The New York Times crossword puzzle

Across

1 Follower of November 6 Main character in a Verne novel 10 Preserves, maybe 13 Instant ___ 14 Actress Lena of “Chocolat” 15 Neural conductor 17 2009 fantasy rom-com starring Zac Efron 18 “Need a hand here!” 19 What the dish congee is made from 20 Food item that may be candied 21 Strongly implied 24 “Caught ya!” 25 Hang loose? 26 Former N.B.A. star who has unofficially served as a peace ambassador with North Korea 28 “___ all mad here”: Cheshire cat 31 “Understood” 33 Oodles 34 Made cuts to, maybe 38 Made cuts to 42 Base of an encipherment 43 Shade that might be made in the shade? 44 Fall in the winter 45 Holds on to 49 Site for artisans 50 Chips in England 53 Casual negatives 55 Seeming eternity 56 Desert feline 58 Where to find canines 61 Undergarment shade 63 Ewe got this! 64 Kerfuffle 66 Worker’s cry of relief 67 Any of three major-league brothers 68 The first “O” of O/O 69 Word with rack or trick 70 Antiquity 71 Scumlike

Down

1 Authorize 2 Long, long yarn 3 Kind of session for a procrastinator 4 “What ___ missing?” 5 Vacation time, informally 6 Zero chance of a good result 7 Popular store chain with a green, red and orange logo 8 2002 film that earned Eminem two MTV Movie Awards 9 Out of jail early, perhaps 10 Preserves preserver 11 Fundamental math assumption 12 Dark brown shade 16 Like many colors in 1980s fashion 22 Templeton of “Charlotte’s Web,” for one 23 Hypes 25 Members of the Flat Earth Society, e.g. 27 2008 romcom starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden 28 Ragamuffin 29 The monster Typhon was said to be trapped under it, in myth 30 NBC comedy starring Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin 32 Peeps 35 Something mad people do 36 “I” problems? 37 Covered with condensate 39 1935 Hitchcock thriller, with “The” 40 Corrodes 41 Inherent nature, figuratively 46 Like some cats and plumbing 47 “Haven’t the foggiest!” … or, when the first two letters are put at the end, an essential part of seven answers in this puzzle 48 Balneotherapy locale 50 Rapper Curtis Jackson, more familiarly 51 Unrefined 52 Land where the concept of zero was developed 54 Cultural values 57 ___ contendere 58 Singer Mitchell 59 [Cough cough] 60 Guarded 62 Juvenile stage of a newt 65 Noted head turner