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If the Clue Fits ...

New York Times, Sunday, April 9, 2023

Author:
John Ewbank
Editor:
Will Shortz
53-Down : Have a life
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
712/30/202111/26/20231
SunMonTueWedThuFriSatVariety
12001102
CircleScrabbleFresh
11.5929%
John Ewbank

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 140, Blocks: 74 Missing: {J} Spans: 1 This is puzzle # 4 for Mr. Ewbank. Sunday freshness: 15%
Will Shortz notes:
John Ewbank is a British science writer from Macclesfield, near Manchester. He regularly composes cryptic crosswords for The Times of London, but lately has been trying American-style ... read more
John Ewbank notes:
The technical term for these kinds of phrases is "anapodoton," defined as when the main clause of a phrase ("Do as the Romans do") is not stated but implied by a sub-clause ("When in ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
Several years back, I spent many hours mulling over phrases like A BIRD IN THE HAND, WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, IF THE SHOE FITS … How to score them for our word list ? Weighing their ... read more
1
F
2
R
3
E
4
T
5
S
6
A
7
W
8
M
9
A
10
R
11
I
12
A
13
A
14
R
15
D
16
E
17
N
18
T
19
R
O
M
A
I
N
E
20
S
E
C
O
N
D
21
Q
U
A
S
A
R
22
A
B
I
R
D
I
N
23
T
H
E
H
A
N
D
24
U
N
L
I
K
E
25
N
E
R
D
26
T
W
I
T
27
D
E
L
28
T
A
29
A
G
E
E
30
I
31
S
32
A
D
O
R
A
33
G
R
E
A
T
34
M
I
N
D
S
35
P
36
E
S
T
L
E
37
E
T
38
N
A
39
B
I
E
L
40
I
A
N
41
A
L
A
42
S
43
O
M
44
E
45
N
46
C
H
A
47
S
48
M
49
S
50
S
P
E
51
A
K
O
F
T
52
H
53
E
D
E
V
I
54
L
55
M
E
A
L
56
H
A
R
L
E
Y
57
A
U
X
58
E
L
O
59
N
60
A
C
N
E
61
G
T
O
62
S
I
R
I
63
U
64
S
65
F
A
66
B
67
R
I
P
68
I
69
F
Y
O
U
70
C
A
N
T
S
T
A
71
N
72
D
T
H
E
73
H
E
A
T
74
P
E
C
75
T
O
M
76
T
A
M
E
R
S
77
L
O
T
78
A
D
Z
79
E
80
B
O
81
B
82
S
83
B
A
E
84
C
L
O
M
85
P
86
S
87
S
T
A
X
88
A
L
L
89
T
90
H
A
T
G
91
L
I
T
T
E
R
S
92
S
O
R
T
93
E
94
D
95
T
R
O
U
96
S
A
V
E
97
N
O
N
98
E
L
I
99
A
100
B
R
101
I
102
M
103
S
E
N
104
D
U
P
105
W
106
H
107
E
N
I
N
R
108
O
109
M
E
110
W
Y
111
N
E
T
T
E
112
H
E
L
D
113
E
T
H
O
S
114
A
G
E
R
115
F
116
L
117
U
118
E
119
E
N
L
I
120
S
T
121
Y
O
U
122
K
N
O
W
T
123
H
124
E
R
E
S
T
125
A
R
E
N
O
T
126
E
R
R
A
N
D
127
A
E
R
A
T
E
S
128
T
I
N
G
L
E
129
S
E
E
Y
A
130
G
R
E
G
O
R
Y
© 2023, The New York Times4/9/23 ( No. 26,815 )
Across
1
Precision woodworking tool : FRETSAW
8
When repeated, a 1999 #1 Santana hit : MARIA
13
Passionate : ARDENT
19
Ingredient in a Caesar salad : ROMAINE
20
A tick or a tock : SECOND
21
Highly luminous galactic object : QUASAR
22
*"Let's stick with what we've got …" : ABIRDINTHEHAND
24
Dissimilar to : UNLIKE
25
Trivia lover, maybe : NERD
26
Blockhead : TWIT
27
SkyMiles offerer : DELTA
29
Pulitzer winner James : AGEE
30
Modern dance pioneer Duncan : ISADORA
33
*"How clever we both are ..." : GREATMINDS
35
Spice grinder : PESTLE
37
Locale of Hephaestus' forge, in mythology : ETNA
39
Jessica of "The Illusionist" : BIEL
40
Writer/humorist Frazier : IAN
41
"What a pity!" : ALAS
43
A butterfly flying into your home is a good one, some say : OMEN
46
They may be yawning : CHASMS
50
*"Look who it is ..." : SPEAKOFTHEDEVIL
55
Ground grain : MEAL
56
Road hog? : HARLEY
57
Kind of cable, for short : AUX
58
Twitter boss Musk : ELON
60
Target of tetracycline : ACNE
61
"Little" car of song that's "really lookin' fine" : GTO
62
Orion's belt points to it : SIRIUS
65
Groovy : FAB
67
Chew out : RIP
68
*"Timid types shouldn't be here ..." : IFYOUCANTSTANDTHEHEAT
74
Spot for a tat : PEC
75
Male turkey : TOM
76
Obsolescent circus workers : TAMERS
77
Fate : LOT
78
Carpenter's tool : ADZE
80
Goes up and down : BOBS
83
Honey : BAE
84
Hardly tiptoes : CLOMPS
87
Classic Memphis-based record label : STAX
88
*"Looks can be deceiving ..." : ALLTHATGLITTERS
92
From A to Z, maybe : SORTED
95
Pants, slangily : TROU
96
Except : SAVE
97
Palindromic prefix : NON
98
Director Kazan : ELIA
100
Something a beanie lacks : BRIM
103
Parody : SENDUP
105
*"Well, if the locals are doing it ..." : WHENINROME
110
Tammy who sang "Stand by Your Man" : WYNETTE
112
Occupied : HELD
113
Greek word meaning "character" : ETHOS
114
See 111-Down : AGER
115
Where there's smoke : FLUE
119
Gather, as volunteers : ENLIST
121
"Etc., etc." … or a statement about answers to this puzzle's starred clues? : YOUKNOWTHEREST
125
Commonly contracted two-word phrase : ARENOT
126
Why you might run out : ERRAND
127
Makes gassy : AERATES
128
Get goose bumps, say : TINGLE
129
"Ciao!" : SEEYA
130
Popular papal name : GREGORY
Down
1
Nickname that drops -ces : FRAN
2
Very formal, or very informal, garment : ROBE
3
Royal title : EMIR
4
The time machine on "Doctor Who" : TARDIS
5
"Toy Story" antagonist : SID
6
What makes creamer creamier? : ANI
7
What Beethoven did in his 30s and 40s : WENTDEAF
8
Use as a rendezvous point : MEETAT
9
Essen exclamation : ACH
10
What an "@" might signify : ROADGAME
11
Word with ear or peace : INNER
12
Confuse : ADDLE
13
Like swimming and surfing : AQUATIC
14
It's worth one point in cricket : RUN
15
With Desmond Tutu, co-author of the 2016 best seller "The Book of Joy" : DALAILAMA
16
Complete, as a .pdf contract : ESIGN
17
Au naturel : NAKED
18
Canopy makeup : TREES
20
British draft horse : SHIRE
23
English dos : TWO
28
Four to five spaces, typically : TAB
31
Police operation requiring patience : STAKEOUT
32
Rose gold, e.g. : ALLOY
34
"It's ... OK" : MEH
35
Family member that's also a letter in the NATO alphabet : PAPA
36
One charged with climate policy : ENERGYCZAR
38
Go-ahead : NOD
40
Sorta : ISH
42
Deck treatment : STAIN
44
"Who's That Girl?" rapper : EVE
45
It's nothing : NIL
47
Where a grilled cheese can be found at McDonald's : SECRETMENU
48
Suffix for a fad : MANIA
49
Was out : SLEPT
51
Choir voice : ALTO
52
Smart : HURT
53
Have a life : EXIST
54
Sends high into the sky : LOFTS
59
"I don't think so" : NAH
62
Its largest islands are Savai'i and Upolu : SAMOA
63
The Jazz, on scoreboards : UTA
64
Carnival dance : SAMBA
66
Glamping option named for its shape : BELLTENT
68
"No bid" : IPASS
69
Gave, as nourishment : FEDTO
70
Male swan : COB
71
Shipshape : NEAT
72
Bottom of the barrel : DREGS
73
Knee-slapper : HOOT
79
Like many suitcase handles : EXTENDING
81
Club relative : BLT
82
Canon offering, in brief : SLR
84
Spotted nocturnal mammal : CIVET
85
Play thing? : PROP
86
Bit of redacted info, for short : SSN
89
Indubitably : TOBESURE
90
"Ben-___" : HUR
91
A little light combat? : LASERTAG
93
___ Lilly & Co. : ELI
94
Breakfast nook : DINETTE
99
"Have you heard about batik? It's a dyeing ___" (groaner) : ART
101
Childish plea : IWANNA
102
"Holy smokes!" : MYGOD
104
Do some maintenance on, as a PC's disk : DEFRAG
105
Resource in the game Catan : WHEAT
106
French name that is an anagram of a German river : HENRI
107
Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy" : ELLEN
108
"Now I remember!" : OHYES
109
Poet Marianne : MOORE
111
With 114-Across, crystal collector, perhaps : NEW
116
Mother of Apollo and Artemis : LETO
117
Account holder, e.g. : USER
118
Popular online marketplace : ETSY
120
Day on Mars : SOL
122
Either of two lead characters in "Kiss Me, Kate" : KAY
123
Homophone of 90-Down : HER
124
Poetic palindrome : ERE

Answer summary:
9 unique to this puzzle, 2 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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