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Original Thinkers

New York Times, Sunday, December 7, 2025

Author:
Kate Jensen
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
Pest whose name is a homophone for what you might do when you see it
TotalDebut
112/7/2025
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1000000
DebutFlowFresh
746.655%
Kate Jensen

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 140, Blocks: 70 Missing: {JQXZ} Puzzle has duplicate clues. This is the debut puzzle for Ms. Jensen. Grid flow: 46.6 Sunday freshness: 28%
Will Shortz notes:
Kate Jensen is a professor of computer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This is her first puzzle for the paper. Kate comes from a long line of crossword lovers. "My ... read more
Kate Jensen notes:
This puzzle was inspired by my favorite mathematician, Emmy Noether. Noether was a brilliant algebraist who became particularly well known for her work with rings. One day, the ... read more
1
C
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O
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I
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F
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S
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I
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P
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A
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S
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A
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H
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A
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B
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A
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L
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P
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O
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U
B
O
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W
A
S
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P
A
C
E
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P
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H
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P
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W
E
R
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C
O
U
P
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B
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D
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B
R
A
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N
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S
E
A
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L
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A
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S
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R
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N
N
E
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V
A
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R
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C
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N
O
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E
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L
I
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O
T
T
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C
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A
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B
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L
E
G
U
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Y
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M
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U
N
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T
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A
I
N
G
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H
U
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N
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B
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P
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V
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O
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A
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P
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N
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O
R
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Y
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M
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O
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T
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L
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P
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M
O
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G
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R
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G
A
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L
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U
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M
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P
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O
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N
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A
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N
A
N
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P
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A
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D
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O
M
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N
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E
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C
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N
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Y
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C
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A
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C
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L
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A
M
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O
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A
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C
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D
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R
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I
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N
G
F
O
R
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C
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E
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R
H
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A
D
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R
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M
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N
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D
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S
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C
O
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U
G
H
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E
A
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R
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L
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G
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T
W
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I
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T
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D
R
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A
M
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M
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S
T
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W
I
T
N
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S
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G
E
R
M
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E
A
V
E
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E
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O
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G
A
N
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E
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S
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I
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Y
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© 2025, The New York Times12/7/25 ( No. 27,788 )
Across
1
Fancy dos : COIFS
6
"Count me out" : IPASS
11
Cantankerous captain of fiction : AHAB
15
Lab provisions? : ALPO
19
Bit of letter-shaped hardware : UBOLT
20
Attended : WASAT
21
New York university based in Manhattan : PACE
22
A "bear of very little brain" : POOH
23
Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison? : POWERCOUPLE
25
John James Audubon? : BIRDBRAIN
27
Victorian-era prescription for melancholy : SEAAIR
28
They'll make it up to you : LIARS
30
Stumble or lurch : REEL
31
Pittsburgh-to-Buffalo dir. : NNE
32
Dictionary tag: Abbr. : VAR
34
Summer camper's conveyance : CANOE
36
Emmy-winning actor Ray : LIOTTA
38
Samuel Morse? : CABLEGUY
43
Sir Edmund Hillary? : MOUNTAINGOAT
46
Lake that's home to the world's largest freshwater island : HURON
47
Bit of cacao : NIB
49
Come out on top : PREVAIL
50
Suffix with hypn- : OTIC
51
Trees commonly confused with birches : ASPENS
54
Deposit that might gather interest? : ORE
55
Cheeky : SASSY
59
Sir Isaac Newton? : MOTIONDETECTOR
62
Cattle calls : LOWS
63
"Harper Valley ___" (1968 hit) : PTA
64
TV tavern visited by Mayor Quimby : MOES
65
Shoe covering : GAITER
67
It's often rapped but never spoken : GAVEL
68
Like beds on lazy Saturdays : UNMADE
70
Cuts (back) : PARES
71
Outfit that may have a hood : ONESIE
73
Kofi ___, former secretary general of the United Nations : ANNAN
74
Like the Red Sea after a visit from Moses : PARTED
76
Rain on your wedding day, perhaps : OMEN
77
... : ETC
79
Oui : non :: ja : ___ : NEIN
80
Gregor Mendel? : SEEDYCHARACTER
83
Hint : TRACE
85
Gives a thumbs up : OKS
86
Basic tenet of improv : YESAND
87
Sister to Lex Luthor : LENA
88
With love, musically : AMOROSO
91
A urinal, according to Duchamp : ART
92
Remedies : CURES
93
Henry Ford? : DRIVINGFORCE
98
Orville and Wilbur Wright? : AIRHEADS
100
Give a darn, again? : REMEND
101
Food and water, e.g. : NEEDS
103
College located in Cedar Rapids : COE
104
"That sounds awful!" : UGH
105
Noble title : EARL
108
Bit of letter-shaped hardware : ORING
110
Unexpected endings : TWISTS
115
Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung? : DREAMTEAM
118
Galileo Galilei? : STARWITNESS
120
Genesis : GERM
121
Roof overhang : EAVE
122
Weirdly spooky : EERIE
123
Church staple : ORGAN
124
"Vous ___ ici" (French map phrase) : ETES
125
Part of a wooden bench : SLAT
126
"In other words," in other words : IDEST
127
Trips around the sun : YEARS
Down
1
Solos at a party, say : CUPS
2
The duck in "Peter and the Wolf" : OBOE
3
Future birthplace of Captain Kirk : IOWA
4
Pest whose name is a homophone for what you might do when you see it : FLEA
5
Gone to great lengths : STRIVEN
6
___ Jima : IWO
7
One of the Fab Four : PAUL
8
Jelly you wouldn't pair with peanut butter : ASPIC
9
Arabic greeting and farewell : SALAAM
10
Canned fuel used in making fondue : STERNO
11
Broadcast to squad cars, in brief : APB
12
Slim margin of victory : HAIR
13
One chain x one furlong : ACRE
14
Amelia ___, maid of children's literature : BEDELIA
15
Its showers bring flowers: Abbr. : APR
16
Grant a mortgage, say : LOANTO
17
Where one's trip begins : POINTA
18
"Golly, that's cool!" : OHNEAT
24
Rock climber's handhold : CRAG
26
Russian crepes : BLINIS
29
Starter, perhaps : SOUP
33
Is felt strongly : RUNSDEEP
35
Firmly establishes : ENROOTS
37
Crazy Horse and fellow tribespeople : OGLALAS
38
Bite down hard : CHOMP
39
Musical tool popularized by T-Pain : AUTOTUNER
40
Personification of England, Scotland and Wales : BRITANNIA
41
Sets of points, in math : LOCI
42
"Jeepers creepers!" : YIPES
44
Pied-à-___ : TERRE
45
Michigan, in Chicago: Abbr. : AVE
48
Word after you or wanna : BET
51
"And giving ___, up the chimney he rose" : ANOD
52
Nullify : NEGATE
53
___-cat : SCAREDY
56
Like many Russian housing blocks : SOVIETERA
57
Made more enticing : SWEETENED
58
French fashion inits. : YSL
60
Oldest independent state in the Arab world : OMAN
61
Alter, as a T-shirt for a Phish concert, say : TIEDYE
66
Idealist : ROMANTIC
67
Actress Rowlands : GENA
69
She-shed's counterpart : MANCAVE
70
Like some nails found in a drugstore : PRESSON
72
Geek (out) : NERD
73
Drone or queen : ANT
75
Want from : ASKOF
76
Catherine of "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind" : OHARA
78
Uncouth : CRASS
81
Farm-share program, for short : CSA
82
Hint : CLUE
84
Self-proclaimed "Rap God" : EMINEM
85
___ chart : ORG
89
Like many couples at theaters : ONDATES
90
McFlurry flavor : OREO
92
Something for canines to sink their canines into : CHEWTOY
93
Toil : DRUDGE
94
Wish one could take back : REGRET
95
Arrival announcement : IMHERE
96
___ Lannister, "Game of Thrones" queen : CERSEI
97
Like professional publications : EDITED
99
Indian flatbread : ROTI
102
Trap : SNARE
106
Not just theoretical : REAL
107
It runs hot : LAVA
109
Drab color for una casa : GRIS
111
Concerning : INRE
112
Sonic the Hedgehog company : SEGA
113
Feodor I, for one : TSAR
114
Taxpayer IDs : SSNS
116
Morning times, in brief : AMS
117
Encountered : MET
119
Kind of nurse or suit : WET

Answer summary:
7 unique to this puzzle.

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