The New York Times Crossword

By Neil Shook

ACROSS

1 Fella

4 Digits carried in

long division

8 Lightens up?

13 A, as in Avignon

14 Baby’s first word,

maybe

15 Lacking pigment

16 Frequent object of

doting attention

18 Stunk

19 Gift for a budding

architect, maybe

20 _ _ _ of the Union

21 Shocking fish in

the Amazon

22 Dental concern

24 “Here’s a short summary,” in internet lingo

27 What Santa doesn’t get much of on Christmas Eve

29 UPS competitor

30 Alto or soprano

31 Union of Hollywood performers, for short

33 Begin, as an

adventure

35 Govt. prosecutors

38 Material for an

interior renovation

40 Quash

41 Best-case

scenarios

43 Blouse or tee

45 Fashion designer Kamali “That’s my ___!” (“I’m up!”)

46

48 Of the kidneys

52 Health resorts

53 Attired like Batman or Superman

55 Hand (out)

56 Extinct birds of

Mauritius

58 Words that start a

game of tag

60 Volcanic peak ruled by Sauron in “The Lord of the Rings”

62 Places for playthings, with a hint to this puzzle’s shaded squares

63 “I’ll wait to hear

from you”

64 ___ Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason

65 Gerund suffix

66 Soft leather

67 _ _ _-do-well

68 General on a

Chinese menu

DOWN

1 Some military

brass?

2 Pull off a spool

3 Long-eared hound

4 3:1 or 5:2, e.g.

5 Unadorned

6 Readied for

publication

7 Disconsolate

8 “Not guilty,” e.g.

9 Partner in crime

10 Have a crush on,

cutesily

Edited by Will Shortz No. 1226

11 Suffix with benz

12 Turf

15 Showily bohemian

17 Middles of Mr.

Potato Head faces

20 Actress Hayek

23 Destroys, as a dog might a stuffed animal

25 Pest control brand

26 Tear up

28 Lakshmi who wrote the memoir “Love, Loss, and What We Ate”

30 Bravery

32 “Despicable Me”

protagonist

34 Classic sandwich

order, in brief

35 Puts on

36 Each

37 Sit on, as a seesaw

39 Some recreation

ctrs.

42 Over-the-hill

lament

44 Three-time Cy Young winner Martinez

47 Long-eared pal of

Pooh

49 “You can’t leave

this way” sign

50 U.F.O. crew

51 “Move it, already!”

53 Arrive

54 Arthur Conan ___

57 Part of a mosque,

typically

59 Transportation company headquartered in San Francisco

60 Hosts, for short

61 Letter after sigma

62 What’s rolled to get from Free Parking to Go to Jail, in Monopoly