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Hog Wild

New York Times, Sunday, November 30, 2025

Author:
Natan Last
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
First Eurodance hit in the U.S. (1989)
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
427/17/200711/30/202510
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
912531012
RebusCircleScrabDebutFlowFresh
591.6129240.066%
Natan Last

This puzzle:

Rows: 19, Columns: 21 Words: 125, Blocks: 78 Missing: {QXZ} Grid has mirror symmetry. This is puzzle # 42 for Mr. Last. Grid flow: 29.0 Sunday freshness: 41%
Will Shortz notes:
Natan Last, of Brooklyn, works in immigration policy on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers. This is his 42nd crossword for The Times. He is the author of a new book, Across the ... read more
Jim Horne notes:
Pearl JAM, Pearl ONION, Pearl Buck, and Pearl Harbor precede PORKY Pig from Looney Tunes, HAMM from Toy Story, WILBUR from Charlotte's Web, and BABE, the titular star of the film, Roger ... read more
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M
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A
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P
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A
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M
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D
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O
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P
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A
K
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S
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A
L
P
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G
O
A
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A
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R
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S
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A
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A
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N
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N
H
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T
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T
L
L
D
O
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U
M
P
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W
A
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T
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S
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F
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P
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B
O
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A
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Y
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T
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L
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D
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F
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D
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H
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K
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F
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T
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S
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N
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C
L
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B
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B
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V
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L
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H
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B
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W
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H
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J
L
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B
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W
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T
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V
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M
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M
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P
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E
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© 2025, The New York Times11/30/25 ( No. 27,781 )
Across
1
Post-vacation pile : MAIL
5
Brooklyn Brewery's Special Effects, e.g., in brief : IPA
8
Historical Dutch settler : BOER
12
___ guisado (Caribbean stew) : POLLO
13
Vapid : INANE
15
Campaign manager? : ADREP
17
Puzzle type that was the Oxford Dictionaries' 2005 U.K. "word of the year" : SUDOKU
18
Metallurgist's evaluation : ASSAY
19
Butterflies, so to speak : NERVES
21
Actress Zosia ___ of "Girls" : MAMET
22
"Zip it" : DONTSPEAK
25
Accommodates : SEATS
27
Mountains where St. Bernards were originally bred : ALPS
28
Former Portuguese colony on the Malabar Coast : GOA
29
Chemical essential to cellular metabolism, for short : ATP
30
___ feed (news reader) : RSS
32
___ Sea, Kazakh/Uzbek body of water : ARAL
33
Spiral-shelled mollusk : NAUTILUS
35
Org. for Penguins and Ducks : NHL
36
"Enough already" : THATLLDO
38
Make some calls : UMP
39
"W" on a light bulb : WATT
40
Three-way intersection : TEE
41
Coin collector? : SOFA
42
Singer with the 2014 #1 album "1,000 Forms of Fear" : SIA
43
Dealer's manager : PITBOSS
45
In check : ATBAY
47
Nuclear restraint pact : TESTBAN
49
___ Castorp, protagonist of Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" : HANS
50
Summa cum ___ : LAUDE
51
"Hold this" : HERE
52
College voter? : ELECTOR
55
Ancient drinker of the fermented beverage chicha : INCAN
56
Taxes levied during trade wars : TARIFFS
59
Chop house? : DOJO
60
Cancer research agcy. : NIH
62
Locale for drones : SKY
63
Preposition that can be represented by a number : FOR
64
Matador's opponent : TORO
65
Gay rights activist Marsha P. Johnson, for one : TRANSICON
68
Beat badly : CLOBBERED
70
Energy : VIM
71
Sarge's boss : LOOIE
72
Knighthood, for one : HONOR
73
"When r u getting in?" : ETA
74
Mantou or bao, in Chinese cuisine : BUN
75
"Awwww!" : SOSWEET
79
"Awesome!" : RAD
81
Lethargy : SOPOR
84
Grammy-winning Paramore hit of 2014 : AINTITFUN
86
Actress Thompson of "Sorry to Bother You" : TESSA
90
Bok ___ : CHOY
91
Dearie : HON
92
Co-star of 2025's "Kiss of the Spider Woman," to fans : JLO
93
Break down in tears : SOB
95
Aquiline : eagle :: cygnine : ___ : SWAN
96
Lenape people from whom a New Jersey river gets its name : RARITAN
98
Egypt/Sudan border region : NUBIA
100
Noodling in a jazz tune : VAMPING
102
Annoying : IRKSOME
103
In the majority? : ADULT
104
Core-sculpting belt : ABTONER
105
Utter chaos : MAYHEM
106
1994 co-Nobelist Shimon : PERES
107
Greasy spoon, e.g. : EATERY
Down
1
Self-effacing : MODEST
2
Oodles : ALOT
3
Strain : ILK
4
Baseballs that are hard-hit but then caught, in lingo : LOUDOUTS
5
Bottlefuls for a summer look, perhaps : INSTANTTANS
6
Skirt responsibility : PASSTHEBUCK
7
Proverbial cure-all : ANAPPLEADAY
8
Basketball attempt that uses the backboard : BANKSHOT
9
Martín Espada's "___ to the Soccer Ball Sailing Over a Barbed Wire Fence" : ODE
10
Leaves the straight and narrow : ERRS
11
Expose : REVEAL
12
First Eurodance hit in the U.S. (1989) : PUMPUPTHEJAM
13
Ending with mammal or Mendel : IAN
14
Good quality for an artist : EYE
16
With 87-Down, idiom about wasting one's efforts ... as seen in four columns in this puzzle? : PEARLSBEFORE
17
Italian sub ingredient : SALAMI
20
Diamonds can sometimes be found in them : STADIA
21
"Quit whining, dude!" : MANUP
23
Malt-drying kiln : OAST
24
"O, had I but followed the ___!": "Twelfth Night" : ARTS
26
John who painted "Backyards, Greenwich Village" : SLOAN
28
2022 sequel to "Knives Out" : GLASSONION
31
Refuge : SAFEHARBOR
34
"You can't make me!" : IWONT
37
Arm of the police department : TASER
44
Essayist Francis : BACON
45
Comedian Wong : ALI
46
Cash on the Ginza : YEN
48
Overdone : TRITE
52
1999 Ron Howard film about a reality show : EDTV
53
Actress Petty of "A League of Their Own" : LORI
54
Anti-mob law acronym : RICO
56
Animated character, informally : TOON
57
Act the worrywart : FRET
58
___ fountain : SODA
61
Sauce served with Peking duck : HOISIN
63
Michelle Obama or Jill Biden, in brief : FLOTUS
66
Indistinct speech : SLUR
67
It's a gas : NEON
68
"Yes, ___!" (phrase popularized by the restaurant drama "The Bear") : CHEF
69
Young miscreant : BRAT
74
Like some charm : BOYISH
76
Patron of lost causes : STJUDE
77
Literary runt of the litter : WILBUR
78
"L'___ du Nord" (Minnesota motto) : ETOILE
80
Dictatorial figure : DESPOT
81
Open-weave fabric : SCRIM
82
New York School poet Frank : OHARA
83
"Th-th-th-that's all, folks!" speaker : PORKY
84
First-rate : AONE
85
Flare up? : NOVA
87
See 16-Down : SWINE
88
More prudent : SANER
89
About to explode, say : ANGRY
91
Pink character in the "Toy Story" movies : HAMM
94
Farmer Hoggett's entrant in a sheepherding contest : BABE
97
Turf ___ (football injury) : TOE
98
Part of a day care schedule : NAP
99
@ @ @ : ATS
101
Inits. at Grand Central Terminal : MTA

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

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