THE NYT CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Ridiculous imitation 8 Basis of a patent 15 Traffic report source, often 16 Something John Adams and John Quincy Adams each had 17 Change, as allegiances 18 “Mean Girls” screenwriter 19 Close to, colloquially 20 Sell 21 Means of communication since 1817, in brief 22 Some receptions 24 Wonder 27 Surgeon’s tool 29 Charles who created murals for Harlem Hospital and the American Museum of Natural History 32 Start of many a romantic comedy 34 1922 Kafka short story 35 Hematologist’s measure 36 Pioneer in New Journalism in the 1960s-’70s 37 Author who shares his name with a German state 38 Fire away 39 Pet name meaning “faithful” 40 Michael Moore offering, for short 43 Sea ___ 47 Part of a hit 1940s-’50s film trio 50 Has dreams 52 Completely surpass 53 It doesn’t have much to say 54 Armful for Moses 55 Slide presentations? 56 Hedge fund employee DOWN 1 Santa ___ 2 They might be ill 3 Feature of CNN or Fox News 4 Hindu goddess often portrayed with her husband Shiva 5 Work on a lead, maybe 6 Part of a square 7 That there 8 F and G, but not H 9 Wife in Jonathan Franzen’s “The Corrections” 10 Meander 11 It adds stress: Abbr. 12 “Glass half empty” sort 13 Emily Dickinson’s “Ended, ___ it begun” 14 Writer Sedaris 20 Like motel walls, it often seems 23 Host 25 Refuses to 26 Grade sch. class 27 Ladder’s counterpart 28 Track things 29 Sprayer 30 “___ pray” 31 Author of the “Mostly Ghostly” book series 32 Attribute as the cause of 33 Sprayed, in a way 34 Start of a Hamlet monologue 35 Child support, for short? 39 Sparring partners? 40 Dull-witted 41 Boots 42 Peak 44 Ready 45 Zodiac symbol 46 One sitting on a celestial throne 48 Goya’s “Duchess of ___” 49 Grind down 50 Legal org. 51 Kind of card 52 Itinerary abbr.