CROSSWORD | Halloween

ACROSS

1. *Birds of ill omen

6. Comes before flow

9. Hair styling products

13. B on Mendeleev’s table

14. Variable, abbr.

15. Lace loop

16. *Cemetery slab

17. Paleozoic or mesozoic

18. Orderly arrangement

19. *Vampire’s bed

21. *Trick-or-treating garb

23. Tan purveyor

24. Best ____ secret

25. What highwaymen do

28. Rossini’s “La Scala di ____”

30. 1 1/2 calorie breath mint

35. Copycat

37. Rotterdam or Singapore, e.g.

39. Expressing an assertion

40. Wine, to Pliny

41. Hiker’s path

43. Ship to Colchis

44. Finish

46. Serengeti antelope

47. Wyatt Earp action?

48. Like Matryoshka inside Matryoshka

50. Bagpiper’s tartan

52. Hankering

53. ____ E. Coyote

55. Precedes Sept..

57. *Full of ghosts

61. *Fearful reaction

64. Acquiesce

65. Metal-bearing rock

67. Observatory observations

69. *Parents’ postHalloween nightmare?

70. Epitome of easiness

71. Phrase of explanation

72. House of Lords member

73. Mar. follower

74. Lively

DOWN

1. Gayle King’s network

2. Drilling grp.

3. Sandwich cookie

4. CNN’s Blitzer and Accept guitarist Hoffmann

5. Blunders or bloopers

6. Fifty-fifty

7. Fly hangout?

8. Ankle support, e.g.

9. Horizontal wall beam

10. Common hosiery shade

11. Type of rich soil

12. Eye affliction

15. Anise-flavored spirit

20. All thumbs

22. Make a choice

24. James Corden’s kind of singing

25. *”Once upon a midnight dreary” bird

26. Express a thought

27. Gives in

29. Suit material?

31. Republic in Africa

32. Leave slowly

33. Pond buildup

34. *Funny to some, scary to others

36. Overwhelming defeat

38. Cone-shaped quarters

42. Whitman’s famous flower

45. Not silver

49. *Marilyn Manson: “Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna ____ of fright”

51. *Traditional alternative to pumpkin

54. Parkinson’s disease drug

56. Glittery stone

57. Door fastener

58. Malaria symptom

59. Egg on

60. Not far

61. *Palm reader, e.g.

62. Affirm

63. *Fake face

66. *Gravestone wish

68. Chester White’s home