The New York Times crossword puzzle

Across

1 Wood strip 5 Circus animal balancing a ball on its nose 9 Cook, as

vegetables 14 Farmland

measure

15 ___ Major (the

Big Dipper) 16 Issue to

discuss 17 Former CNN anchor with a true-crime series on the Investigation Discovery channel 19 Apple tablets 20 Shrimp dish 21 On the ocean 23 German article 24 Places where kids can feed goats and sheep 30 College entrance exams 32 “Approximately

speaking” 33 Obsolescent TV

hookup 34 Annoying 37 Round

trips?

40 Classic Nintendo character named after

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife

43 Like Mr. Spock’s ears

44 Failed epically 45 Hoppy quaff, in

brief

46 Body part that a Manx cat lacks 48 Western lily 52 Warsaw

currency 57 Neighbor of

Syria: Abbr. 58 ___ (the Jet) Walker, Basketball Hallof-Famer 59 Long-haired, pot-smoking 1960s stereotype 61 Eyelashes

64 So simple … like 17-, 24-, 40- and 52-Across? 67 Ballpark purchase in a bun

68 Study, study,

study

69 Tennis great

Arthur 70 Overhang 71 Eyelid affliction

72 Warty flycatcher

Down

1 Unwanted

gaps

2 Thorny

tree

3 School skipper 4 Captain’s post 5 “The World of

___ Wong” 6 Timeline

segment 7 Wood for a

baseball bat 8 Hawaiian

porches 9 Larsson who wrote the “Millennium” trilogy 10 November

birthstone 11 Smogmonitoring org.

12 Lend a hand 13 Ones making introductions, in brief 18 TikTok, Instagram or Google’s Find My Device 22 Kind of alarm often activated in the morning 25 Puff from a pipe or cigarette

26 It’s hoisted on a brig in high winds

27 “Ars Amatoria”

poet

28 Twice tetra29 Many takers of 30-Across: Abbr.

31 Whirl or twirl 35 Sinus doc 36 Grim Reaper’s

implement 38 Big retailer of

outdoor gear 39 Threeingredient sandwiches, for short

40 Law officers, in

slang

41 Iranian

money 42 Normandy battle site in W.W. II 43 Backup singer for Gladys Knight 47 Montezuma’s

people

49 Only major Texas city on Mountain Time 50 Performer in a

kimono

51 Did as directed 53 Sweet cake

topper 54 Malted, e.g. 55 Spice whose name consists of two consecutive pronouns 56 Bark like a lap

dog

60 Fuel from a

bog 61 North-of-theborder sports org.

62 Fury

63 Young fellow 65 Good name for a museum curator? 66 “___ what?”