The New York Times Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

1 Off-the-cuff remarks 7 London TV inits. 10 Dark wines 14 Place for daisies 15 Fair-hiring letters 16 Treat with a 71%to-29% cookie-to-cream ratio 17 Microscopic life form 18 Looks for web content about oneself 20 Basic, practical details 22 “___ Poetica” 23 Connery who played 007seven times24 Catbird seat? 28 Crystal ball gazers, e.g. 31 Nobelist Wiesel 33 “Well, whata surprise!” 34 What expensive things cost 38 Brings home with a hit, asa base runner 41 Treble symbols 42 Magnet for criticism 46 “What ___, chopped liver?” 47 Vicinity 48 Sniffed (around) 52 Prove appropriate for 55 Has a part to play 57 Mahmoud Abbas’s grp. 58 Doctor whose shopping list might include 20-, 34- and 42-Across? 62 Prowling kitty 65 Virtual payment with a bank routing number 66 “Star Wars” princess 67 “East” on a grandfather clock 68 Band’s hired hand 69 Brewski 70 Beats by ___ (headphones brand) 71 Full of S curves

DOWN

1 Alternatives to Maytags 2 Modest and shy 3 Chinese philosopher who wrote the “Tao Te Ching” 4 Fateful day for Caesar 5 Word before tea or Fett 6 What some ugly ducklings turn into 7 Flowering plant also known as horsemint 8 Colorful garden perennial 9 “Suh-weet!” 10 Awaken 11 Goof 12 ___ Jam Recordings 13 Castaway’s “Help!” 19 Canful at a gas station 21 Venison 25 Something played that’s not agame 26 ___ Boyardee 27 Harleys, in slang 29 Poison ivy eruption 30 Fit of irritation 32 Head of a train: Abbr. 35 Tennis’s Kournikova 36 Big name in pesticides 37 ___ Ray, 1950s-’70s leading man 38 Spill the beans 39 “Je t’___” (French words of endearment) 40 End-of-the-week shout 43 Carrier based in Tehran 44 Item left at home on casual Fridays 45 Place for a guard 49 Goes 60 in a 30-m.p.h. zone, say 50 Draw out 51 Shrek’s companion in “Shrek” 53 Worrier’s opening words 54 Urging for a reluctant person 56 Hägar the Horrible’s dog 59 Battery liquid 60 Trash-hauling ship 61 Kind of cuisine offering tom yung goong and tom kha kai 62 Edmonton’s prov. 63 Spike or Gypsy Rose 64 “Tuesday is the hardest crossword of the week,” e.g.