The New York Times Crossword

ACROSS

1 Capital of Chad

9 Charge 15 Face-to-face challenge 16 Yes-man

17 Folklore character whose stockings are tied with eyelashes

18 Course coup

19 Some indie releases

20 ___ Ex (video game franchise)

22 Devotee

23 ’70s sitcom title role

26 Bar assembly

28 Ruby and sapphire 29 Perp’s mark, in cop slang 31 110%, perhaps 32 Exercises one’s discretion 33 Language introduced in 1995 34 “I’ll never tell”

37 ___ jazz

38 Forest swingers

39 Lane on the eastern boundary of Covent Garden 40 Unlikely race favorite 41 Baseboard fastener 42 Kicks in

43 Tony soprano?

46 Paid tribute to

47 Riding on

48 Hedging word

51 Stir up

53 Hands

56 Brie ___, star of 2019’s “Captain Marvel” 57 Airy treat 58 Indicate agreement 59 Stand with dogs, say

DOWN

1 Mark down

2 Stop discussing 3 Undirected sessions

4 Music genre prefix 5 “Big whoop” 6 Couldn’t contain 7 Going by 8 Leopards and anacondas, e.g.

9 HQ with runways 10 Long faces? 11 Cabinet piece

12 Fail to appreciate

13 Key explorers 14 Viewed

21 Browns, perhaps 23 Tending to change 24 Croak

25 Sad end?

26 They’re planted by plants 27 Denizens of New York City sewers, per an urban legend 30 Suffragist Elizabeth ___ Stanton

31 Tom Wolfe’s “___ in Full” 32 State bordering the Pacific 33 Banned outdoor game 35 Shepard who wrote “Pretty Little Liars”

36 Novelist O’Brien

41 Tries for, in a way 42 Source of fine wool 44 Adapt, say

45 “___ You” (1975 Minnie Riperton hit) 46 Presidential dog of the 1940s

48 Ancient Dead Sea kingdom 49 Pop star with top 40 hits in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s

50 Scene of W.W. I fighting 52 Fighter in the fictional Battle of Isengard

54 Shamus

55 ___ factor