new YOrk TimeS crOSSwOrD

ACROSS

1 Abbr. before a date 5 Comics figure with

extraordinary powers 9 Word in the corner of some news broadcasts 13 Charley horse sensation

14 Prefix with vitamin 15 Edible part of a litchi 16 Quantity of disk drive capacity 18 Benchwarmers 19 François Hollande’s one 20 Supermarket chain 21 1969 World Series hero Tommie 23 Kitchen gizmo

25 ___ Boyd, first wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton 29 City near Dayton 31 Freeboots

32 Exam for jrs.

34 ___ pop (music genre featuring simple, catchy melodies)

36 Giants of folklore

37 The Hawks, on

scoreboards 38 Playbook symbols

… or letters treated symbolically in this puzzle’s Down answers 40 Scot’s negative 41 Raises

43 Vast amounts

44 They may make your hair stand on end 45 Thoroughly 47 Like Quentin Tarantino films

49 Options on a barbershop wall 50 Blew

53 Passing comments? 55 Fleecy boot brand 56 Sch. that’s home to the N.C.A.A.’s Wahoos 57 Very strong

60 Deli scoopful

63 It’s south of the Caspian

64 Alarm clock toggle 65 Actor whose four-letter first name shares three letters with his last 66 Twinge

67 Hurry

68 Uncovers dirt, in a way

DOWN

1 Really enjoy

2 Last word of many an

improv skit

3 1978 #1 hit for the

Commodores 4 Government org. in

“Breaking Bad” 5 Sitcom catchphrase of

the ’70s and ’80s

6 Like the “Scream” films 7 ___-appropriate

8 Org. that hires many

engineers

9 It results in a runner being called safe 10 Hot blood 11 Through

12 Word with Dutch or American 17 “Très ___!”

18 Big, tight embraces 22 3.0, e.g. 24 Umpire’s cry 26 Went back to where it all began

27 Model

28 50% less? 30 Inundated 31 Olympics success 32 World capital whose motto is “Fluctuat nec mergitur” (Latin for

“It is tossed but does not sink”)

33 Vessel opener 35 Suffix with ethyl 38 Certain bicycle 39 Situation in which, on the whole, nothing can be gained or lost 42 Falling back (on) 44 Many an embedded

animation

46 LAX patrollers 48 Persians, e.g. 51 Sidestep

52 Pops

54 Symbol at the center of a Scrabble board 55 Potentially insulting 57 One behind a velvet rope, say

58 Radio host Glass 59 Moving object? 61 Thurman of “Pulp Fiction”

62 “That feels so-o-o-o

good!”