THE NYT CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Sorority letter 5 Spread around 10 Leader in white 14 Mao Zedong or Mahatma Gandhi 15 Castle with famous steps 16 ___ Karakum ( Asian desert) 17 Conservative 18 “Bring it on!” or “Let’s rumble!” 20 Narrow margin 21 Fictional home in Georgia 22 Spinny billiards shot 23 Potato harvesting aid 25 Hardly 27 Writing/ editing aid 30 Band with the aptly titled album “Powerage” 34 Girl’s name that’s a body part in reverse 35 Argentine author Jorge ___ Borges 36 “Yeah, right” 38 Haute couture inits. 39 Shape on a suspension bridge 40 School yardstick, for short 41 No mas! 42 Bring about 44 Pupil surrounder 45 ___ budget 46 Dum- dum 47 Recommend, as an applicant 50 Was on first 52 One might be nervous 53 Where many people make connections 56 Take a header 58 Honker 61 Classic letter puzzle - or, when parsed differently, a hint to three Down answers in this puzzle 63 Like goo 64 “Don’t look at me!” 65 Playwright Chekhov 66 Gritty genre 67 Kind of terrier 68 Awkward period, often 69 Up ( for) or down ( for)

DOWN 1 Baked pasta dish 2 Taxing subject, briefly? 3 Pre- Olympic event 4 “Moving right along …” 5 Strain 6 Period when mammals first appeared 7 Backslide 8 Treat as a saint 9 Monsoonlike 10 Wide- brimmed hats 11 Assns. 12 Things at the ends of dogs’ legs 13 Otherwise 19 Texter’s qualifier 24 Show of brilliance 26 Pay a visit 27 How some jokes are delivered 28 Evening stroll 29 Blue area on a Risk board 31 Place for a marshmallow 32 Product with a pipe on its packaging 33 Annual cinéma award 37 Attacks 40 Where a bowl is set 43 Last- ditch 44 Repeat for emphasis 48 Disharmonize 49 Entertaining, in a way 51 Foot: Lat. 53 Has control over 54 Tee shot goof 55 Bohemian 57 Writes 59 Take the top off 60 Literary heroine who says “Even for me life had its gleams of sunshine” 62 Chewed stimulant in the Mideast