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DOING A DOUBLE TAKE

New York Times, Sunday, December 15, 2019

Author:
Christina Iverson and Jeff Chen
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
131-Across : Good thing to find on a boat
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
317/30/20199/14/202423
SunMonTueWedThuFriSatVariety
113512441
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
331.5918752%
Christina Iverson
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
1577/5/201010/27/2024109
SunMonTueWedThuFriSatAcr
431017263711121
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
11411.6292255%
Jeff Chen

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 143, Blocks: 81 Missing: {JQ} Grid has mirror symmetry. This is puzzle # 2 for Ms. Iverson. This is puzzle # 105 for Mr. Chen. Sunday freshness: 45%
Will Shortz notes:
Christina Iverson of Ames, Iowa, is a stay-at-home mom with an almost-2-year-old and a child on the way. She started solving puzzles only in the summer of 2018. She found it was an easily ... read more
Constructor notes:
CHRISTINA: I feel I can't take much credit for this one. It was the fourth collaboration I did with Jeff, and the first Sunday grid we've done. The theme idea was Jeff's, during a really ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
A-HA, GOTCHA JEFF! You always snootily points out the flaws in others' work, and look at today's grid! AMTS, BSA, HST, MAI, MER, SASE, SYS, XIS. That's not clean! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A ... read more
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P
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131
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132
Y
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M
O
M
© 2019, The New York Times12/15/19 ( No. 25,604 )
Across
1
Sandwich with an apostrophe in its name : POBOY
6
Last-minute eBay bidders : SNIPERS
13
___ Speaker : MADAM
18
Family written about by Margaret Mitchell : OHARAS
20
Laureate : HONOREE
21
California city whose name translates to "the table" : LAMESA
22
Concise and to the point : PITHY
23
Improvement : UPGRADE
24
Desirous : ITCHY
25
Word with coin or ring : TOSS
26
Enclosure for a slush pile, for short : SASE
28
Salsa and guacamole : DIPS
30
Foe of the Jedi : SITH
31
Boor : OAF
32
This puzzle's subjects, by another name : THEGEMINI
36
Beats by ___ (audio brand) : DRE
37
For now : PROTEM
41
One of 24 : KARAT
42
Group running a celeb's social media accounts, say : PRTEAM
46
"My ___" : TREAT
47
Fragrant item in a fireplace : PINELOG
49
Doorway : ENTRY
50
What violence might lead to : RRATING
52
Political figure on whom Snowball is based in "Animal Farm" : TROTSKY
54
Hitting close to home? : TRIPLING
57
Pattern on a barber pole : STRIPING
61
Shade : HUE
62
Word before rip or slip : LET
63
F.D.R.'s last veep : HST
66
Boatload : TON
67
Youngest animal in the Hundred Acre Wood : ROO
68
Daily cable show that's covered Hollywood since 1991 : ENEWS
71
Part of a parade float on New Year's Day : ROSEPETAL
74
Send over the moon : ELATE
76
Duties imposed : LEVIES
78
Airer of "Arrow" and "iZombie" : THECW
79
Party notifications sent with a click : EVITES
81
Members of un monastère : FRERES
82
"Well, golly!" : GEEWHIZ
84
Maximally mannered : NICEST
85
"None for me, thanks" : IMCOOL
87
Brain, slangily : NOODLE
89
Cry just before the birthday guest arrives at a surprise party : HIDE
92
Juniors, to their fathers : NAMESAKES
96
Tingling, in a way : NUMB
100
Tousles, as hair : MUSSES
103
Muscat native : OMANI
104
Bog growths : MOSSES
107
Bit of off-road equipment : MUDTIRE
108
Where Orange County is, in brief : SOCAL
109
Something with many variables to consider : ALGEBRA
110
Chow down on, biblically : EATOF
112
Judea and Sheba, in the Bible : LANDS
114
Warehouse stacks : BOXES
118
Relating to theft on the high seas : PIRATIC
122
Some South Africans : BOERS
127
French schoolteacher : MAITRE
128
Interval known as "the devil in music" on account of its unsettling sound : TRITONE
129
Title role played by Hilary Swank in a 2009 biopic : AMELIA
130
"Alas ..." : ITSSAD
131
Good thing to find on a boat : SEALEGS
132
Agreeable response to a parental order : YESMOM
Down
1
Can opener : POPTOP
2
Company that introduced Etch A Sketch : OHIOART
3
Takes the plate in place of : BATSFOR
4
World of Warcraft enemies : ORCS
5
"Boo-___!" : YAH
6
"Quiet, you!" : SHUSH
7
Admonishment before Christmas morning : NOPEEKING
8
Dutch banking giant : ING
9
"___ supuesto!" (Spanish "Of course!") : POR
10
Presidential time : ERA
11
Contributors to "the front page of the internet" : REDDITORS
12
Welcome, as a guest : SEEIN
13
___ tai : MAI
14
Tsps. or tbsps. : AMTS
15
George W. Bush's nickname for himself, with "the" : DECIDER
16
Where to set your butts down : ASHTRAY
17
Pandemonium : MAYHEM
19
___ admin : SYS
21
Retro-cool music purchases : LPS
27
Producer of bills : ATM
29
When repeated, "Cheerio!" : PIP
33
The Jets, but not the Giants : GANG
34
Lead-in to long : ERE
35
Drink with a straw : MALT
38
Hatcher of "Lois & Clark" : TERI
39
Lawman at the O.K. Corral : EARP
40
In the slightest : ATALL
43
What amber comes from : RESIN
44
Cleaning up the mess, for short? : ONKP
45
Texter's "ciao" : TTYL
47
Certain bean or horse : PINTO
48
"___ run!" : GOTTA
51
Levels : TIERS
53
Provocative poster : TROLL
54
Keeper of the books? : SHELF
55
One who fixes flats? : TUNER
56
One of Chaucer's pilgrims : REEVE
58
Hot under the collar : IRATE
59
Things students take : NOTES
60
"Whither thou ___ ..." : GOEST
63
Mischievous titter : HEHE
64
Erupt : SPEW
65
Fortune 500 category, informally : TECH
69
Most sinewy : WIRIEST
70
Florist's cutting : STEM
72
Weather phenomenon whose double lights were said to represent this puzzle's subjects : STELMOSFIRE
73
Baseball double play, in slang ... or a hint to understanding the 12 Across answers that have circles : TWINKILLING
74
Like a "mwa-ha-ha" laugh : EVIL
75
Freedom : LICENSE
77
Abbr. on a keyboard key : ESC
80
Derrière : END
82
India's smallest state : GOA
83
Orange Sesame Street monster : ZOE
86
It's a start : ONSET
88
Founder of the Ottoman Empire : OSMAN
89
"That's odd ..." : HMM
90
Chits inits. : IOU
91
Wet firecracker, e.g. : DUD
93
Genre akin to goth : EMO
94
___ fly : SAC
95
Finish of three U.S. state names : ANA
97
Flash drive port : USB
98
The big eau : MER
99
Org. that began welcoming girls in 2019 : BSA
101
California's ___ National Forest : SIERRA
102
Wiped : ERASED
105
Seasoning in a yellow-and-blue tin : OLDBAY
106
Disgusting, quaintly : UGSOME
111
Picks, with "for" : OPTS
113
Near impossibilities on par-5 holes : ACES
114
Fig. watched by some dieters : BMI
115
Bit in a feedbag : OAT
116
Some fraternity row letters : XIS
117
G.R.E. administrator : ETS
119
Coastal inlet : RIA
120
"The pond": Abbr. : ATL
121
Here's the kicker! : TOE
123
Marks out : XES
124
Its seeds whirl to the ground : ELM
125
Hit 2011 animated movie : RIO
126
Pusher of green eggs and ham : SAM

Answer summary:
6 unique to this puzzle, 4 debuted here and reused later, 2 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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