The New York Times Crossword

ACROSS

1 Things that justify the means, some say

5 Eight: Sp. 9 Rampaging groups 13 Hoedown locale 14 “Moby-Dick” captain

15 Feverish fit 16 Cinnamon buns and such 19 Communitymaintained website

20 Person from Bangkok

21 Disney character loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Snow Queen”

23 “Hmm, that’s not good …”

25 Slight coloring 27 Slight downturn 28 Modern pet name 29 Cyclical paradox discussed in “Gödel, Escher, Bach”

32 Societal problems 34 Brain reading, for short

35 Touches one’s chin and moves the hand down to say “Thank you,” for example

36 Recipe amt.

38 ___ and crafts 40 “Shucks!”

43 Bar serving

44 The “A” of I.R.A.: Abbr.

48 Onetime TV political drama set in Washington 52 “Now I get it!”

53 Tit for ___

54 Mike of TV’s

“Dirty Jobs” and “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”

55 Strategy

57 Yours: Fr.

59 Potato accompanier in soup

61 Shopping center 62 Sports metaphor used to describe esoteric knowledge … with a hint to the circled letters

66 Cinema showing 67 Amateur mag

68 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit 69 Ladder rung

70 Jazzy James

71 Forest feline

DOWN

1 Flow back, as the tide

2 Tusked marine animal

3 Spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side

4 Type not to be trusted

5 Fumbler

6 Informal conversation

7 #, on social media

8 Procure

9 China’s _ _ _ Zedong

10 Eye creepily

11 Yale’s Handsome Dan mascot, for one

12 Time spent with a psychiatrist, e.g. 17 Optimas and Souls, in the auto world 18 Good thing to have on hand at a wedding?

22 TikTok and Fitbit, for two

23 Kimono sash

24 GPS suggestions: Abbr.

26 Rorschach, for one 30 Street cred 31 Simpson who is a Buddhist and a vegetarian

33 Hearty bowlful

37 Bar serving

38 Heavyweight champ known as “The Greatest” 39 Figure in home economics? 40 Lead-in to boy or girl

41 Hypothetical musings

42 “Now, work!” 43 Slightly

45 Purr-son who loves her pets?

46 Doin’ nothin’

47 Tic-_ _ _-toe

49 Last word at an auction

50 Pluck, as an eyebrow

51 Charades or dominoes 56 Scheming group 58 ___ of Skye 60 Philosopher Immanuel

63 Little troublemaker 64 South China ___ 65 Opposite of strict