The New York Times

No. 0728

ACROSS

1 Buds that are very close

5 “For those who think young” sloganeer, once 10 Drainage collector 14 Cookie that has been deemed kosher since 1997 15 Walled city of Spain 16 Sports event in which athletes try to avoid being touched 17 Porky’s significant other 19 Gillette razor handle

20 Make wise through experience

21 See 53-Across 23 Exceedingly 26 Letters at a bar 27 Signal that a reply is coming in a messaging app 30 Accept responsibility for 31 Terrific 34 Diatribe trigger 35 Official proceedings 37 Attempt to block 38 Original ___ 39 Make art like 53-/21-Across (as suggested by this puzzle’s circled letters?)

41 Suffix with quartz 42 Pat who wrote “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini” 44 Male hedgehog 45 Homer’s neighbor on “The Simpsons” 46 Source of some rings 47 Industry that encourages strikes? 48 Modest reply to a compliment 49 Biol. or chem. 50 Oklahoma’s state tree

53 With 21-Across, artist known to 39-Across pigments back and forth onto canvases 56 Melodic passage 60 Removal from danger, informally 61 ___ station, Central London railway terminal 64 Long ride? 65 Suffered a wipeout 66 Leaning to the right: Abbr. 67 Org. for Lt. Columbo 68 Jetés, e.g.

69 One leaning to the right

DOWN

1 Conks 2 Unoccupied 3 Cheese in a spanakopita 4 Boozehounds 5 Noted colonial pamphleteer 6 Señora Perón 7 Small hard seed 8 Moccasin, e.g. 9 False friend in Shakespeare 10 Babe in the Arctic 11 Somewhat 12 Chicago exchange, in brief

13 Like times that are the most expensive 18 Veterans Day mo.

22 Daffy Duck, notably 24 Indian flatbread 25 Low-ranking sailor 27 What you need some wiggle room to do? 28 Betelgeuse’s constellation 29 Where you might find love away from home? 32 Fragrant compound 33 Like an oboe’s sound 35 Dreamboat of a guy

36 Weep 37 Greeting in Rio 40 “Be ___” (motto for Wikipedia contributors)

43 Pacific food fish 47 Highly decorated 48 “That’s cool, daddy-o!” 51 Taunts so as to get a reaction 52 Samovar 53 Come together 54 Running shoe brand

55 Gem that’s a woman’s name 57 Palindromic guy’s name 58 Succeed and then some 59 “Recycle ___” (sign on a bin) 62 Narc’s org. 63 Tango flourish