NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

Note: When this puzzle is finished, the circled letters can be connected to form an appropriate shape.

Across

1 Waiting room fare, in brief 5 TV’s “The Good ___” 9 Michelle ___ West of the L.P.G.A. 12 Yankees manager whose teams never missed the postseason 13 Near the North or

South Pole, say 16 Gather, as

information 17 Championing 18 “Uncool, man” 20 Like Thor or Loki 21 Well-trodden, as

a path 22 Communicated

through channels 25 Horse’s bit

26 ___ Ghiberti, sculptor of Florence’s Gates of Paradise

29 ___ pro quo 32 Bake, as eggs 34 German article 35 Son of, in Arabic

names 36 Calendar column … or a punny hint to the circled squares

38 Pen that’s full of

oink?

39 After tax

40 Like much Three

Stooges humor

41 Shortcut to highlighting the address bar on most internet browsers 42 Beowulf’s first

combatant

44 In the past

46 ___ Pieces 48 Enters unannounced, with “in”

52 “I’m speechless!” 54 Bad, but better than the alternatives 56 Patron of the Met,

say

59 Birthplace Zeus, in myth of 60 Where ships are

outfitted 61 First-stringers 62 Bad result for a

QB

63 “___ in Show” 64 Third degrees, for

short

Down

1 Very, on a music

score

2 “You ___

Beautiful” 3 “American Gothic”

artist

4 Title for Eva Perón 5 D.C. media giant,

for short

6 Sign on a vintage appliance at a flea market, maybe 7 To’s counterpart 8 “Nightmare”

street

9 Oddity

10 B&Bs

11 Brink

12 “The weekend’s almost here, yay!” 14 Lead-in to “Be happy” 15 Squirrel away 19 Explosion maker 23 Skip over 24 “Sleepless in Seattle” director Ephron

27 Pasta that’s often baked 28 Shade of black 29 Last Chinese dynasty (16441912)

30 Lyft competitor 31 What parallel lines never do 32 Bobby of the Black Panthers 33 Buying channel on TV

36 Water channel that rises and falls

37 Quelques-___ (a few: Fr.) 41 Home of the Texas Motor Speedway, with seating for more than 150,000 spectators 43 Foster professional connections 44 Lawyers’ org. 45 Screw-off car part 47 Cafeteria trays on snowy days, perhaps

49 Vice encouraged

by capitalism 50 These: Sp.

51 Part of a flower or

watch

52 Writer Picoult with the 2021 novel “Wish You Were Here” 53 Well informed

about

55 Lead-in to while 57 Chatterbox’s “gift” 58 Earth deposit