E
T
64
E
L
D
E
R
65
P
O
S
T
66
T
67
W
O
S
68
S
E
69
R
70
F
71
S
72
G
A
73
I
L
Y
74
E
75
M
A
I
L
76
S
T
R
E
E
T
77
B
78
R
79
A
I
N
T
E
A
80
S
81
A
R
M
A
82
D
A
83
F
R
A
84
R
E
V
O
K
E
D
85
C
86
E
L
L
P
H
O
N
87
E
88
N
U
M
B
89
A
N
O
N
Y
M
90
D
A
N
T
E
91
G
E
N
E
S
I
S
92
N
O
W
93
F
E
N
E
S
T
94
R
95
A
96
D
O
E
S
97
P
98
R
99
O
O
F
100
S
A
L
101
A
102
M
I
103
R
104
E
105
L
I
E
F
P
I
106
T
107
C
108
H
109
N
O
M
I
N
110
A
111
T
112
E
113
S
114
U
T
O
P
I
A
115
N
O
L
A
116
U
G
H
I
N
G
M
A
T
T
117
S
A
V
I
N
G
118
E
M
I
R
S
119
A
N
T
120
O
K
R
A
121
T
S
E
T
S
E
122
S
E
P
T
A
123
S
O
Y
124
S
E
E
N
© 2020, The New York Times9/13/20 ( No. 25,877 )
Across
1
Curse : OATH
5
Unit of current : AMP
8
Developer of 1982's E.T., a video game so bad that hundreds of thousands of unsold cartridges were secretly buried in a New Mexico landfill : ATARI
13
Stealing attempts on the diamond? : HEISTS
19
Look extremely stylish, slangily : SLAY
20
___ People's Democratic Republic : LAO
21
Classic actress Sophia : LOREN
22
Lacking freshness : OLDHAT
23
Always glad to be seated in the back of the boat? : HAPPILYEVERAFT
26
Printed cotton fabric : CALICO
27
Think of together : ASSOCIATE
28
Perfectly placed "Batman" punch? : ABSOLUTEPOW
30
Behind the line of scrimmage : ONSIDE
32
Pried, with "in" : NOSED
33
Look ahead : PLAN
36
Unfilled spaces : CAVITIES
40
Part of New York City's Museum Mile, with "the" : MET
43
Charlatans : PHONIES
46
"Catch you later!" : ADIOS
47
Buddhist temple structure : PAGODA
50
Penny going through the wash once again? : RECYCLINGCENT
53
Subject of Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember" : TITANIC
54
Epson product : INK
55
Facebook profile feature : STATUS
56
Soup served at the church social? : AMENBROTH
58
Persuade by force : COERCE
61
Sheep's kin : GOATS
63
Commencement : ONSET
64
Church officer : ELDER
65
Grape-Nuts maker : POST
66
Ark groupings : TWOS
68
Feudal workers : SERFS
72
In a lively manner : GAILY
74
What a pointless meeting probably should have been handled by : EMAIL
76
California in San Francisco, e.g. : STREET
77
Afternoon gatherings of Mensa? : BRAINTEAS
81
Force at sea : ARMADA
83
Monk's title : FRA
84
Withdrew : REVOKED
85
Having no feeling in one's texting hand? : CELLPHONENUMB
89
Assumed name : ANONYM
90
One of the so-called "Three Crowns of Florence," along with Petrarch and Boccaccio : DANTE
91
Source of the idioms "fat of the land" and "fire and brimstone" : GENESIS
92
As we speak : NOW
93
Small anatomical opening, as in a bone : FENESTRA
96
These can go for a lot of bucks : DOES
97
Check for mistakes : PROOF
100
Party tray meat : SALAMI
103
Ad for heartburn medication? : RELIEFPITCH
109
Puts forward : NOMINATES
114
State you'll never get to : UTOPIA
115
"Quit your snickering, Damon!"? : NOLAUGHINGMATT
117
Hitting the floppy disk icon, say : SAVING
118
Islamic rulers : EMIRS
119
Hill resident : ANT
120
Soup pod : OKRA
121
Dangerous fly : TSETSE
122
Dividing membranes : SEPTA
123
___ flour : SOY
124
"No man hath ___ God ..." : SEEN
Down
1
Labor-regulating org. : OSHA
2
"Such a pity!" : ALAS
3
Bugs : TAPS
4
Doc's needle : HYPO
5
Without reserve : ALLIN
6
Yucatán natives : MAYAS
7
Fancifully worded : POETIC
8
Drink rarely drunk with a straw : ALE
9
___ Bora, area of Afghanistan : TORA
10
___ American Heritage Month (April) : ARAB
11
Foul rulers : REFS
12
Says without feeling : INTONES
13
Start of a magician's phrase : HOCUS
14
Send over the moon : ELATE
15
Waited at a red light, say : IDLED
16
FedEx, maybe : SHIP
17
Order by the border : TACO
18
"Please ___ your tray tables" (plane request) : STOW
24
World-renowned : ICONIC
25
Sanskrit scripture : VEDA
29
Part of many California place names : LOS
31
Get out of Dodge, so to speak : EVACUATE
33
Caustic compound : PHENOL
34
Needing a passcode, maybe : LOCKED
35
Even one : ANY
37
Latin clarifier : IDEST
38
Easy-to-bend metal : TIN
39
Greek vowel : IOTA
40
Lead-in to rail : MONO
41
Computer menu with Undo and Redo : EDIT
42
Dash gauge : TACH
43
Word with freeze or fixing : PRICE
44
Choice word : ELSE
45
"Don't just ___ there!" : SIT
47
Digital passcodes : PINS
48
Viewed optimistically : ATBEST
49
___ snake : GARTER
51
Japanese city where Lexus is headquartered : NAGOYA
52
Classic muscle cars : GTOS
53
Cards with the most pips : TENS
57
Bread : MOOLAH
59
Map section : REGION
60
Irascible : CRANKY
62
Some Hollywood up-and-comers : STARLETS
65
Responded in court : PLED
67
Cowardly sort : WIMP
69
Turn down : REFUSE
70
Units of distance in physics : FERMIS
71
Sticks a fork in : STABS
73
Piece of news : ITEM
75
Drinks usually drunk with straws : MALTS
76
Compos mentis : SANE
77
Stark who was crowned king in the "Game of Thrones" finale : BRAN
78
Eight-year member of Clinton's cabinet : RENO
79
State : AVOW
80
Glance at, as headlines : SCAN
82
Animal for which the Canary Islands are named : DOG
86
Opposite of WSW : ENE
87
-s or -ed : ENDING
88
Modern prefix : NEO
90
Practices lexicography : DEFINES
93
One vain about his looks : FOP
94
"You ___?" : RANG
95
Greetings to some mainlanders : ALOHAS
97
Ground-dwelling songbird : PIPIT
98
Bit attachments : REINS
99
Old enough : OFAGE
101
Kind of acid : AMINO
102
Like most mouthwashes : MINTY
103
Brownish shade : RUST
104
Greek vowels : ETAS
105
Classic pop art sculpture with a slanted "O" : LOVE
106
"Personally ..." : TOME
107
Cut out : CLIP
108
Male deer : HART
110
Singer/songwriter Lee : AMOS
111
Appropriate : TAKE
112
"Suis" is part of its conjugation : ETRE
113
Comic book publisher Lee : STAN
116
Where to find MA and PA : USA

Answer summary:
9 unique to this puzzle, 4 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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