The New York Times Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

1 Comic improvisations 6 Jacket material 14 Muralla de ___ (Spanish landmark) 15 Home to about 4 in 5 Americans, per the census 16 Categorized by district 17 “Ooh … impressive!” 18 Function with no limits? 19 Simple shot 20 Facility 21 Sazerac cocktail ingredient 22 Share a course, perhaps 24 Perambulate 26 Supporting frame 31 Drag enthusiast 34 “This is too much for me” 35 Things relied on in desperation 37 Takes a ride? 38 Car feature with hands-free steering 39 Staged attention-getter 41 Teddy bear 42 Discount shoe retailer 45 In-person setting for the Emmys, but not the Oscars: Abbr. 46 Passing options 50 Hole maker 51 Not kosher 52 Going from petticoats to pants, once 54 Icelandic currency 55 Challenge for an infielder 56 Sans ___ (carefree) 57 Eternally, in religious parlance 58 Sedated

DOWN

1 Superquick on the uptake 2 Intellectual property? 3 Digital access points 4 Savagely criticize 5 HAL’s earthbound “twin,” in Arthur C. Clarke’s “2010: Odyssey Two” 6 ___ fraîche 7 Certain liberal of the 21st century 8 The Hokies of the A.C.C., for short 9 Suffix with insist 10 Pink or close to it 11 “This is prophetic” in “Nixon in China,” e.g. 12 Requests made to profs for postgrad programs 13 Word with hot or spit 15 Tesla, for one 19 First name of Israel’s first female prime minister 22 Obstructs 23 Arrangements of locks 25 “… eh, scratch that” 27 Quaint accessory for an aviator 28 Speak up boldly 29 Noticeable 30 Local celebration, of a sort 32 Forensic lab activity 33 Extension for 54-Down 36 Squad 40 New Hampshire’s “Gate City” 43 Charging implement 44 One of 30 on a regular dodecahedron 46 “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” band, 1975 47 Engage in rodomontade 48 Give up 49 Pileup after digging a hole 51 “___: Uprising” (Disney animated series) 53 Say “You’re so-o-o cute!,” say 54 The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf.