NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Dragging vehicles 10 Massachusetts governor after John Hancock 12 One who was very successful with numbered balls 14 Advance man? 15 Some clouds 17 Cerebral canals 18 Crook’s mark 21 Apostle of Ire. 22 Plate setting 23 Board game found in Egyptian tombs 25 Group led by a Grand Exalted Ruler 26 “The Chronicles of Vladimir ___” (hit young adult book series about a vampire) 27 Feature of some televised debates 29 Spanish demonstrative 30 Long and twisty 31 “The L Word” network, in listings 32 Survey militarily 34 Canvas in a wooden frame, of sorts 35 Yeomen of the Guard officer 36 Ready to play 37 Number one, to some 38 Old letters 40 “Combats avec ___ défenseurs!” (line from “La Marseillaise”) 41 In a way, informally 42 Some JapaneseAmericans 44 Period of slow growth 45 One who is very successful with numbered balls 49 One getting laughs at others’ expense 50 Exercise leader DOWN 1 Stopped flowing 2 Exeunt ___ (stage direction) 3 Violin virtuoso Leopold 4 French preposition 5 Street caution 6 Part of an equitable trade, figuratively speaking 7 Writer LeShan and others 8 Bundles of logs, maybe 9 Not so dim 10 Dublin-born singer with a 1990 #1 hit 11 Kings’ home 12 GQ sort of guy 13 Part-owner, say 14 Mess makers 16 “Just a few more miles” 18 Hit show 19 Chemical used in dyes 20 Dress store section 23 Weary 24 Reproved, in a way 27 Sessions in D.C., say 28 Battle of ___ (first Allied victory of W.W. I) 33 Like some shopping 37 Luster, e.g. 39 Gripping parts of gecko footpads 41 “Roots” family surname 43 Superlative suffix 44 ___ list 46 Map abbr. 47 Soprano Sumac 48 Mil. branch disbanded in 1978