The New York Times
ACROSS
1 “In like a lion, out like a _ _ _” (March adage)
5 Knee stabilizer, in brief
8 Quaff
14 Moises of baseball fame
15 One of the fire signs
16 “Marvelous” TV character
17 Alternative to 2% … with or without the shaded letter
19 Lawn trimmers
20 Scuffle
21 Simpson with an I.Q. of 159
23 Modern lead-in to “-verse”
24 Place to practice martial arts
26 One-named singer with the 2000 hit “Only Time”
28 Tex-Mex dish
31 It may be half of a blackjack … with or without the shaded letter
35 On the briny
36 NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill
38 “Doctor ___”
39 Small stream
40 Vision that’s subject to interpretation
41 Alien conveyances
42 The Golden Bears of the NCAA, familiarly
43 Mediterranean country with 8,500 miles of coastline
44 On a streak?
45 Things that might be raised in court … with or without the shaded letter
47 Bajillions
49 Brand for which Garfield was once a “spokescat”
50 Memo heading
51 Trojan War hero
54 V.A. concern
56 Chardonnay, for one
60 Corkscrew pasta
62 They might eliminate teams … with or without the shaded letter
64 2013 Sheryl Sandberg best seller
65 Big name in outdoor gear
66 Hobbit foes
67 Whoopee cushion, for one
68 Luxury handbag initials
69 Meh
DOWN
1 Streaming hiccups
2 Soothing ingredient
3 Water repellent?
4 Make a mistake while sitting down?
5 Comedian Wong
6 Member of a string quartet
7 Thor’s mischievous brother
8 “Seriously, though?!”
9 ___ dash
10 Sandwich on a sesame seed bun
11 “Gotcha”
12 Muppet that sings “Doin’ the Pigeon”
13 Disney princess who can conjure ice
18 Not worth discussing
22 Airport near Olympia, informally
25 Absolutely incredible
27 Nikkei 225 currency
28 Ridiculous display
29 “Take me ___”
30 Word with shot or mold
31 Gets out of Dodge
32 Not just bad
33 _ _ _ Island (location that’s not really an island)
34 Pharmacy amounts
37 Playground retort
41 Fruit of the Loom product featuring superhero themes
43 ___ Grissom, longtime “CSI” character
46 Wearisome
48 Dionysian party
50 Sits around
51 Guthrie who wrote “Alice’s Restaurant”
52 One of the Coen brothers
53 Slightly
55 Nimble
57 Do for Billy Preston, once
58 Ones ranking below cpls.
59 Canadian gas brand
61 Actress Vardalos
63 Not feel great