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NOW WEIGHT JUST A SECOND

New York Times, Sunday, September 29, 2019

Author:
Tom McCoy
Editor:
Will Shortz
The banker in the Beatles' "Penny Lane" never wears one in the pouring rain (very strange!)
TotalDebutLatest
3511/14/20137/3/2022
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19815200
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471.618
Tom McCoy

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 140, Blocks: 78 Missing: {QXZ} Spans: 1 This is puzzle # 33 for Mr. McCoy. Jeff Chen's Puzzle of the Week pick. Sunday freshness: 2%
Will Shortz notes:
Tom McCoy is in his third year of a Ph.D. program in cognitive science at Johns Hopkins University. His area of research is computational linguistics — in particular, how to get computers ... read more
Tom McCoy notes:
The idea for this puzzle came from a college course I took in Phonology (the study of sound systems in language), when the professor, Ryan Bennett, mentioned that very few pairs of English ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
It's rare that my opinion of a puzzle changes so dramatically. My thought process during my solve: Ooh, Tom's back! He always brings the heat; one of the most original constructors in the ... read more
Jim Horne notes:

I'm reminded of this clever puzzle from 2010.

The Washington Post ran this story about Tom McCoy.

1
P
2
U
3
T
4
T
5
S
6
S
7
L
8
E
9
W
10
W
11
O
12
N
13
T
14
E
15
R
16
G
17
S
18
A
P
R
I
L
19
E
A
V
E
20
A
A
R
O
N
21
L
E
A
P
22
S
H
I
P
O
23
F
T
H
E
D
24
E
S
S
E
R
T
25
F
I
D
E
26
S
I
B
27
E
T
O
N
28
O
F
A
29
B
I
N
G
E
30
G
L
A
31
S
32
S
W
O
R
K
33
N
O
B
34
E
35
L
36
M
I
N
D
E
D
37
O
L
L
I
E
38
E
E
39
K
40
R
I
T
U
A
L
41
E
T
E
42
D
E
43
C
44
O
45
E
E
46
L
47
C
T
R
L
48
E
R
R
49
T
50
H
E
M
O
R
51
A
L
E
O
52
F
53
T
H
E
S
T
54
O
R
Y
55
W
H
O
56
S
U
D
S
57
P
A
R
E
58
S
H
O
D
59
H
E
R
60
T
R
E
K
61
S
62
D
E
N
63
Y
64
I
65
S
66
A
67
Y
68
I
T
S
69
N
O
T
R
O
C
70
K
E
T
T
E
71
S
72
C
73
I
E
N
C
E
74
M
A
Y
A
75
F
U
N
D
76
S
A
T
A
N
77
A
H
A
78
L
79
I
80
S
81
T
82
B
E
D
83
S
84
R
A
J
A
85
P
E
R
86
I
87
C
A
M
E
I
88
S
A
W
I
C
89
O
N
C
U
R
90
R
E
D
91
E
N
O
92
R
E
D
O
93
E
A
U
94
K
N
U
T
95
A
R
M
96
I
T
A
L
97
I
98
A
99
N
T
100
H
101
S
E
102
E
103
M
104
E
105
S
E
M
106
I
C
O
L
O
G
N
107
E
108
D
E
109
A
110
T
H
S
T
A
R
111
E
P
O
C
H
112
L
G
A
113
O
A
R
S
114
H
O
N
115
D
O
N
A
116
M
117
A
118
J
O
R
T
119
H
O
R
E
A
120
U
121
F
A
R
E
122
U
S
E
R
123
A
L
L
O
Y
124
U
R
S
A
125
M
I
N
I
S
126
P
E
R
E
127
C
E
O
S
128
E
S
T
S
129
W
R
E
S
T
© 2019, The New York Times9/29/19 ( No. 25,527 )
Across
1
Short strokes : PUTTS
6
Myriad : SLEW
10
Habit : WONT
14
Pieces of work? : ERGS
18
End of oyster season : APRIL
19
Roof part : EAVE
20
"___ Burr, Sir" ("Hamilton" song) : AARON
21
Vault : LEAP
22
Cruise that specializes in baked alaska, e.g.? : SHIPOFTHEDESSERT
25
Bona ___ : FIDE
26
Kim to Kourtney, or Kourtney to Khloé : SIB
27
Alma mater of George Orwell and Henry Fielding : ETON
28
Friend ___ friend : OFA
29
Quickly go through the seasons, say : BINGE
30
Tiffany lampshade, e.g. : GLASSWORK
33
Like ambitious scientists? : NOBELMINDED
37
Basic skate trick : OLLIE
38
"Yikes!" : EEK
40
Brewing one's morning coffee, e.g. : RITUAL
41
Verano, across the Pyrénées : ETE
42
Art ___ : DECO
45
Cause of a shocking Amazon charge? : EEL
47
___-V ("paste" on a PC) : CTRL
48
Go wrong : ERR
49
How everyone on this floor is feeling? : THEMORALEOFTHESTORY
55
Lead-in to -ville in children's literature : WHO
56
Beer, slangily : SUDS
57
Trim, with "down" : PARE
58
Protected, as feet : SHOD
59
"I saw ___ duck" (classic ambiguous sentence) : HER
60
Long hikes : TREKS
62
Refuse to admit : DENY
64
"My word!" : ISAY
68
"Our lab studies regular dance moves rather than high-kicking"? : ITSNOTROCKETTESCIENCE
74
Architect Lin : MAYA
75
Bankroll : FUND
76
Fire man? : SATAN
77
"I see it now" : AHA
78
Lean : LIST
82
Garden plots : BEDS
84
Indian title : RAJA
85
The second "p" in p.p.m. : PER
86
Summary of an easy negotiation? : ICAMEISAWICONCURRED
91
Musician Brian : ENO
92
Option in an Edit menu : REDO
93
Loire filler : EAU
94
Coin in the Potterverse : KNUT
95
Branch : ARM
96
Central region of the Roman Empire : ITALIA
99
Last in a series, perhaps : NTH
101
Terse summons : SEEME
105
What a truck driver puts on before a date? : SEMICOLOGNE
108
Massive weapon of sci-fi : DEATHSTAR
111
The Oligocene, e.g., in geology : EPOCH
112
Big Apple airport code : LGA
113
Several of them could be used in a row : OARS
114
Dear : HON
115
"___ nobis pacem" ("Grant us peace": Lat.) : DONA
116
The main food served at Walden Pond? : MAJORTHOREAUFARE
122
End ___ : USER
123
Alnico or chromel : ALLOY
124
___ Minor : URSA
125
5x5 crosswords, e.g. : MINIS
126
Pops up in France? : PERE
127
Co. heads : CEOS
128
Rough amts. : ESTS
129
Seize (from) : WREST
Down
1
What one does not do when sent to jail : PASSGO
2
Kind of battle : UPHILL
3
Like some customs : TRIBAL
4
Word of advice : TIP
5
___-mo : SLO
6
Quarrel : SETTO
7
Capital of Punjab : LAHORE
8
State of stability : EVENKEEL
9
Tie the knot : WED
10
Flavoring for snack peas : WASABI
11
Galena, e.g. : ORE
12
"... ___ a lender be" : NOR
13
Purchase for Wile E. Coyote : TNT
14
Diminutive : ELFIN
15
Package deliverers of the present day? : REINDEER
16
Fancy gizmos : GADGETRY
17
75+ person? : SPEEDER
20
Regarding : ASFOR
23
Not many : FEW
24
The Phanerozoic, e.g., in geology : EON
29
Words on an invoice : BILLTO
31
Faction : SIDE
32
Apparently does : SEEMSTO
34
Mark indelibly : ETCH
35
Old strings : LUTES
36
Habitat for a mallow : MARSH
39
Not go bad : KEEP
43
With 44-Down, judge's mandate : COURT
44
See 43-Down : ORDER
46
Imperfect cube : LOADEDDIE
49
Angle symbol in geometry : THETA
50
Having a long face, say : HORSY
51
Request from : ASKOF
52
Fuss : FRET
53
Rough housing : TENTS
54
Comics character often kicked off a table : ODIE
55
Impulse : WHIM
61
Diver's accouterments : SCUBA
63
Thirst (for) : YEARN
65
Hogwarts potions professor : SNAPE
66
Was sore : ACHED
67
MIX, for one : YEAR
69
Voice role for Beyoncé in 2019's "The Lion King" : NALA
70
Had down : KNEW
71
Serving at a pancake house : STACK
72
French dialect : CAJUN
73
Hastily : INARUSH
79
Shout from a lottery winner : IMRICH
80
Look after : SEETO
81
___ pool : TIDAL
83
Check out : SCAN
86
Resting : INREPOSE
87
One without a title : COMMONER
88
Do a star turn : SOLO
89
"Great" place to be : OUTDOORS
90
GPS suggestions: Abbr. : RTES
91
Became less severe : EASEDUP
97
Some brick houses : IGLOOS
98
On the warpath : ANGRY
100
Leader in yellow journalism and an inspiration for "Citizen Kane" : HEARST
102
Simple hydrocarbon : ETHANE
103
Native New Zealanders : MAORIS
104
___ Rutherford, a.k.a. the Father of Nuclear Physics : ERNEST
106
Words to a dejected friend : ICARE
107
Down : EAT
109
Domains : AREAS
110
Airport grp. : TSA
116
The banker in the Beatles' "Penny Lane" never wears one in the pouring rain (very strange!) : MAC
117
Middle-earth quaff : ALE
118
Eponymous 2001 #1 album : JLO
119
Shade : HUE
120
Coal industry org. : UMW
121
Tree that starts fires? : FIR

Answer summary: 10 unique to this puzzle, 1 unique to Shortz Era but used previously.

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