The New York Times Crossword

By Spencer Leach and Jem Burch

ACROSS

1 Headache helper

6 Tot’s scratches

13 Palate cleanser in a multicourse French meal

15 Source of a foul odor when wool is washed

16 Going after the big

bucks, say

17 Creature catcher

in gaming

18 Position with

security

20 N.B.A. team that shares an arena with the N.H.L.’S Stars, familiarly

21 Predicament

22 Major Manhattan thoroughfare, informally

23 Made a lap, say

24 Playground

comeback

26 Creepy quality

30 Important

contacts

31 Chewed (out)

33 Lead-in to plane

35 Cut

36 “Tsk, tsk,” in

textspeak

37 Bug that sounds like it was in the air?

39 Port letters

40 Traditional wedding dish in southern Italy, hence its literal translation (“brides”)

42 Most Broadway theaters have two of these

44 Fish often served

tartare

45 Nickname for Time’s 2023 Person of the Year

47 Pole used for

extending a sail

49 Half and half

50 Some home installations, in brief

52 Cool, in old lingo

53 Rapper ___ Cat

55 Handling things

58 Very rough, as an

experience

60 Finished,

colloquially

61 Drinks are on me!

62 Grumpy

companion

63 Defensive football

plays, informally

64 “___ seguro?” (“Are you sure?”: Sp.)

DOWN

1 Currently

2 “You’re tempting

fate!”

3 Goggles that aren’t meant to go underwater

4 Construction materials named after a capital?

5 Headliner

6 Poster’s place

7 Barrel material

Edited by Will Shortz No. 0217

8 Like some shows

and bands

9 Order that comes

with a wide straw

10 Speed skater Johann ___ Koss, winner of four Olympic golds

11 Makes quiet, in a

way

12 Show with a Joke Swap segment, in brief

14 “Cya”

17 Small part of a

window

19 “Golly!”

23 Move laterally

24 Junot ___, author of “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”

25 Maternity ward staffers, informally

27 Look within

oneself

28 Apartment units

29 Japanese/italian

fusion dish

32 Floor

34 Not that much

38 Letters on a bow

41 Site of a famous

flag-raising

43 Head for the toilet,

say?

46 “Sure, lemme deal with this first, though”

48 Test-taking no-nos

51 Lays down some

ground rolls?

53 Dull

54 Like communal

property

55 Weight

56 Southern side dish

57 Barbie and Ken,

e.g.

58 Chips flavor

59 Publicity, so to

speak