The New York Times crossword puzzle
Across
1 Part of V.A.T. 6 Curious 9 Taste 15 Aerial view provider 16 “I was stuck in traffic,” maybe 17 Titania’s spouse, in Shakespeare 18 Fencer’s cry 20 Like “h” among “h,” “i” and “j” 21 Link between two names 22 Sean of “Stranger Things” 24 Scene in Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” 25 Wishy-washy R.S.V.P. 27 Style of diamond with a flat base 29 ___ dog 30 Apple on Apple Music 31 Tesla had one in 2010, for short 32 K-12 subj. 33 Like someone receiving baseless accusations, maybe? 35 Generates dubiously, with “up” 37 Spot for a dinner plate 40 Takes (down) 41 Actor Rhames 42 Sign of a hit 45 Gen ___ 46 Rapper featured on Flo Rida’s “Low” 49 Long Island home of Brookhaven National Laboratory 51 Roadside restaurant sign 53 Roger on the high seas 54 Giant on both the Nikkei and N.Y.S.E. indexes 55 N.B.A. great with a doctorate in education 57 Screening grp. 58 “Alice in Wonderland” cry 60 On and on … or how to read 18-, 27-, 37and 51-Across to understand this puzzle’s theme? 63 Fix, in a way 64 Expert 65 Spouts 66 Completely cover 67 Ottawa N.H.L.er, to fans 68 Discussion group
Down
1 Wood-shaping tool 2 “Pigs will sooner fly!” 3 Rumble in the Jungle promoter 4 Get involved 5 Org. with strict schedules? 6 Parents and grandparents, in slang, with “the” 7 Slimming aid 8 Co-star of 2019’s “Joker” 9 Scatter 10 Bear 11 Something that nearly one million Americans practice regularly 12 Union agreements? 13 Not beat 14 French lead-in to “chat” 19 Snitch 23 Prefix with binary 25 Contents of a certain shelf 26 Hilton alternative 28 Astronomer Carl 30 Key ring item 34 Throw it away 36 He can help you after a crash 37 Spreadsheet command 38 Prints, perhaps 39 Low point: Abbr. 40 First name on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” 42 Harold who sought the Republican presidential nomination nine times over 48 years 43 “I” 44 It appears twice in the Fibonacci sequence 45 Buckingham Palace figures 47 Expert 48 Trojan War hero 50 Where lab coats get cleaned? 51 Be a kvetch 52 Gives zero stars, say 53 ___ ears 56 Mideast locale of Sira Fortress 59 Lead-in to long 61 Rafael Nadal’s home country, in the Olympics 62 Designer inits.