Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The New York Times crossword puzzle
Across
1 Random ___ of kindness
5 “What’s more ...”
9 Loser to scissors, winner over rock
14 Eating plan
15 Slightest little sound
16 Future fungus
17 Tim Duncan’s longtime N.B.A. team
20 Feminine article in Spanish
21 “I’ll do that right away, boss!”
22 Source of draft beer
23 Metaphor for some special-interest government spending
27 Dust ___ (tiny critter)
28 Taylor Swift’s “We ___ Never Ever Getting Back Together”
29 Little hopper
30 Sudden overwhelming fear
31 Energy drinks that “give you wings”
34 Choose
35 Mouth-related
36 Versin’ person?
37 Spins
40 Titular soccer coach on a hit Apple TV+ series
44 Improves, as a skill
45 Greek salad cheese
46 ___-to manual
47 Shapes of rainbows
48 Attention seeker at school
51 “I did NOT need to know that!”
52 Stretched tight
53 Sound in a “Batman” fight
54 “Done this before, you know!” ... or a hint to the last words of 17-, 23-, 31-, 40and 48-Across
60 Do a bit better than
61 College head
62 Annoying thing to find unmatched in the laundry pile
63 Doorstop’s shape
64 Certain risqué message
65 Swelled heads
Down
1 Interruptions in YouTube videos
2 Spy org.
3 Like professors with job security
4 Performed poorly, informally
5 Well-suited
6 Sign before Virgo
7 Ladies of Spain
8 Stated a viewpoint
9 “Hey, you! Over here!”
10 Smartphone download
11 Canadian fries-and-gravy dish
12 Unpredictable
13 Aretha Franklin hit ranked #1 on a Rolling Stone magazine “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list
18 Catch in the act
19 Frying need
23 Golf standard
24 Underground metal
25 Book of maps
26 “Let the good times ___!”
27 Island nation south of Sicily
30 Banana discard
32 Tiresome sorts
33 Addresses with links, for short
34 Cokes and Pepsis
36 Nonhuman household residents
37 “Where do we go from here?”
38 Estrogen or testosterone
39 Provoked
40 Source of an extract used in aromatherapy
41 Entrant in a Westminster Kennel Club event
42 Scatter, as seeds
43 Take responsibility for
45 Liquids
48 Half-___ (rhyming coffee order)
49 Lifesaving skill, in brief
50 “___ lips sink ships”
52 Use a keyboard
55 One might read “#1 Dad”
56 “Wailing” instrument
57 Explosive inits.
58 Prefix with conscious
59 Approves