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Letterplay

New York Times, Sunday, August 7, 2022

Author:
Tina Labadie
Editor:
Will Shortz
Visitor to a website, in analytics lingo
TotalDebutLatest
53/7/20158/7/2022
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1001021
Scrabble
2.21
David C. Duncan Dekker

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 140, Blocks: 79 Missing: none – this is a pangram. This is puzzle # 5 for Mr. Dekker.
Will Shortz notes:
Tina Labadie lives in London, Ontario. This is her first New York Times crossword. It has one of my favorite kinds of themes — one offering many different "ahas." The example at ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
Interesting assortment of letterplay examples. I appreciated that Tina presented pairs, one entry helping me solve the other. As I solved, they felt scattered all over the grid but placed ... read more
Jim Horne notes:

Tina Labadie is a pseudonym for David C. Duncan Dekker.

Here's a list of words with exactly five Os, none starting or ending with O, using the logic explained in this 3-Rs blog post.

1
M
2
A
3
N
4
O
5
R
6
S
7
J
8
A
9
K
10
O
11
B
12
J
13
O
14
I
15
S
16
T
17
S
18
A
N
I
M
A
L
19
S
O
C
I
A
L
20
S
21
A
G
L
A
R
E
22
C
I
N
E
M
A
23
A
L
L
T
H
A
T
24
C
R
I
M
E
A
25
A
T
A
N
A
N
26
G
L
E
27
U
N
I
28
Q
U
E
U
S
E
R
29
W
A
S
30
G
R
A
N
31
T
32
S
33
C
R
U
Z
34
M
A
S
S
35
I
36
D
37
A
38
I
D
E
A
T
39
E
40
S
I
Z
41
E
42
S
43
A
M
A
D
44
A
M
S
45
F
O
R
46
M
47
T
I
N
48
H
49
A
50
T
51
I
R
O
B
O
T
52
T
W
O
A
53
M
54
Z
E
R
O
55
G
56
A
N
N
57
S
T
58
A
59
R
60
S
I
D
R
A
61
B
Y
L
I
N
E
62
M
O
E
63
S
64
A
P
E
65
R
66
T
E
R
N
67
A
M
I
D
S
T
68
T
69
R
I
P
L
E
70
A
71
D
O
U
72
B
L
E
U
73
R
74
E
75
L
Y
O
N
76
I
S
N
77
T
78
W
A
I
L
79
M
80
A
81
P
82
S
83
E
X
A
L
T
S
84
E
T
N
A
85
S
86
L
O
O
87
N
88
L
E
I
89
F
I
V
E
O
90
F
O
U
R
H
91
T
E
92
A
B
A
G
93
T
E
T
R
94
I
95
S
96
N
A
P
A
97
H
98
U
S
H
H
U
S
H
99
S
P
A
100
S
101
L
I
M
102
P
I
D
103
I
A
M
104
E
105
L
106
L
107
E
108
H
U
M
109
P
110
T
E
R
R
O
111
R
112
C
113
A
114
B
115
V
O
O
D
116
O
O
D
O
L
117
L
118
O
I
N
O
119
I
120
N
O
N
E
121
I
B
A
D
A
N
122
L
A
Y
123
D
124
O
W
N
125
T
R
I
V
I
A
126
T
O
N
I
T
E
127
T
I
M
E
L
A
G
128
H
O
N
E
S
T
129
A
S
S
E
S
S
130
N
E
W
E
R
131
S
N
O
R
E
S
© 2022, The New York Times8/7/22 ( No. 26,570 )
Across
1
Homes that may have butlers : MANORS
7
Singer Dylan of the Wallflowers : JAKOB
12
Supporting beams : JOISTS
18
Bear or boar : ANIMAL
19
Bees, e.g. : SOCIALS
21
Gleaming : AGLARE
22
The "C" of AMC Theatres : CINEMA
23
The whole package, colloquially : ALLTHAT
24
Sevastopol is its largest city : CRIMEA
25
Not true? : ATANANGLE
27
Visitor to a website, in analytics lingo : UNIQUEUSER
29
"Time ___ …" : WAS
30
Concedes : GRANTS
33
Santa ___, Calif. : CRUZ
34
m, to Einstein : MASS
35
B.C. neighbor: Abbr. : IDA
38
Think creatively : IDEATE
40
XL or 11C : SIZE
42
Beer named for a founding father : SAMADAMS
45
W-2, for one : FORM
47
W.W. I helmet, informally : TINHAT
51
2004 Will Smith sci-fi film : IROBOT
52
D.S.T. starting time ... or a hint to 42-Across : TWOAM
54
Weightlessness ... or a hint to 118-Across : ZEROG
56
___ Compton, first woman to cover the White House for a TV network : ANN
57
Rating unit : STAR
60
Libya's Gulf of ___ : SIDRA
61
Reporter's credit : BYLINE
62
TV tavern : MOES
64
Mimic : APER
66
"Royal" bird : TERN
67
In : AMIDST
68
Top credit rating ... or a hint to 25-Across : TRIPLEA
71
23rd in a series ... or a hint to 27-Across : DOUBLEU
73
Trust in : RELYON
76
Fails to be : ISNT
78
Keen : WAIL
79
Google ___ : MAPS
83
Holds in high regard : EXALTS
84
Old lab burners : ETNAS
86
Water bird with a haunting call : LOON
88
Bit of HI gear? : LEI
89
Cops ... or a hint to 115-Across : FIVEO
90
Club for farm kids ... or a hint to 97-Across : FOURH
91
Pouch on a string : TEABAG
93
Game with L- and T-shaped pieces : TETRIS
96
Locale for a West Coast wine tour : NAPA
97
Secretive : HUSHHUSH
99
R&R settings : SPAS
101
Crystal-clear : LIMPID
103
"O, ___ fortune's fool!": Romeo : IAM
104
Singer King with the 2014 hit "Ex's & Oh's" : ELLE
108
Body feature of a mammoth : HUMP
110
Holy ___ : TERROR
112
It might be taken to the airport : CAB
115
Spelling aid? : VOODOODOLL
118
Baseball announcer's call on a home run : OINOINONE
121
Nigerian city of 3.5+ million : IBADAN
122
Set on the ground : LAYDOWN
125
"Jeopardy!" fodder : TRIVIA
126
This evenin' : TONITE
127
Video call glitch : TIMELAG
128
"I kid you not!" : HONEST
129
Rate : ASSESS
130
Like the Xbox One X vis-à-vis the Xbox One : NEWER
131
Makes some Z's : SNORES
Down
1
Colorful parrot : MACAW
2
Santa ___ : ANITA
3
Jazz singer born Eunice Kathleen Waymon : NINASIMONE
4
Warning sign : OMEN
5
Commercial follower of "-o-" : RAMA
6
A-game or b-ball, e.g. : SLANG
7
The "you" of the song lyric "I'm begging of you, please don't take my man" : JOLENE
8
Part of the knee, for short : ACL
9
D.I.Y. buy : KIT
10
"Magnum, P.I." setting : OAHU
11
Sauvignon ___ : BLANC
12
Where one might turn on the jets : JACUZZI
13
D&D monster : OGRE
14
Pelvis bone : ILIUM
15
Gregor ___, Kafka protagonist : SAMSA
16
Some genealogical work : TREES
17
Pioneering mail-order company : SEARS
19
Introductory courses : SALADS
20
Mixes together : STIRS
26
Not looking good : GRIM
28
Ctrl+Q : QUIT
31
First couple of the early 1910s : TAFTS
32
"Shut your trap!" : STOWIT
36
Apply with a Q-tip, say : DAB
37
Kerfuffles : ADOS
39
Wore down : ERODED
41
RNA polymerase, e.g. : ENZYME
42
Thailand, once : SIAM
43
River through Tuscany : ARNO
44
Reaches : ATTAINS
46
Bone filler : MARROW
48
#2 on a table : HELIUM
49
Bone-dry : ARID
50
A great deal : TONS
53
How-to go-to : MANUAL
55
Obtain : GET
58
YouTube or Gmail : APP
59
"Phew!" feeling : RELIEF
61
They're filled with X's : BALLOTS
63
Engraving instrument : STYLET
65
Lean against : RESTON
69
Whirlybird whirlers : ROTORS
70
Like some plants and physicals : ANNUAL
72
Personal story, informally : BIO
73
One calling a "T" : REF
74
Turnoff : EXIT
75
Wash up : LAVE
77
Certain fossil preserve : TARPIT
80
The art of music? : ALBUMCOVER
81
Vegetables that make a fitting addition to alphabet soup? : PEAS
82
[Oh, well] : SIGH
85
"Tsk, tsk!" : SHAME
87
Classic soda brand : NEHI
92
"Oh, I see!" : AHA
94
Small-screen entertainers? : IPHONES
95
Ibn ___ (former Mideast king) : SAUD
97
Responsibility of a personnel director : HIRING
98
Japanese noodle : UDON
100
Young salmon : SMOLT
102
Like hawks : PROWAR
104
Hit 1979 musical in which a character's mistress is one of the main roles : EVITA
105
University of New Mexico team : LOBOS
106
Bank deals : LOANS
107
___ Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam : EDDIE
109
Garden-variety : PLAIN
111
Some I.R.A.s : ROTHS
113
Licoricelike flavor : ANISE
114
Rap producers make them : BEATS
116
The "O's" of Cheerios : OATS
117
Old ___, Conn. : LYME
119
Spinach is rich in it : IRON
120
El ___ : NINO
123
Drop o' the mornin' : DEW
124
Cheer to a matador : OLE

Answer summary: 3 unique to this puzzle, 1 unique to Shortz Era but used previously.

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