The New York Times crossword puzzle

Across

1 Buds that are

very close 5 “For those who think young” sloganeer, once 10 Drainage

collector 14 Cookie that has been deemed kosher since 1997

15 Walled city of

Spain

16 Sports event in which athletes try to avoid being touched 17 Porky’s significant other

19 Gillette razor

handle

20 Make wise through experience 21 See 53-Across 23 Exceedingly 26 Letters at a bar 27 Signal that a reply is coming in a messaging app

30 Accept responsibility for

31 Terrific 34 Diatribe trigger 35 Official

proceedings 37 Attempt to

block 38 Original ___ 39 Make art like 53-/21-Across (as suggested by this puzzle’s circled letters?) 41 Suffix with

quartz

42 Pat who wrote “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini”

44 Male hedgehog 45 Homer’s neighbor on “The Simpsons” 46 Source of

some rings 47 Industry that encourages strikes? 48 Modest reply to a compliment 49 Biol. or

chem. 50 Oklahoma’s

state tree 53 With 21-Across, artist known to 39-Across pigments back and forth onto canvases 56 Melodic

passage

60 Removal from danger, informally 61 ___ station, Central London railway terminal 64 Long ride? 65 Suffered a

wipeout 66 Leaning to the

right: Abbr. 67 Org. for Lt.

Columbo 68 Jetés, e.g. 69 One leaning to

the right

Down

1 Conks 2 Unoccupied 3 Cheese in a

spanakopita 4 Boozehounds 5 Noted colonial

pamphleteer 6 Señora Perón 7 Small hard

seed 8 Moccasin, e.g. 9 False friend in

Shakespeare 10 Babe in the

Arctic 11 Somewhat 12 Chicago exchange, in brief

13 Like times that are the most expensive 18 Veterans Day

mo.

22 Daffy Duck,

notably 24 Indian flatbread 25 Low-ranking

sailor

27 What you need some wiggle room to do? 28 Betelgeuse’s

constellation 29 Where you might find love away from home? 32 Fragrant

compound 33 Like an oboe’s

sound 35 Dreamboat of a

guy 36 Weep 37 Greeting

in Rio

40 “Be ___” (motto for Wikipedia contributors) 43 Pacific food

fish

47 Highly

decorated 48 “That’s cool,

daddy-o!” 51 Taunts so as to

get a reaction 52 Samovar 53 Come together 54 Running shoe

brand

55 Gem that’s a

woman’s name 57 Palindromic

guy’s name 58 Succeed and

then some 59 “Recycle ___” (sign on a bin)

62 Narc’s org. 63 Tango

flourish