MAMMOTH CROSSWORD PUZZLE

More than 170 clues in this puzzle reflect pop culture, trivia and news events of the year. We watched Barbie rule the box office, Taylor Swift obliterate records for concert ticket sales, and Beyonce dominate the Grammys. We bid farewell to beloved stars including Matthew Perry, Suzanne Somers and Tony Bennett. And we saw everyone from Britney Spears to Prince Harry reveal their deepest secrets in new books. These are just a few of the events that inspired clues in this crossword. Watch for answers to this puzzle on 1-02-24.

Across

1 Fashion doll featured in biggest summer movie (6) 4 Daughter of Elvis, she died in Jan. at age 54 (4,5) 9 A submersible visiting this famous shipwreck imploded (7) 13 Price is Right host & animal rights advocate died in Aug. at 99 (3,6) 19 Actor Jeremy ___ survived snowplow accident (6) 23 Director ___ Howard started work on his 1st animated film (3) 26 Not used (3) 27 Widely watched TV show this year: The ___ __ Us (4,2) 28 He was officially crowned king in May in the U.K. (7) 31 She broke concert & movie records with The Eras Tour (6,5) 35 Vegas Golden ___ won hockey’s Stanley Cup (7) 37 A child-like angel (6) 38 Consisting of two elements (4) 39 A draft animal (2) 40 Vehicle fuel (3) 41 User interface; abbr. (2) 42 A female domestic worker (4) 43 The second-largest Great Lake (5) 44 The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro (6) 45 Common baby outfit (7) 47 Dysfunctional animated TV family had its 750th episode (3,8) 52 Social media site renamed X (7) 53 Yarn made from hair of angora goat (6) 54 Consumed (3)

55 Campus housing for students (3) 56 A type of medical scan (2) 57 Satisfy one’s appetite (4) 58 ___ Michele ended her run as Funny Girl (3) 59 And so on (3) 60 Chatter (6) 62 Tesla billionaire challenged Mark Zuckerberg to cage match (4,4) 65 The White ___ was a Golden Globe winner (5) 67 A family doctor (2) 70 Gave the wrong idea about something (6) 72 Bobi, the world’s oldest ___, died at 31 (3) 75 Black Sabbath rocker poised to move back to U.K.; initials (2) 76 Half a point size, in typography (2) 77 Stranger Things filmed in this southern state; abbr. (2) 79 Sweden culled 54 of these wild members of the dog family (6) 84 Actor ___ Arkin died in June at 89 (4) 86 First, middle and sur (5) 89 Norwegian capital unveiled statue of euthanized walrus (4) 91 Pop princess Britney ___ released new memoir (6) 94 Trevor ___ hosted the Grammys (4) 95 Between March and May; abbr. (3) 99 It’s been 20 yrs since this space shuttle disintegrated on re-entry (8) 102 European Space Agency sent spacecraft to explore this giant planet (7) 104 Comes from (5)

106 Basic Instinct’s Sharon ___ hit 65 (5) 107 Homework (10) 112 Symbol for chemical element plutonium (2) 113 Singer ___ Lambert toured with Queen again (4) 115 Hints (5) 117 The natural way of the universe, in Chinese philosophy (3) 118 Animal (5) 119 Singer Willie ___ turned 90 (6) 123 Texas ___ captured the World Series (7) 125 Welsh singer Tom ___ was a coach on The Voice UK (5) 127 Two thousand pounds (3) 129 A model for checking the color on devices; named after red, green and blue (3) 131 The action of pausing before doing or saying something (10) 132 Nintendo’s handheld game console (2) 133 This stratospheric layer improved slightly (5) 134 Military speak for area of operations; abbr. (2) 135 Bio about ___ Lee Roth about to be released (5) 137 ___ Lovato opened the season on The Masked Singer (4) 139 The department that keeps computers running (2) 141 Smartphone that launched its 15th series of products (6) 144 Three dresses owned by this late princess brought in big auction bucks (2) 146 Much ___ About Nothing (3) 148 Land of Lincoln state; abbr. (2) 149 Make a choice (3)

151 Actor Ethan Peck now plays this logical Star Trek character (5) 153 This Material Girl started her 12th concert tour (7) 156 Type of radio used by truckers (2) 158 Country with unprecedented wildfires (6) 161 Gym class (2) 162 Shania ___ announced a 3rd Vegas residency (5) 163 A common spring flower (5) 165 Hawaiian dish of taro root (3) 166 ___ and hers (3) 168 One of the oceans with warmer temperatures this year (8) 169 Animal doctor (3) 170 TV’s The Marvelous ___Maisel ended (3) 173 One of two fleshy parts around the mouth (3) 175 Of sound mind, compared to others (5) 176 Commercial messages in newspapers (3) 178 ___ Butler won Golden Globe for portrayal of Elvis (6) 179 Before in time, especially in literature (3) 180 For better or ___ worse (3) 181 Sheep noise (3) 183 Doja ___ released her 4th studio album (3) 185 The middle of a peach (3) 186 A blood type (2) 187 Hatchet (2) 188 High-flying singer released her 9th studio album (4) 189 Model/TV personality ___ Klum turned 50 (5) 191 Trash can (3)

192 This prince released his memoir; also lost a royal title (5) 193 French city hosting next year’s Olympics (5) 194 Tried, tasted (7) 197 Singer Ariana ___ reissued her debut studio album (6) 199 Continent that includes U.S. and Canada; abbr. (2) 200 King of the jungle (4) 203 Dr. ___ won global impact Grammy (3) 205 The upper edge of a glass (3) 207 __ and behold (2) 208 Helms, Harris or Asner (2) 210 Internet code for Republic of Serbia (2) 212 Stamped addressed envelope; abbr. (3) 214 Metric system’s smallest unit of length; abbr. (2) 216 Continent home to the Pan American Games; abbr. (2) 217 Singer ___ Lipa had lead single from Barbie film (3) 219 Wheel of Fortune host ___ Sajak announced retirement (3) 221 Lou Gehrig’s disease (3) 223 Brand management, marketing (2) 225 Greek god of love (4) 228 Leave out (4) 230 Played with rackets, it’s a fast growing sport (10) 233 NFLer Travis ___ dated Taylor Swift; won 2nd Super Bowl, too (5) 234 Funny woman ___ Burnett turned 90 (5) 235 ___ Shelton left TV’s The Voice (5) 236 Private Dancer singer who died at 83 in May (4,6) 239 Rapper __ Rule launched a wine label (2) 240 One thousand bytes (2) 241 Salt Lake City’s state (4) 243 Tiny (3) 245 The number of times a weight is lifted (3) 247 Slippery (3) 249 Victory in Europe day (2) 250 Dinner roll (3) 252 S. European country with worst floods in a century (5) 254 Rapper Big ___ brought an owl on stage (3) 256 Grab (3) 258 There’s an ___ for that (3) 260 Chicago was named most ___-infested city for 9th consecutive year (3) 262 It’s 25 yrs since Jerry, Kramer & the gang signed off (8) 265 A lower court judge (2) 266 Cerebral palsy; abbr. (2) 268 __ hoc (2) 269 The University of California or Cincinnati; abbr. (2) 271 U.K. female singer won best pop performance Grammy (5) 272 Ted ___ got Emmy nomination for best comedy, again (5) 273 Auctioneer’s final word (4) 276 Friends star ___ Perry died in Oct. at age 54 (7) 278 A favored type of pencil (2) 279 A group of countries sharing a common purpose (4) 281 Not wet (3) 283 A mom and ___ shop (3) 284 A fireworks factory exploded in this SE Asian country (8) 285 European

country raised retirement age from 62 to 64 (6) 286 Symbol for chemical element einsteinium (2) 287 Singer ___ Eilish had acting debut (6) 290 Composer ___ Bacharach died in Feb. at 94 (4) 292 It’s mightier than the sword (3) 294 Chicken noodle or clam chowder (4) 295 ___ Tai cocktail (3) 296 ___ Rock did a duet with Dolly Parton (3) 299 Dig it, in texting (2) 300 Press lightly, blot (3) 302 A creator of poems (4) 304 Kentucky ___ was marred by horse deaths (5) 305 A role in a movie (4) 307 Finland joined this alliance of countries (4) 308 Attest to (5) 309 Texting shorthand for ‘I guess’ (2) 310 She became Grammy’s most awarded artist (7) 311 The Ocean State; abbr. (2) 313 Many diets avoid this biomolecule found in foods like pasta (4) 315 A curved line or the plot of a story (3) 316 RuPaul’s Drag ___ had its 200th show (4) 317 Kevin ___ married Kyra Sedgwick 35 yrs ago (5) 319 A South American tuber (3) 320 An Italian ___ boss was arrested after 30 yrs on the run (5) 322 A plural personal pronoun (2) 323 50 yrs ago, world’s tallest building ___ Tower opened in Chicago (5) 325 ___ Consuelos became Kelly Ripa’s new co-host (4) 327 A bazaar or marketplace, especially in the Middle East (4) 329 Carpet (3) 330 Nurse (2) 331 ___ Frutti (5) 332 Fill up at the pump (3,2) 335 Dec. 24 is Christmas ___ (3) 337 The Curiosity rover marked 4,000 days on this planet (4) 339 Red ___ was a top F1 team this year (4) 340 Actress Jean ___ had successful heart procedure (5) 342 Rock band __/DC formed 50 yrs ago (2) 343 Third note of a major scale (2) 344 Spontaneously married (6) 347 Actor ___ Pascal was named one of Time’s influential people (5) 349 David Spade hosted new game show Snake ___ (3) 351 Where kids with working parents often go (3,4) 354 Blue ___ Carter joined mom Beyonce’s tour as a dancer (3) 355 Jr.’s dad (2) 356 Three’s Company ___ Somers died the day before her 77th birthday (7) 359 Kendrick ___ won Grammy for best rap album (5) 360 Musical direction for “very” (5) 361 A small stream (5) 363 Back and forth, to and ___ (3) 364 Italian sauce that includes basil and pine nuts (5) 365 Social media giant ___ launched Threads to compete with Twitter (4) 367 It’s 15 yrs since Heath ___ passed away (6) 368 Standard length, in fishing; abbr. (2) 369 Croatia adopted this currency (4) 371 A written law or act, passed by a legislature (7) 374 Sun, in Spanish (3) 375 Got a job (5) 377 Jamie ___ Curtis won Oscar for supporting actress (3) 381 Coke or Pepsi (4) 384 Ma’s partner (2) 385 Regarding; abbr. (2) 386 Reality show 90 Day ___ was renewed (6) 388 Joan Collins, star of this night-time soap, turned 90 (7) 392 Online retailer laid off thousands in Jan. (6) 393 Combustible black rock (4) 396 Miley Cyrus thrust this dance into mainstream culture 10 yrs ago (5) 399 This boy band celebrated its 30th anniversary; abbr. (3) 401 Daytime’s __ Phil ended his afternoon show (2) 403 A grayish brown color (3) 404 Engaged in physical pursuits (6) 405 Package (6) 407 Seattle is the biggest city in this state; abbr. (2) 408 R&B singer performed with Foo Fighters on SNL (3) 410 New world champ of this royal board game is from China (5) 413 Wants or wishes for a certain thing to happen (5) 416 Pie _ __ mode (1,2) 417 Confesses something to be true (6) 418 Ukraine’s capital (4) 420 Sandhill, whooping and black crowned (6) 422 Comparative word, often found in a simile (2) 423 Movie: Invitation to a ___ was released (6) 425 Hair styling goo (3) 427 Soda pop moved from iconic green to clear bottle (6) 428 Country star ___ McEntire joined The Voice (4) 430 A growing number of places banned this video-based social site (6) 432 Texting shorthand for good night (2) 433 Actress Zooey Deschanel got engaged to a Property Brother in this summer month; abbr. (3) 434 To knock someone unconscious; abbr. (2) 435 Large brass instruments (5) 436 The situation is under control (2,4) 437 ___ McCarthy was the cover for People’s Beautiful issue (7) 439 Rolling Stone lead singer turned 80 (4,6) 443 ___ Ford brought Indiana Jones back to the screen (8) 444 An animal missing pigment in skin and hair (6) 445 To be victorious (3) 447 Somalia; abbr. (2) 448 Chemical symbol for actinide (2) 449 Avian ___ killed 50,000 wild birds in U.K. (3) 451 Halloween’s month; abbr. (3) 452 The ___ Bachelor debuted, focused on older adults (6) 453 WHO said this artificial sweetener could be a carcinogenic (9) 454 Denver ___ were NBA champs (7) 455 Banana Boat singer Harry ___ died in April at 96 (9) 456 Massive search engine/tech co. turned 25 (6)

Down

1 U.S. shot down Chinese spy ___ floating over N. America (8) 2 Deeply admires another’s abilities or qualities (8) 3 Far away from other places or people (8) 4 These grasshoppers devastated crops in Afghanistan (7) 5 Breathe in (6) 6 Movie released about Nike courting Michael Jordan (3) 7 Mountain peaks (6) 8 What young adults show to enter a bar (2) 10 When a car is left running (5) 11 The Latin word for gold (5) 12 In accordance with; abbr. (3) 14 Everything’s all right (2) 15 Join a popular activity or cause; jump on the ___ (9) 16 Legal entitlements (6) 17 Main course (6) 18 All-inclusive vacation spots (7) 20 Atrocities continued in this Horn of Africa country (8) 21 Usually (8) 22 Raging Bull actor ___ __ Niro turned 80 (6,2) 24 Long-running TV show about Korean War ended 40 yrs ago (4) 25 A short preposition (2) 29 A type of beer (3) 30 Jennifer ___ starred in two new movies (5) 31 Inked body art (6) 32 Drinks slowly (4) 33 Atoms with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons (8) 34 Texting abbr. for That Makes Sense (3) 35 A toy that flies in the wind (4) 36 A small, simple shelter (3) 46 Hospital’s emergency department (2) 48 Entangle (6) 49 __ and outs (3) 50 Short form of Sally or Salvador (3) 51 An openmeshed device to catch fish (3) 56 No longer open for business (6) 58 Internet domain for Lesotho (2) 61 Well-known character on Days of Our Lives introduced 40 yrs ago (2) 63 Shoes that aren’t tied up (7) 64 2.2 lbs equal one of these metric units; abbr. (2) 66 Very funny (10) 68 Turned up the earth in a field, before sowing (6) 69 To talk about something, again and again (6) 71 Smoothtalking (4) 72 Domain name; abbr. (2) 73 African antelope (3) 74 French for friend (3) 78 An item of value (5) 80 Old Dominion state; abbr. (2) 81 Points of view (8) 82 Stop’s opposite (2) 83 A 4th Kung __ Panda movie was announced (2) 84 Stomach muscle (2) 85 A size of battery (2) 87 Sleep disorder (5) 88 Approximate times of arrival (4) 90 Olive, safflower and canola (4) 92 Telecommunications co. _ _ & _ (3) 93 Informal word for kiss (4) 95 Internet country code for American Samoa (2) 96 Symbol for chemical element roentgenium (2) 97 Morning (2) 98 Article used before a word starting with a vowel (2) 99 Time After Time singer turned 70 (5,6) 100 Laugh out loud; abbr. (3) 101 Cow sound (3) 102 PGA and LIV announced a merger in this month (4) 103 An Indian king (4) 105 Symbol for the chemical element lutetium (2) 108 Performance-enhancing compound (7) 109 Organized and orderly (4) 110 Sportscaster ___ Andrews had a son via surrogacy (4) 111 Legendary jazz singer died at age 96 in July (4,7) 112 Pop band ___ at the Disco broke up (5) 114 A film (5) 116 Ready-made grass (3) 120 Paranormal ability (3) 121 Common practice to increase visibility of a website (3) 122 San Fran neighborhood ___ Valley (3) 123 British rocker ___ Stewart had another world tour (3) 124 Highway (4) 126 A zero score in soccer (3) 128 The ___ longus is an orangespotted goby fish (3) 130 Skimpy bathing suits (7) 135 Just __ it (2) 136 Country that won women’s soccer World Cup (5) 138 Modern portfolio theory; abbr. (3) 140 A type of headwear (3) 142 ___ Bonham Carter is part of the new Velveteen Rabbit film (6) 143 El ___ started again, raising temperatures (4) 145 Between the upper and lower leg (4) 147 Actor Matt ___ is fighting to save a historic NY church (5) 149 A nocturnal bird of prey (3) 150 Gratuity (3) 152 Applaud (4) 154 Workable (6) 155 Bro’s sibling (3) 157 Joe ___ visited Ukraine in Feb. (5) 159 Pop-punk princess ___ Lavigne started work on 8th studio album (5) 160 On opposite sides; __ odds with each other (2) 161 A postscript at the end of a letter (2) 164 Part of a flower (5) 166 Rush (5) 167 They double for actors in dangerous scenes (8) 171 Rural route; abbr. (2) 172 ___ Styles won Grammy for album of year (5) 174 Socialite ___ Hilton wrote a new memoir (5) 177 Sorrowful (3) 179 Singer ___ Sheeran released his 6th and 7th albums (2) 180 Appendage on a fish (3) 181 Rapper ___ Bunny won his 3rd Grammy (3) 182 Film released on book: ___ You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (3) 183 Tesla recalled its self-driving ___ (3) 184 Home Improvement’s ___ Allen turned 70 (3) 186 Large American news agency (2) 190 A metrical foot in poetry (4) 191 Feathery scarf (3) 195 Household device used to clean floors (3) 196 Biblical garden (4) 198 A hardwood tree (3) 201 Tahiti or Santorini or Gilligan’s (6) 202 Cheating scandal on Vanderpump ___ rocked the Internet (5) 204 TV host & comedian Drew ___ turned 65 (5) 206 ___ Panther: Wakanda Forever won Oscar for best costumes (5) 209 Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt (6) 211 A quarrel (4) 212 Chisels, carves (7) 213 A large deer (3) 215 Hawaiian island hit by massive fire (4) 217 Tiny drops of water that form on plants (3) 218 High card (3) 219 Suggested number of strokes required on a golf course (3) 220 ___ Gun: Maverick won Oscar for best sound (3) 221 Muhammad ___ regained heavyweight title for 3rd time 45 yrs ago (3) 222 Montana-based TV series Big ___ ended (3) 224 Retweet; abbr. (2) 226 An all-night party featuring electronic dance music (4) 227 Students union; abbr. (2) 228 Burden of proof (4) 229 Iran’s internet code (2) 231 Recede, flow back (3) 232 Lieutenant; abbr. (2) 237 A country-style hotel (3) 238 Running back; abbr. (2) 239 His late night talk show turned 20 (5,6) 242 Short laugh (2) 244 Sydney’s famous ___ House opened 50 yrs ago (5) 246 ___ Sudeikis got Emmy nomination for best comedy actor, again (5) 248 Sandwich shop, featuring cured meats (4) 251 This atomic-bomb film was a big summer hit (11) 253 Pretended (5) 255 Expression of surprise (2) 257 This belongs in a light socket (4) 258 Combine (3) 259 Thickness of a tissue (3) 260 Jay-Z and Eminem do this (3) 261 Three of these make one Tbsp. (3) 262 You wash with this (4) 263 Lazy (4) 264 A type of smoked haddock (6) 267 Valentine’s month; abbr. (3) 268 Complies with (6) 270 Forceful overthrowing of a government (4) 273 Close (4) 274 To take a business into the private sector (9) 275 Initiating someone into a hall of fame (9) 277 Women whose spouses have passed (6) 278 Hectoliter; abbr. (2) 280 Slip-on ‘clog’ gaining popularity (4) 282 TV host ___ Springer died at age 79 in April (5) 284 Ripped (4) 285 Fourth note of a major scale (2) 288 Groups of people standing and waiting for something (7) 289 Homonyms: meet and m__t (2) 291 A group of athletes, competing together (4) 292 A legume (3) 293 Network spinning off Deal or No Deal (3) 294 A burlap bag (4) 295 This natural satellite of earth is older than originally thought (4) 297 A supermarket chain found in 41 countries (3) 298 Scant, insufficient (6) 301 Shouts of approval after a performance (5) 303 A trolley car (4) 305 __ Reubens, AKA Pee-wee Herman, died in July at age 70 (4) 306 Buzz Aldrin and his girlfriend did this on his 93rd birthday (5) 307 Holiday drink egg ___ (3) 310 Prefix denoting two (2) 312 Anger (3) 314 This year marked __ Pitt’s 60th birthday (4) 316 Part in a play (4) 318 Slash (3) 321 Originate or come ___ (4) 324 Strange and frightening (5) 326 Makers of mac and cheese in a box (5) 327 To ride a wave (4) 328 Jada Pinkett ___ said she and Will separated 7 yrs ago (5) 330 A type of cola (2) 333 Repeated over and over; __ nauseam (2) 334 An annoying individual (4) 336 __ de Janeiro saw unusually high waves in Nov. (3) 338 Maple, chocolate and cough (6) 339 A common post-secondary degree (2) 341 Stay away from (5) 342 Works by Picasso or Monet (3) 343 Half donkey, half horse (4) 345 A young boy (3) 346 Remunerate (3) 348 A chief prosecutor (2) 349 Gold, in Spanish (3) 350 Not a winner (5) 352 A collapsible bed, often used in camping (3) 353 Actress Raquel ___ died in Feb. at age 82 (5) 355 A four-door passenger car (5) 357 Suffix for summer drink: lemon___ (3) 358 Keanu Reeves’ character in Matrix films (3) 360 Everyone (3) 361 A badly behaved child (4) 362 Texting abbr. for killing time (2) 364 Passive optical network; abbr. (3) 365 Lists of dishes available at restaurants (5) 366 A singing part between soprano and tenor (4) 368 Male child (3) 370 Opposite of down (2) 372 ChatGPT became one of these popular systems (2) 373 The fifth and sixth letters of our alphabet (2) 374 Respiratory illness that led to outbreak 20 yrs ago (4) 376 Europe beat the U.S. in golf ’s ___ Cup (5) 378 Multi-national accounting firm (2) 379 Leaving the premises (8) 380 Iconic mausoleum in India saw nearby river reach 45-year high level (3,5) 381 To go on (8) 382 The world of universities and research (8) 383 Political thriller The Day of the ___ turned 50 (6) 385 Respond to something (5) 387 The 15th of March (4) 389 Mexican resort city suffered severe Oct. hurricane (8) 390 Separating something (8) 391 Actress ___ Cruz appeared in Emirates airline commercials (8) 394 Where surgeons work (2) 395 Hawaiian garland of flowers (3) 397 Weight-loss empire that turned 60; abbr. (2) 398 Casual pants, usually beige or dull brown (6) 399 Smash (5) 400 The calendar era before the birth of Christ (2) 402 An alcoholic spirit of Russian origin (5) 404 Gore, Roker and Capone (3) 406 Allows (4) 409 A hockey goal, when there’s no goalie; abbr. (2) 411 To put up a picture (4) 412 Blue, gnomelike creature first appeared 65 years ago (5) 413 The hiring and firing department (2) 414 Illinois city once the whiskey capital of the world (6) 415 Restart a computer (6) 419 To stop by and spend time somewhere (5) 421 Meg Ryan released a new movie in the ___-com genre (3) 424 Uganda’s internet code (2) 425 Shortened form of Angus or Augustus (3) 426 ___ Bass and the rest of NSYNC released new song (5) 429 Stiller, Vereen and Platt (4) 431 In ancient Egypt, a spiritual entity (2) 432 A group of bad individuals who hang out together (4) 433 American English is abbreviated as this (2) 435 This Jackson 5 member collaborated on new music (4) 438 An Irish paramilitary organization (3) 440 To persuade someone to do something via deception (3) 441 NCIS, turning 20 this year, was a spinoff of this show (3) 442 Obtain (3) 443 Shade of a color (3) 446 A direct correspondence on a social site (2) 450 There’s 16 ounces in this; abbr. (2)