The New York Times Crossword

ACROSS

1 Formal affirmative

8 Home of the prehistoric Ggantija temples 13 Absolute drivel 15 Longtime TV news colleague of Pelley, Cooper and Whitaker 16 Queso, e.g. 18 Prestigious award established after its founder purportedly read his premature obituary

19 One in a hundred 20 Whoops, e.g. 22 Whence the phoenix

23 Queer identity whose flag is green, white, gray and black, for short

24 Wrote an exposé, say

26 Unreliable news source

27 It has high-end tastes

29 Isn’t finalized 30 One of more than 300 for “S.N.L.” 31 “Sonnets to Orpheus” poet 32 Predispositions

33 Something unoriginal

35 Drain away

36 Had to recant 38 Sign of a sellout 39 What you might get at the gym 40 Network for 15-Across

43 “Dear ___” 45 Singer Marie 46 Singer Michaels 47 For real

49 Stealing from the collection plate, for example 51 Outmaneuver, in a way

52 Covered in ink 53 Fleming who was the first opera singer to perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl (2014) 54 They resemble boas

DOWN

1 State flower of New Mexico 2 Early number? 3 Device used by a court reporter, informally

4 Word with swim or swap

5 ___ nova 6 Question asked outside a bedroom

7 Tin lizzies 8 Competitor of AOL

9 On

10 Windy location of myth?

11 Defunct health technology company that once had a $10 billion valuation 12 So-called

14 Baño feature 17 Identify

21 Occasion when one might choose truth

24 Swimsuit portmanteau 25 Greenish drink

27 “Is anybody home …?”

28 Matches, as watches

29 Instrument that includes ranks and divisions

31 Get back

33 One who grapples, in dialect

34 Tuchuses 35 Borrower’s limit 37 Major export of Ukraine

40 Liturgical chant 41 Kicked off

42 Flight components 44 Team

46 “Ugh!” 48 Beethoven’s fourth?

50 Ignatius ___, figure on Netflix’s “Wednesday”