Universal Crossword

Across

1 Places to take a photo with Santa 6 Affirmative at sea 9 Droop, as a rose 13 Apportions

15 Coltrane’s instrument, familiarly 16 Operatic highlight 17 Start opening impatiently

18 “Go there to fill the bucket for our castle”?

20 ___ Millions

21 Actor’s part

22 Coffee alternative 23 Home videos of Nana?

27 Official with a whistle 28 Friend: Fr.

29 Sch. in Dallas 30 “Selma” director DuVernay

31 “Tall” stories

34 Italia’s capital

38 Riches that went up in smoke? 42 18-wheeler

43 Ran out of patience 44 Text before “thx”

45 ___ Vegas Strip

48 “You ___ My Sunshine”

49 Garden tool 50 Developers’ winning proposals?

54 ___ Paulo

56 Ski resort in

New Mexico

57 Horse with multiple colours

Down

1 Word after “welcome” or “wrestling”

2 Strong beer

3 Where a soft wool is produced

4 Italian actress Sophia 5 Stop developing 6 Houston baseball pro 7 “What an exciting tech company!” 8 Holds in high regard 9 “Where ___ I?” 10 Hopping mad

11 It goes from point A to point B

12 “I did it!”

14 Never get over a slight

19 One of 32 in the NFL 23 Takes without asking 24 Show with sketches and songs

25 Muck

26 Expert

58 Suddenly become charming ... or, parsed differently, the rule for formulating 18-, 23-, 38- and 50-across?

60 What helps one get up to speed?

63 Notion

64 Find a function for 65 Stuffed oneself, with “out”

66 Clears (of)

67 To be, in Bogota 68 “Lovergirl” singer Marie

32 Unit in history class 33 Camry or Accord 35 “Annie” setting 36 Cantaloupe, for one 37 Beasts of burden 39 River that may have helped ancient Egyptians build pyramids

40 Deliver via iPhone 41 “Hurry up!”

46 Wine region hidden in “Christmastime” 47 Something to like on Facebook 50 No longer paying attention, say

51 Like an unsecured screw

52 Ed who played Santa in “Elf”

53 Big

54 Mix, as batter

55 BMW competitor 59 “Illmatic” rapper

61 “Of Mice and ___” 62 Kissing on the subway, e.g., in brief