NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

TWO-BY-TWO

Matthew Stock works for a math-education nonprofit in East St. Louis, Ill. Chandi Deitmer, of Cambridge, Mass., is a social worker in the fields of psychiatry and geriatrics. Matthew was making a themeless puzzle a few years ago, and his constructing software suggested 41-Across and 49-Across in adjacent spots. That didn’t work out, but he tucked the thought away. A fan of Chandi’s last Times crossword, he asked if she’d like to collaborate on this one. — W.S.

ACROSS

1 Some old PCs 5 Experience financial ruin 11 Many files in a Downloads folder 15 Talk ____ 19 1990s sitcom starring Tia and Tamera Mowry 22 Beethoven’s ‘‘Ah! perfido,’’ for one 23 Southwest people known for their dry farming 24 Grand Prix city 25 Fulminate 26 Portent 27 Start a web session 28 Tribute 30 Many zoomers 31 Gush (over) 33 Red lightsaber wielder 36 Singular praise 37 ____ Xtra (soft drink) 38 Soul: Sp. 39 Make it so there’s snow way out? 41 1963 hit for the Kingsmen 45 It gets the show on the road 48 Nothing but a number, it’s said 49 Call from an old-time paperboy 50 Essayist Susan 51 Attraction, so to speak, with ‘‘the’’ 53 Org. often impersonated by phone scammers 54 Time for a visit from Ong Tao, the ‘‘Kitchen God’’ 55 Slip up 56 Yellowstone sight 58 [Gulp!] 59 House of Commons reps 61 ____ gratia (in all kindness: Lat.) 62 Rush order 64 Like some questions 66 Romanov V.I.P., once 68 Charlotte N.B.A. player 70 ‘‘ . . . you get the point’’ 74 ‘‘Well, lookie here!’’ 75 Quaint exclamation of dismay 78 Fee payer, often 79 Thin pancakes in Indian cuisine 80 Laborer of old 84 Dan of ‘‘Schitt’s Creek’’ 85 To the ____ power 86 Time for March madness? 88 Ultimate fighting inits. 90 Certain summer baby 91 ‘‘There you ____!’’ 92 Big tower, for short? 94 Years and years 95 Shock 97 Sings, in a way 101 When you should leave, for short 103 Piece of roller-derby equipment 104 Classic-joke start 105 High five at the Olympics? 107 Unchanged 108 Yea or nay 109 Power source 111 Barfly’s flier 112 Added to a thread, say 113 El ____ of the Spanish Renaissance 115 ‘‘Amscray!’’ 117 Egomaniac’s thought 119 Noted character with object-subject-verb syntax 120 Dangerous part of a road on which to pass 121 Extroverts 127 Tie down 128 Best-picture winner of 2012 129 Basketball feat suggested by this puzzle’s pairs of theme answers, informally 130 1040 figs. 131 Love of languages? 132 In on 133 Add (on)

DOWN

1 Philosophy 2 H.S. class in the same department as chem 3 Yahoo alternative 4 Trusty to the end 5 Pirate’s booze 6 One way to learn 7 Like the Six Million Dollar Man 8 ‘‘Anchors Aweigh’’ grp. 9 Amtrak stop: Abbr. 10 Lab worker 11 Logical conundrum 12 Prolong 13 Numismatic grade 14 Plopped (down) 15 Setting for many a diorama 16 Shortcut missing from newer smartphones 17 Lead 18 Affixes 20 Subject of interest, in brief 21 Chess piece whose name is derived from the Persian for ‘‘chariot’’ 29 Cocktails made with ginger beer, informally 30 Pieces in the game Bananagrams 31 Flights connect them 32 All-encompassing Egyptian deity 34 Aromatic beverage 35 Perch for the selfimportant 37 Gemstone cut named for a fruit 38 Baffled 40 Very bright 42 Eye piece 43 Nobelist Joliot-Curie 44 Really get to 46 Sweetie 47 Weep in an unflattering way, in modern lingo 52 Lugs 57 Hold on to 58 Lunchtime estimate 59 Computer shortcuts 60 Slices and dices, say 61 Scottish hillsides 63 Annoying 65 Walk with swagger 67 It might get swiped in a college dining hall 68 Football trophy name 69 Where some replacements take place, in brief 71 Third column on a calendar: Abbr. 72 Eaglet’s hatching spot 73 Certain public transport 75 Sound from a jalopy 76 Played again 77 Words from an ex-lover 81 Go by 82 Put down again 83 Origami steps 85 Bread in Indian cuisine 87 One taking action 89 Certain close relative 92 Invite out for 93 1990s tennis star Huber 94 Off-kilter 96 ‘‘Later!’’ 98 Green vehicles 99 Fried plantain dish of Puerto Rico 100 Country named for its geographic location 102 It makes you you 103 Lobbyists’ area in D.C. 106 Radiator cover 110 ‘‘Die Hard’’ squad, in brief 112 Miss ____, famed dial-a-psychic 113 Businesses that see an uptick after New Year’s 114 Aussie hoppers 115 Kernel of an idea 116 ‘‘Ouch, ouch, ouch!’’ 118 High style 120 Barnyard bleat 122 ‘‘Mais ____!’’ (‘‘But of course!’’) 123 ‘‘Cyberchase’’ channel 124 Org. whose members stay in their lanes 125 Business name ender 126 ‘‘Yipe!’’