1 Humorless : STAID
2 Playground comeback : ARESO
3 “Really, allow me!” : NOIINSIST
4 [Hey! The light turned green!] : TOOTTOOT
5 Toon whose last name is Nahasapeemapetilon : APU
6 The U.S. has the world’s largest : GDP
7 Creatures that sleep by taking hundreds of minute-long naps throughout the day : ANTS
8 Reacting to a meme, maybe : LOLING
9 Hermès competitor : PRADA
10 Daisylike bloom : ASTER
11 City between York and Manchester : LEEDS
13 Youngest artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 : OLIVIARODRIGO
14 Album whose creation is profiled in 2021’s “The Beatles: Get Back” : LETITBE
16 ___ script (screenwriter’s pitch) : SPEC
18 Like many Halloween costumes : SEXY
21 “Don’t embarrass me!” : BECOOL
22 Small small? : LIL
25 Close by : NEARTO
26 “Hazy” beverage : IPA
27 Cal. ender : DEC
29 Where small plates are served? : KIDSTABLE
30 ___ Annie, role for which Ali Stroker was the first wheelchair user to win a Tony : ADO
31 “May I help you?” : YES
33 Fragrant fire fodder : PINELOG
35 Oktoberfest establishment : BEERHALL
38 “I Don’t Know How to Love ___” (“Jesus Christ Superstar” song) : HIM
39 Made it : CAME
40 Reveal unintentionally : BETRAY
41 Go up against : DEFY
42 Fashion : SHAPE
43 His birthday is celebrated as National Science Day in Serbia : TESLA
44 English filmmaker David or Peter : YATES
46 Cool : ALOOF
47 Takes badly? : LOOTS
49 Slugger with 609 career home runs : SOSA
53 “___ Fleurs du Mal” (Charles Baudelaire poetry collection) : LES
54 Part of OOO : TAC