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Original Thinkers

December 07, 2025

By Kate Jensen • 140 Clues

Across Clues

1. Fancy dos → COIFS
6. "Count me out" → IPASS
11. Cantankerous captain of fiction → AHAB
15. Lab provisions? → ALPO
19. Bit of letter-shaped hardware → UBOLT
20. Attended → WASAT
21. New York university based in Manhattan → PACE
22. A "bear of very little brain" → POOH
23. Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison? → POWERCOUPLE
25. John James Audubon? → BIRDBRAIN
27. Victorian-era prescription for melancholy → SEAAIR
28. They'll make it up to you → LIARS
30. Stumble or lurch → REEL
31. Pittsburgh-to-Buffalo dir. → NNE
32. Dictionary tag: Abbr. → VAR
34. Summer camper's conveyance → CANOE
36. Emmy-winning actor Ray → LIOTTA
38. Samuel Morse? → CABLEGUY
43. Sir Edmund Hillary? → MOUNTAINGOAT
46. Lake that's home to the world's largest freshwater island → HURON
47. Bit of cacao → NIB
49. Come out on top → PREVAIL
50. Suffix with hypn- → OTIC
51. Trees commonly confused with birches → ASPENS
54. Deposit that might gather interest? → ORE
55. Cheeky → SASSY
59. Sir Isaac Newton? → MOTIONDETECTOR
62. Cattle calls → LOWS
63. "Harper Valley ___" (1968 hit) → PTA
64. TV tavern visited by Mayor Quimby → MOES
65. Shoe covering → GAITER
67. It's often rapped but never spoken → GAVEL
68. Like beds on lazy Saturdays → UNMADE
70. Cuts (back) → PARES
71. Outfit that may have a hood → ONESIE
73. Kofi ___, former secretary general of the United Nations → ANNAN
74. Like the Red Sea after a visit from Moses → PARTED
76. Rain on your wedding day, perhaps → OMEN
77. ... → ETC
79. Oui : non :: ja : ___ → NEIN
80. Gregor Mendel? → SEEDYCHARACTER
83. Hint → TRACE
85. Gives a thumbs up → OKS
86. Basic tenet of improv → YESAND
87. Sister to Lex Luthor → LENA
88. With love, musically → AMOROSO
91. A urinal, according to Duchamp → ART
92. Remedies → CURES
93. Henry Ford? → DRIVINGFORCE
98. Orville and Wilbur Wright? → AIRHEADS
100. Give a darn, again? → REMEND
101. Food and water, e.g. → NEEDS
103. College located in Cedar Rapids → COE
104. "That sounds awful!" → UGH
105. Noble title → EARL
108. Bit of letter-shaped hardware → ORING
110. Unexpected endings → TWISTS
115. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung? → DREAMTEAM
118. Galileo Galilei? → STARWITNESS
120. Genesis → GERM
121. Roof overhang → EAVE
122. Weirdly spooky → EERIE
123. Church staple → ORGAN
124. "Vous ___ ici" (French map phrase) → ETES
125. Part of a wooden bench → SLAT
126. "In other words," in other words → IDEST
127. Trips around the sun → YEARS

Down Clues

1. Solos at a party, say → CUPS
2. The duck in "Peter and the Wolf" → OBOE
3. Future birthplace of Captain Kirk → IOWA
4. Pest whose name is a homophone for what you might do when you see it → FLEA
5. Gone to great lengths → STRIVEN
6. ___ Jima → IWO
7. One of the Fab Four → PAUL
8. Jelly you wouldn't pair with peanut butter → ASPIC
9. Arabic greeting and farewell → SALAAM
10. Canned fuel used in making fondue → STERNO
11. Broadcast to squad cars, in brief → APB
12. Slim margin of victory → HAIR
13. One chain x one furlong → ACRE
14. Amelia ___, maid of children's literature → BEDELIA
15. Its showers bring flowers: Abbr. → APR
16. Grant a mortgage, say → LOANTO
17. Where one's trip begins → POINTA
18. "Golly, that's cool!" → OHNEAT
24. Rock climber's handhold → CRAG
26. Russian crepes → BLINIS
29. Starter, perhaps → SOUP
33. Is felt strongly → RUNSDEEP
35. Firmly establishes → ENROOTS
37. Crazy Horse and fellow tribespeople → OGLALAS
38. Bite down hard → CHOMP
39. Musical tool popularized by T-Pain → AUTOTUNER
40. Personification of England, Scotland and Wales → BRITANNIA
41. Sets of points, in math → LOCI
42. "Jeepers creepers!" → YIPES
44. Pied-à-___ → TERRE
45. Michigan, in Chicago: Abbr. → AVE
48. Word after you or wanna → BET
51. "And giving ___, up the chimney he rose" → ANOD
52. Nullify → NEGATE
53. ___-cat → SCAREDY
56. Like many Russian housing blocks → SOVIETERA
57. Made more enticing → SWEETENED
58. French fashion inits. → YSL
60. Oldest independent state in the Arab world → OMAN
61. Alter, as a T-shirt for a Phish concert, say → TIEDYE
66. Idealist → ROMANTIC
67. Actress Rowlands → GENA
69. She-shed's counterpart → MANCAVE
70. Like some nails found in a drugstore → PRESSON
72. Geek (out) → NERD
73. Drone or queen → ANT
75. Want from → ASKOF
76. Catherine of "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind" → OHARA
78. Uncouth → CRASS
81. Farm-share program, for short → CSA
82. Hint → CLUE
84. Self-proclaimed "Rap God" → EMINEM
85. ___ chart → ORG
89. Like many couples at theaters → ONDATES
90. McFlurry flavor → OREO
92. Something for canines to sink their canines into → CHEWTOY
93. Toil → DRUDGE
94. Wish one could take back → REGRET
95. Arrival announcement → IMHERE
96. ___ Lannister, "Game of Thrones" queen → CERSEI
97. Like professional publications → EDITED
99. Indian flatbread → ROTI
102. Trap → SNARE
106. Not just theoretical → REAL
107. It runs hot → LAVA
109. Drab color for una casa → GRIS
111. Concerning → INRE
112. Sonic the Hedgehog company → SEGA
113. Feodor I, for one → TSAR
114. Taxpayer IDs → SSNS
116. Morning times, in brief → AMS
117. Encountered → MET
119. Kind of nurse or suit → WET