The New York Times crossword puzzle

Across

1 They’re better than all the rest

13 “One Thousand and One Nights” character 15 Cocktails with Southern Comfort 17 Pharmacy pickups, informally 18 Went bananas 19 Food that’s eaten perpendicularly to how it’s usually made 20 “How’s it hangin’?” 23 Dishonor 24 Lead-in to science 25 Much smaller relative of the rhinoceros 27 “Get ___” (1967 hit for the Esquires) 28 Clear

29 #1 song at the end of October in 1962 31 Confection with a hole in the middle 32 Classic video game hero’s catchphrase 35 Input on eBay 38 Lo ___ 39 Party that’s off the hook 40 “Molto ___!” (positive reply in Italy) 41 Grocery chain that closed in 2015 after 156 years in business 43 Kind of moon 44 Underlying, as metabolism 45 Trims

47 Big name in weaponry 48 Short cut that bypasses a canal? 52 By popular vote 53 Gets ready for dinner

Down

1 Start of many a speech 2 Going off 3 Actor Giovanni of “Avatar” 4 Performed a pas de chat, e.g.

5 Whip wielders, for short 6 Undergrad deg. for a creative type 7 Letters for potential college students 8 Calder Cup org. 9 Relative of aqua

10 “___ World” (“Sesame Street” segment) 11 Emphasizes

forcefully 12 Composer of “The Bartered Bride”

13 Who stabs the beast in “Beauty and the Beast” 14 First, in Latin 16 Curry of the N.B.A.

20 The guy of your dreams? 21 Overshadow 22 Workers making preparations to retire? 25 It comes in cyan, magenta, yellow or black 26 Bring up, as an old grievance 29 Quiet

30 “It’s a Wonderful Life” studio

31 U2, e.g. 32 Statement in an old Apple ad 33 Got misty, with “up” 34 Sites of congestion 35 “Hush, now!” 36 Way behind on payments 37 Dana of “China Beach” 40 A sidecar may be added to it 42 Founder of the Reform Party

44 ___ Fitzpatrick, author of the 2009 best seller “Hush, Hush” 46 Ticks

47 “So ___” 49 “Without tradition, ___ is a flock of sheep without a shepherd”: Winston Churchill 50 “Pass”

51 ___ Genevieve (Missouri county or its seat)