DAILY CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Shuttle facility 9 Auto shop purchase 15 Slender smoke 16 Thorny shrub 17 Emotionally withdrawn 18 Buries 19 Little laughter 20 In a pinch 22 Autumn shade 23 Many profs 24 Oktoberfest supply 25 Transportation option 26 Whopper inventor 27 Unites for a purpose 28 Jaunty topper 29 __ golf 30 Ja, across the border 31 Beezus’ little sister, in Cleary books 33 Perfect 36 Proper 37 Delight at the comedy club 38 Super __ 40 Hitches 43 Punxsutawney headliner 44 Default result 45 Doughnuts, geometrically 46 “Growing Up in New Guinea” author 47 Joint component 48 Hatchling from a green egg 50 Art incorporating architectural elements 51 Judge’s declaration 52 Rule with many exceptions 54 Software giant 55 Yak, yak, yak 56 One way to break the news 57 Like an escalator, and, aptly, like the six-letter word that begins where 40-Across ends
DOWN
1 Say scornfully 2 Emergency exit device 3 Something detested 4 Furniture mover 5 Heavens 6 Creepy look 7 Entirely 8 Its sung in the same act as “Some Enchanted Evening” 9 Comes down 10 Unpopular spots 11 Concert tix flashed at a singles bar, say 12 Stuck at the ski lodge, maybe 13 Sack for company? 14 Surgical tools 21 Wartime prez 23 Fruity cocktail word 26 Fuzz 27 Lift 29 Challenging locks 30 Colorful ring tone producer? 32 It could involve a disappearance 33 Arrived home evasively 34 Clearing 35 Layered dessert 37 Colombian singer formerly a coach on “The Voice” 39 Agree 40 Hearing aid, briefly? 41 “That’s it for me” 42 Oranjestad native 43 Pumping target, for short 44 Casino table doover 46 Daughter of Billy Ray 47 Medford school with a Boston campus 49 Tobogganing spot 50 Prefix with carpal 53 Swing in a box