Crossword

Note: This puzzle is part of Merl’s best-of series.

ACROSS

1 Tope opener 4 Make ___ (complain) 9 My gal 12 Spurious name 17 Mo. of decision 18 Recipient 19 “___ boy!” 20 WWII field marshal, familiarly 21 Popular bread spread (grade: F) 23 Another popular bread spread (grade: F) 25 Powder or shoe follower 26 “Mighty ___ a Rose” 27 English hymnologist John Mason ___ 28 Myrmecology specimen 29 Picture taker, briefly 31 Deli purchase (grade: F) 36 Popular chocolate/nut candies (grade: F) 39 A direction, in Durango 40 ___ kleine Nachtmusik 41 Tristan’s love 42 Collectibles ending 43 Type of dive or song 45 Pretend 46 Meat entree (grade: F) 53 Cobb and Hardin 54 Hospital battery 56 Casablanca’s Lund et al. 57 Teachers’ org. 58 Polite term of address 59 Rose supporters 60 Destroyer detector 62 Meat entree (grade: F) 67 Indian corn 68 Has a taste for 69 Busby Berkeley’s real name 70 Raw resource 71 Let in or let on 72 Pop 74 Picture tube: abbr. 77 Chinese appetizer (grade: F) 81 One with a rash or a yen 83 411 respondent: abbr. 84 Bi plus 1 85 ___ on (get drunk) 86 Tampa Bay talkradio station (or its location in the state) 88 Cowboy humorist’s full name, William Penn ___ Rogers 91 Breakfast cereal (grade: F) 92 Betty Crocker side dish (grade: F) 96 You, politely, in German 97 Well goo 98 Insurance giant 99 The little guy 101 Sky bear 104 Bakery items (grade: F) 107 Dessert (grade: F) 109 Forget-___ 110 Q.E.D. section 111 Places 112 Promise to pay 113 Cookies 114 “Send help” 115 Ex-Chicago mayor Jane 116 She’s coming out

DOWN

1 Short distance 2 Area near TriBeCa 3 Stays on the range too long? 4 Cutting tool 5 Ducks, geese, and turkeys 6 Takes off one’s cloche 7 Japanese watchmaker 8 States, in comix 9 Mason’s secretary 10 Order to relax 11 Eric Clapton classic 12 I love, in Latin 13 Coach Holtz 14 Doubled up, perhaps 15 Immediately 16 Elect. keyboard 19 ___ dei 22 Empower 24 Pig’s digs 30 Do zen 32 Taboo list 33 Paraphernalia 34 Honeybunch 35 Grape abuser 36 With “free,” a common redundancy 37 Anthem start 38 Damage the patched spot 42 Quick 43 One who puts things away 44 Grains and karats: abbr. 47 Flying ttoys 48 Extorted 49 Gomer’s org. 50 Jo or Rose follower 51 Madonna’s ex 52 Prepare to feather 55 Suppress anger, e.g. 58 Les ___ 59 Undoes an edit 60 Dundee dogs 61 Assents 62 Lucknow attire 63 Wharf extension 64 Intentions 65 Burnett vignette 66 Latin phrase of position 67 Often angry assemblage 71 Fuel suffix 72 Grand Canyon transit 73 A wire service 74 Of an ancient illness 75 Actor Santoni 76 Fierce dinosaur, in shorthand 78 Big grower in Hawaii 79 Resorts of sorts 80 Of the ear 82 Element in photoelectric cells 86 Paler 87 Socks or Stimpy 88 Conductor Toscanini 89 Douglas and Reed 90 “And ___ of thousands” 91 Funny Dennis or Larry 92 Mag that “exposed” Burt 93 Cheer, of a sort 94 Neuwirth and Rebozo 95 Suspicious 100 Mexican dessert 102 Plumlike fruit 103 Rub follow-up 105 Dove sound 106 Chess pcs. 107 Boxer’s blow 108 Sugar ending