The New York Times crossword puzzle

No. 0413

Across

1 Evidence of merit

6 With 38-Across, this whole time 9 Country singer with a cityish name

14 “___ in English is, in the main, just about as sensible as baseball in Italian”: H. L. Mencken 15 Cocktail with vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice 17 Doesn’t look so well? 18 Carrier with a yin/yang symbol in its logo 19 Lustrous material 21 ___ Drago, opponent of Rocky in “Rocky IV” 22 Actress Aduba of “Orange Is the New Black” 23 Where one might go out to get a bite? 26 Bhagavad-___ (Sanskrit text) 27 Nonsense 31 Extension 34 Collection of superstars 37 Good name for a gardener 38 See 6-Across 39 One of five in “La Bohème” 40 Fairy tale villain 42 U people? 43 Kind of strip 44 Wrinkly fruit 46 Supreme Court nickname, with “the” 52 Cause to groan, maybe 55 Sparks can be seen at its edge 56 Way that someone might get out 57 Make the grade 60 Off-the-wall 61 Pastrami and corned beef 62 Some Deco collectibles 63 “God ___” 64 Hula hoop? 65 Little brats

Down

1 Extra help 2 Kind of test for a baby 3 Symbol of change 4 Spider-Man’s archenemy 5 Starts something slowly

6 Say “what?,” say

7 Pope during the Battle of Ostia 8 Creepy-crawly 9 Stockpile that may be subject to inspection 10 Rapper MC ___ of N.W.A 11 Suitor 12 Former Iraqi V.I.P. Tariq ___ 13 Ancient Rome’s Circus of ___ 16 Piece of equipment in the game cornhole

20 Big Apple media inits. 24 Soup kitchen sight

25 2018 Oscarnominated picture whose soundtrack sold over one million copies 28 Subway fare? 29 Oliver Twist, for example 30 Part of a Latin trio

31 [I’m still here, you know] 32 Band with the 1980 hit album “Freedom of Choice” 33 Minute amount 35 Sushi bar topping 36 Opposite of excitement 38 No-frills 41 Requirements for voting 42 Nosedives 45 Result of a meltdown? 47 Jermaine who was a six-time N.B.A. All-Star 48 Driver’s assignment 49 Totaled 50 Georges of the Romantic era 51 Luster

52 Film site 53 Film site 54 Long green 58 Household name? 59 Auto inspection no.