The New York Times crossword puzzle
Note: When this puzzle is done, the circled letters, reading from top to bottom, will spell something that belongs in the center square.
Across
1 Blubber 4 Smartphone relative, for short 7 Allergy sufferer’s concern 13 Maze runner? 15 Item used by 13-Across to navigate the 22-Across 16 Visibly upset … or happy 17 Slangy word
of regret 18 Pink-colored,
to Pedro 19 Org. for seniors 21 Late TV newsman Garrick 22 Home of the
[circled letters] 25 -like 28 Registered
workers? 29 Poli-___ 32 Like some breaking news, nowadays 34 Goes on
and on 37 “Me, too” 38 Sharon of
Israel 39 Announcement
at an airport 42 Worker with a
béret, maybe 44 QB’s goals 45 First-timer 47 Began a
relationship 48 Ruler of
30-Down 51 Spatter
catcher 54 5:2, e.g. 55 “My bad!” 59 Front-___ (some washing machines) 61 JFK-based
carrier 63 Avoid, as the
[circled letters] 64 Daughter of 48-Across who helped 13-Across 65 Plan so that maybe one can 66 White House
advisory grp. 67 Motor oil
choice
Down
1 Kool-Aid packet
direction 2 “I’m in for it
now!” 3 They’re placed
in Vegas 4 Soup veggie 5 Resistant to
wear and tear 6 Analyzed 7 Sports dept. 8 “Give me a __” 9 Tell it to the
judge 10 Dante’s
“Inferno” 11 Constructed 12 Old TV’s “Queen
for ___” 14 Circus balancer 17 Like some punk rockers’ hair 20 Basics of education, colloquially 23 End of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” e.g. 24 Intel org. 25 Where ___ (a happening place) 26 Weapon used to slay the [circled letters] 27 Catches
word of 29 Earthquake 30 Home of the
[circled letters] 31 Key 33 U.K. record
label 35 San ___ 36 Hosp. scan 40 Many a girl’s
middle name 41 They stick together in the playroom 42 Third-largest Frenchspeaking city in the world [hint: it’s in Ivory Coast] 43 Some salon
workers 46 Iraq war subj. 48 Big name in the film industry 49 Bumbling 50 Japanese
noodles 51 Quaffs in pints 52 Sit (for) 53 Campaign 56 88, e.g.,
familiarly 57 Give up, at least for now 58 Ooze 60 ___ Speedwagon 62 Constantly twirling a lock of hair, e.g.