NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 *Leave briefly 6 Follow 10 Colorful freshwater fish 15 Midwest hub 16 Mystical character 17 Celeb with a good friend named Gayle 18 World leader born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov 19 Hankering 20 Subdued hue 21 Seriously vex 22 *Final say 24 Aromatherapy provider, perhaps 25 How best to determine consent 27 Coral-based ecosystems 28 Went the distance 31 Pioneer in color TV 32 Start of all Washington, D.C., ZIP codes 35 Contingent of like-minded voters 37 Nation on the Gulf of Oman 39 Like some Quad Cities residents 41 *All for one 45 Louvre Pyramid architect 46 Witty Mort 47 Mulligan 48 ___ Wee Reese 49 Fund-raising group for the G.O.P. 52 Didn’t fail 54 Subs 56 Bit of body ink 57 TV screen type, for short 60 *Flies frequently 64 She released “30” in ’21 66 Broadcast again 67 Farming prefix 68 Word with wave and pool 69 “___ luck!” 70 Political commentator Joy 71 Arctic people 72 Get-go 73 Monopoly holding 74 Punctuation mark missing in “Let’s eat people!” (at least one would hope!) … as well as from the starred clues
DOWN
1 Animals that become different animals when their first letter is changed to an “M” 2 Oodles 3 Fruit often served in ball form 4 “Brava!” elicitor 5 Busybodies 6 Underhanded tactics 7 Not manually operated 8 Bring on 9 Longtime news anchor Jim 10 “Seeing the other side of the matter …” 11 Blunted blades 12 Cereal “for kids” 13 Musical form heard in some Bollywood films 14 [Don’t forget about me!] 23 Fleeting moment 26 Move about 29 Doxycycline target 30 Some playground attendants 32 Wonderland twin 33 Pixie stick? 34 Not conned by 35 Minor anomaly 36 Shiny fabric 38 Spring’s opposite 40 Brutish sort 42 No-good, backstabbing scoundrel 43 “How bizarre” 44 Disney’s Queen of Arendelle 50 Pedagogic org. 51 Unfounded rumor 53 Unchanging 54 State capital in the so-called “Treasure Valley” 55 “Me and Bobby ___” (posthumous #1 hit for Janis Joplin) 58 Something staked 59 Difference symbol, in math 60 Singer/ songwriter Guthrie 61 Blindingly bright 62 D.C. nine 63 Buffalo’s county 65 Pet in the town of Bedrock