The New York Times Crossword

ACROSS

1 Deciding contest 7 Musical whose preshow warning about cellphone use says that knights “may drag you onstage and impale you”

15 God on a mission? 16 Cry after a windfall

17 What might keep you on pins and needles?

18 Bit of gear for gliding

19 Personal struggles personified

21 ___ Carter, mostrecorded jazz bassist in history 22 Critics’ picks, informally

23 Eldest daughter of Oceanus and mother of Nike 25 Source of milk for Manchego cheese 28 Comme ci, comme ça

30 European airline that was nationalized from 1944 to 2001 34 Boston Harbor detritus, once 36 Cartoonist Groening

38 Hands and feet 39 Trancelike state during a monotonous drive

42 Northern hemisphere? 43 Antivenoms, e.g. 44 World’s rarest goose

45 Symbol found in Pac-man and on slot machines 47 Going ___

49 Rode the bench 50 First, and so far only, chimpanzee to orbit Earth

52 Its tributaries have colorful names

54 Cry from Homer 57 “I want to, but really I shouldn’t ...”

62 [Violin emoji] 64 Stand-up person? 65 “You did great!” 66 Moving company? 67 Suboptimal ending

68 Name on an envelope

DOWN

1 Sitarist Shankar 2 Informed of

3 Time to draw? 4 “Getting ___ is no problem. You just have to live long enough”: Groucho Marx

5 Jardín contents 6 Post-thanksgiving meal drowsiness, familiarly

7 Compete in a freestyle, e.g. 8 Cowboy Bill

9 Coy response to a compliment 10 Casually chic updo

11 Original tablet holder

12 Makeup artist? 13 Prefix with -genarian 14 Storyteller’s transition

20 Bacon bits

24 Noble gas used in propelling ion thrusters

25 Code of conduct 26 Carefully consider 27 Boston College athlete

29 Check box in a survey

31 Stands

32 1986 rock autobiography

33 Selling point

35 Prop (up)

37 Cruel ruler

40 Spent

41 Ones in a waiting room

46 Drink brand that sounds like a shout

48 Novelist Leonard 51 Act bullish? 53 Printer brand 54 Slips into

55 Where Life Savers and pop-top cans were both invented

56 Howard or Spelman: Abbr. 58 Hit, in a way

59 Fall sound

60 Brood

61 It’s got a big mouth

63 “Jingle Bells” contraction