The New York Times Crossword
ACROSS
1 Things that justify the means, some say
5 Eight: Sp. 9 Rampaging groups 13 Hoedown locale 14 “Moby-Dick” captain
15 Feverish fit 16 Cinnamon buns and such 19 Communitymaintained website
20 Person from Bangkok
21 Disney character loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Snow Queen”
23 “Hmm, that’s not good …”
25 Slight coloring 27 Slight downturn 28 Modern pet name 29 Cyclical paradox discussed in “Gödel, Escher, Bach”
32 Societal problems 34 Brain reading, for short
35 Touches one’s chin and moves the hand down to say “Thank you,” for example
36 Recipe amt.
38 ___ and crafts 40 “Shucks!”
43 Bar serving
44 The “A” of I.R.A.: Abbr.
48 Onetime TV political drama set in Washington 52 “Now I get it!”
53 Tit for ___
54 Mike of TV’s
“Dirty Jobs” and “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
55 Strategy
57 Yours: Fr.
59 Potato accompanier in soup
61 Shopping center 62 Sports metaphor used to describe esoteric knowledge … with a hint to the circled letters
66 Cinema showing 67 Amateur mag
68 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit 69 Ladder rung
70 Jazzy James
71 Forest feline
DOWN
1 Flow back, as the tide
2 Tusked marine animal
3 Spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side
4 Type not to be trusted
5 Fumbler
6 Informal conversation
7 #, on social media
8 Procure
9 China’s _ _ _ Zedong
10 Eye creepily
11 Yale’s Handsome Dan mascot, for one
12 Time spent with a psychiatrist, e.g. 17 Optimas and Souls, in the auto world 18 Good thing to have on hand at a wedding?
22 TikTok and Fitbit, for two
23 Kimono sash
24 GPS suggestions: Abbr.
26 Rorschach, for one 30 Street cred 31 Simpson who is a Buddhist and a vegetarian
33 Hearty bowlful
37 Bar serving
38 Heavyweight champ known as “The Greatest” 39 Figure in home economics? 40 Lead-in to boy or girl
41 Hypothetical musings
42 “Now, work!” 43 Slightly
45 Purr-son who loves her pets?
46 Doin’ nothin’
47 Tic-_ _ _-toe
49 Last word at an auction
50 Pluck, as an eyebrow
51 Charades or dominoes 56 Scheming group 58 ___ of Skye 60 Philosopher Immanuel
63 Little troublemaker 64 South China ___ 65 Opposite of strict