The New York Times Crossword Puzzle
ACROSS
1 *Leave briefly 6 Follow
10 Colorful freshwater fish
15 Midwest hub
16 Mystical character
17 Celeb with a good friend named Gayle
18 World leader born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
19 Hankering
20 Subdued hue
21 Seriously vex
22 *Final say
24 Aromatherapy provider, perhaps
25 How best to determine consent
27 Coral-based ecosystems
28 Went the distance
31 Pioneer in color TV
32 Start of all Washington, D.C., ZIP codes
35 Contingent of like-minded voters
37 Nation on the Gulf of Oman
39 Like some Quad Cities residents
41 *All for one
45 Louvre Pyramid
architect 46 Witty Mort
47 Mulligan
48 ___ Wee Reese
49 Fund-raising group for the G.O.P.
52 Didn’t fail
54 Subs
56 Bit of body ink
57 TV screen type, for short
60 *Flies frequently
64 She released “30” in ’21 66 Broadcast again 67 Farming prefix
68 Word with wave and pool
69 “___ luck!”
70 Political commentator Joy
71 Arctic people
72 Get-go
73 Monopoly holding
74 Punctuation mark missing in “Let’s eat people!” (at least one would hope!) … as well as from the starred clues
DOWN
1 Animals that become different animals when their first letter is changed to an “M”
2 Oodles
3 Fruit often served in ball form
4 “Brava!” elicitor
5 Busybodies
6 Underhanded tactics
7 Not manually operated
8 Bring on
9 Longtime news anchor Jim
10 “Seeing the other side of the matter …”
11 Blunted blades
12 Cereal “for kids”
13 Musical form heard in some Bollywood films
14 [Don’t forget about me!]
23 Fleeting moment
26 Move about
29 Doxycycline target
30 Some playground attendants
32 Wonderland twin
33 Pixie stick?
34 Not conned by
35 Minor anomaly
36 Shiny fabric
38 Spring’s opposite
40 Brutish sort
42 No-good, backstabbing scoundrel
43 “How bizarre”
44 Disney’s Queen of Arendelle
50 Pedagogic org.
51 Unfounded rumor
53 Unchanging
54 State capital in the so-called “Treasure Valley”
55 “Me and Bobby ___” (posthumous #1 hit for Janis Joplin)
58 Something staked
59 Difference symbol, in math
60 Singer/ songwriter Guthrie
61 Blindingly bright
62 D.C. nine
63 Buffalo’s county
65 Pet in the town of Bedrock