Universal Crossword

ACROSS 1

Mental breakthrough

10 Car registration fig.

13 Certain parent and business owner

15 Cold stuff at

a bar

16 Chocolatey cafe offerings

18 Animal on Ben & Jerry’s packaging

19 Approves

20 Twitches

21 “Available” or “busy,” e.g.

23 “___ ___ a word” (grammar pedant’s ironic statement)

24 “Kindly help

me ...”

25 “Mind

blown!”

26 Retired supersonic passenger jet

27 Already

watched

28 Rice field

29 Vote of

approval

30 Chicken ___ (trattoria dish, informally)

31 New Mexico’s White ___ National Park

32 Anti-aircraft

fire

33 Oldfashioned whiskey 34 Wander off

35 Served without 15-Across

36 Thoroughly

38 Pozole, e.g.

39 They preceded Gen Alpha

40 Show

flexibility

41 Hammed it

up

42 Exploding

star

43 Nicki Minaj’s

music genre

46 Fluffy dog,

for short

47 Bygone Mediterranean superpower

50 Mine

material

51 Many a mentalist, purportedly

52 Kennedy known as “The Lion of the Senate”

53 Run out of

energy

DOWN

1 Arsenal supply

2 What the letter J resembles

3 Some

theaters

4 Dashboard

fig.

5 Toastmasters’ skill

6 Actress

Kanakaredes

7 Put into law

8 Clears after

taxes

9 Famed Egyptian king 10 Auto racer’s

celebration

11 “Food

sounds fine”

12 What breaks before it should?

14 Forwards,

perhaps

17 Her mom has got it going on, in a song

22 Hullabaloo

23 Throat-clearing sound

24 Mr. ___ (aptly named “Clue” victim)

25 “All hope is

lost”

26 Artificial

waterway

27 “I’m sold!”

28 Tour de France’s terminus

30 Winner’s

winnings

31 Influencer’s aspiration, often 32 “Family ___”

(game show)

34 Take the

wheel

35 Z-listers

37 CPR pro

38 Intense

40 Alternatives

to stocks

42 More micro

than micro

43 ___ or die (really loyal friend)

44 Word before “rug” or “code”

45 Long-lasting

hair wave

48 Army’s

domain?

49 Bit of butter