CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Across
1 Strong drink, and part 1 of a word ladder 7 Kiss 11 Injured, as a knee 14 Damage 15 Private tutoring session 17 Theater walkways 18 Injured, as an ankle 19 Cancels a dele 20 Tabloid item (part 2) 21 The “S” of CSNY 24 “No more sharing,” briefly 25 Genetic material 28 Two-door cars (part 3) 30 1975 Tony-winning play about a stableboy 32 Former Boston commuter org. 35 Small, chirpy bird 36 Brunch order (part 4) 37 “It can’t be!” 39 Unsuccessful Ford 41 Personal care brand with a bird in its logo 42 Underground tombs (part 5) 44 Mining hauls 46 Circus safety feature 47 Owl sounds 48 Arts’ partner (part 6) 50 Piercing tool 51 Japanese assent 53 Sandal parts 56 Wanders (part 7) 59 Taxpayer’s option 61 Neckwear that makes a statement 63 Older, as bread 64 Like the print version of an e-book, say 65 Abrasion 66 Cook in oil 67 Insolence 68 Work assignments ... and, preceded by 1-Across, the key to creating the word ladder (and part 8 of it)
Down
1 Days in Quito 2 Drops 3 Hot and bothered 4 Like Estonia and Latvia 5 Stays out of sight 6 Trauma ctrs. 7 Pear variety 8 Removes for transplanting 9 Antitoxin 10 Having more lather 11 Took a refresher course in 12 Half of deux 13 __ school 16 Zero, in soccer 22 Angling needs 23 Went like the wind 26 Béisbol team complement 27 Desirable trait 29 Belgian painter James 31 Logician’s “as was proven” 32 Coffee flavor 33 Host, as a party 34 With no discernable pattern 36 Chin indentation 38 Back (out) 40 Labeled times 43 Warm-weather wear 45 Warmup before a run 48 Boston and Chicago 49 “Green Hills of Africa” journey 52 Union that merged with SAG in 2012 54 Rice dish 55 Snoozed 57 See 58-Down 58 With 57-Down, loses one’s cool 60 Part of a Spanish “to be” conjugation 61 Adobe doc suffix 62 Atop, poetically 63 Griddle sound