NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Australian avians 5 Absolutely delights 10 “I didn’t see you there!” 15 ___ it down a notch 16 “Too rich for my blood!” 17 Company with a spokeslizard 18 *Classic TV show starring a cowboy puppet 20 Hazardous gas 21 Country whose stamps use glue that’s certified kosher 22 Take over responsibilities from 24 Sailor’s song 26 Kind of card for a phone 27 Harvard rival 30 “How you doin’?” 31 Opus ___ 33 Path between buildings 35 Doggedly pursued 39 Smoothtalking 40 *Nursery rhyme character seen in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass” 42 Proust title character 44 Ex-spousal support 45 Designer dog that crosses a Pomeranian and terrier 47 Neutral shade 48 Flavorboosting additive, for short 51 A little off 52 Opal or onyx 55 “That’s what they tell me, anyway” 58 Asinine 61 Country between Venezuela and Suriname 62 National mammal of the United States 64 *Very convenient … or, when read in six parts, a hint to the answers to the starred clues 66 Decorate 67 Had dinner at home 68 Sight on the back of a jeep 69 Some TVs and cameras 70 Sharply dressed 71 The apostrophe in :’-(
DOWN
1 House ___ Committee 2 Chinese stirfry with pork, eggs and mushrooms 3 Open, as a gift 4 Four-door, maybe 5 Approached furtively 6 Rock subgenre 7 Jordan’s Queen ___ 8 Fellas 9 Apple Pencil and Microsoft’s Surface Pen, for two 10 Fairy tale baddie 11 *Industrialstrength 12 Treehouse or blanket fort, perhaps 13 Umberto who wrote “Foucault’s Pendulum” 14 Hither and ___ 19 So far 23 Mischiefmaker 25 Gossipy meddler 28 Washroom, in Worcester 29 London ___ (tourist attraction) 32 Pastoral poem 34 Place to get highlights 35 *Peachy-keen 36 Prefix with potent 37 Polish before publishing 38 Alexandre who wrote “The Count of Monte Cristo” 40 Last name of two U.S. presidents 41 Practice of males mating with one female, but not vice versa, as in bees and ants 42 Health resort 43 “Incredible!” 46 A braggart has a big one 48 Scoundrel 49 ___ Oh, first Asian woman to host a major awards show 50 Not as sunny 53 Actor Hawke 54 Mazda sports car 56 Alternative to the pill, briefly 57 Marriott competitor 59 Road trip accommodations 60 Site with tech tips 62 Undergrad degs. 63 Wedding vow 65 E, in Morse code