The New York Times crossword puzzle

Across

1 10% donation 6 Makes a to-do about this and that

12 Air ticket abbr. 15 Disney

mermaid 16 Because 17 “Seinfeld”

uncle

18 *List for some

binge watchers 20 Bit of a comic 21 Bearded beast 22 Freeze over 23 Setting of Kubla Khan’s palace 25 *Response to

“Who, me?” 27 Body blow

reaction 29 *“Balderdash!” 30 Much-used

Twitter symbols 31 Line around the

globe

33 State firmly 36 “Gil Blas”

writer

37 Lou Gehrig’s disease, for short 40 *Lowest point on the earth’s surface 43 *Avon

competitor 45 Move low toward the horizon

46 Like a

curmudgeon 49 Quaker ___ 50 Sticky-leaved plant that feeds on insects 51 “Six-pack” 53 *Superman’s

alien name 56 Longtime U.K.

record label 57 *“For what reason, though?” 61 War-torn

Syrian city 63 Flexible

conjunction 65 Tow job provider, in brief

66 Thither

67 To understand this puzzle’s theme, read the ends of the answers to the starred clues and …

70 ___ Dunham, mother of Barack Obama 71 Marked down 72 First-stringers 73 Crucial 74 Excited, as a

crowd 75 “Chocolat” director Hallström

Down

1 Having a zesty

taste

2 Cara who sang “Flashdance … What a Feeling” 3 Emperor who finished the Colosseum 4 Mag mogul

with a mansion 5 Mama Cass 6 Prix ___

7”

8 Drunken

dazes

9 Ship’s pronoun 10 French waters 11 More

passionate 12 Fish tank

buildup 13 Having bags all

packed, say 14 Animal that has strayed from the herd 19 Hosp. areas 24 Big Apple inits. 26 Almost a meter 28 Like whitecaps 32 Org. concerned with eagles and birdies

33 First few minutes of many podcasts 34 Geese

formation 35 Sup

36 Summa cum

___

37 Rap sheet

letters 38 Muscle below a

delt

39 Lead-in to

“ops”

41 Rodin, for one 42 Suffix with

north or south 44 World Serieswinning manager Ned 47 Spanish weeks 48 When repeated, what little stars do 50 Equinox mo. 51 “___ Ben Adhem” (Leigh Hunt poem) 52 Interment 53 Alternative to Travelocity or Orbitz 54 Without

assistance 55 Comedian

Bruce

58 Boat trailers? 59 Papa Bear of Chicago Bears history

60 “I rule!” 62 “Egads!” 64 Tossed out of the game, informally 68 The Cyclones of the Big 12 Conf.

69 Windy City rail

inits.