NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY CROSSWORD: ESCAPE ROOM
This crossword represents an escape room, with four articles you'll need hidden inside. After you complete the grid, follow the directions at 41-, 70- and 99-Across to find what to do next. Working correctly will lead you to a four-word phrase with a total of 12 letters.
ACROSS
1 Shakespearean father of three
5 “I agree!” 9 Enjoys the sun 14 Pants material 19 Approximately 20 Sycophant
21 Earth tone
22 Movie with a shootout at high noon, maybe 23 ____ Major
24 Band bookings 25 Outside the city
26 Any member of Abba 27 Automotive debut of
1957
29 Some univ. hirees 31 Turkish inn
33 Horror writer Peter 35 Stole, in slang
37 Cold treat
41 What's needed in order to escape this crossword 44 Sandwich loaf 45 Pitcher Hershiser 46 Declares to be true 47 Indie rocker with the 2009 N0. 3 album “Middle Cyclone” 50 Not doing well
52 A snap
53 ____ jure (law phrase) 55 Tobacconist ____ Sherman 56 Virtuous ones 58 N.Y.C. subway org. 59 Words of denial 63 Round fig.
66 A little, musically 67 Charcuterie stock 69 Lycées, e.g. 70 What to do with the items referenced in 41-Across 74 Natural-light display 75 Move smoothly to the next thing
76 Great ____
77 Billy ____ Williams 78 Like Russia prior to 1917
80 One of a couple 81 Neon and others 83 Apollo, to Zeus 84 Offshore 86 Possesses, to the Bard
87 Kind of battery 91 Final desperate effort
94 Tickle the ____ 97 Prefix on some first-aid products
98 “____ had it!”
99 After following the instructions at 70-Across, how to escape this puzzle 102 Not as much 105 Ratings pioneer 106 Edmonton athletes 107 “Fine with me” 109 German name component, often 110 Uncool one 111 Unconventional 114 James of the West 116 “Just foolin'?” 118 Algerian port
121 Get together 122 “Give it ____!” 123 Verdi soprano
124 Grp. founded by 12 countries
125 Luau, basically 126 Brothers' name in R.&B.
127 Symbol of fire prevention 128 Vehicle that requires no fuel
DOWN
1 Name one can “skip to” 2 Goof
3 Confidently said 4 Pre-GPS staple 5 Subject with variables 6 Daily ____ (British paper)
7 Part of some physicals: Abbr.
8 Attribute of many political ads
9 Soup with a red color 10 Prefix with pressure 11 React with fear or delight
12 Ralph and Alice, on old TV
13 Actress Ward
14 Trig function 15 Native Iowan 16 Citizen of: Suffix 17 Actor Beatty
18 It's mined, all mined! 28 Common middle name for girls 30 Constantly fidgeting, say
32 Game with 42 territory cards
33 Slovenly type 34 Prefix with byte 35 “Famous ____” (slogan on Idaho license plates) 36 Pause
38 Went on and on 39 Yiddish cries 40 Second of April? 42 Wretched smell 43 “Hey! That hurts!” 48 Kind of Hollywood romance 49 Literary scholars debate what's in it 51 Getting to the point? 54 Solution to a maze 57 Specks
58 They might drop down 60 Almost forever 61 Nothing more than 62 Latin 101 word 63 Petty disagreement
64 Also 65 Beleaguers 67 Horrible headache 68 Anesthesiologist's concern
71 “The Bridge at Narni” painter 72 Internet sensation 73 Nut whose name sounds like a sneeze 79 Shock, in a way 81 Flowering evergreen shrubs
82 Bucks 85 Administrants of corporal punishment 86 “Can you explain that further?” 88 Requiring intellect
89 It might end in a ZIP code: Abbr. 90 Ph.D. requirement: Abbr.
91 Tiny “tiny” 92 Forum greeting 93 Former Yankee nickname 95 Soft and smooth 96 Happy wintertime news for schoolkids 100 Semi fuel 101 Golfer Michelle 103 Kinds 104 “Awesome!” 108 California city north of Ventura 110 Mythical queen of Carthage
111 Your and my
112 It has a big deck 113 Aunt: Sp. 115 Toledo-to-Columbus dir. 117 A Kardashian 119 Dined
120 Silent approval