NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Once ___ a time,

5 not so ___ ago,

9 ___ was a girl named

Ava.

14 Ava’s ___ joy was 15 her prized ___.

16 She had ___ her skill

in band,

17 despite sitting next to

the noisy ____, 19 which were an ___

distraction.

20 One day, after school,

Ava called a ___.

21 It hadn’t come ___ as

she muttered,

22 “___, I guess. At least

the week’s over.” 23 She was ___ with her

music,

25 and school was

hardly an ___.

26 Just then, Dana, a bandmate Ava was crushing on, walked up lugging a ___.

29 As Ava ___ nearby, gathering her courage,

31 Dana bent down to ___ the heavy instrument.

34 Ava ___ at Dana. 36 “Would it be a stretch to say I dig your ___ T-shirt?,” Ava asked. 38 Dana’s reaction was the start of an ___ for Ava.

39 Wheezing laughter like an ___ in an old tire and deep blushing

41 were ___ that Dana

was smitten, too. 43 “That was a ___ joke!,”

Dana sputtered. 44 “I got the shirt from

___; glad you like it.” 46 Ava mustered every

___ in her brain

47 and felt her heart ___

as she blurted,

49 “I’d love to hang out

some time, no ___!” 51 Dana grinned. “Then meditating together in corpse pose ___ an option!”

52 Ava wrinkled her ___

and laughed.

54 After that spark, the pair bonded in large ___.

56 Dana learned that Ava loved chocolate ___ cookies,

57 and Ava learned Dana loved “Much ___ About Nothing.” 58 Though Dana wanted to visit Timbuktu in ___

61 and Ava preferred

Accra in ___,

62 the pair still felt the ____ of their connection.

65 One night, after watching “___ Python,”

66 bingeing subtitled

dramas from ___, and 67 listening to Nat King ___,

68 Ava and Dana shared their first kiss over cream ___.

69 And, of course, ___ lived 70 happily ___ after.

DOWN

1 Trojans’ sch. 2 Straw vote, e.g. 3 Skin cream brand 4 Round, squishy toy 5 Actor Chaney 6 Followed 7 With distinction 8 Daring deed 9 Contraction before

“be great” 10 Obergefell v. ___, Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage 11 Conclude miserably 12 Shipwreck site 13 Reds great Roush 18 Figure skater Midori 24 Like buses and

bicycles

25 Curtain trims, e.g. 26 Bygone Russian

rulers

27 Inuit skin boat

28 It’s a sure thing 30 Dawn goddess 32 Synthetic fabric 33 Never existed

35 Wide shoe spec 37 Just a number, it’s

said

40 Alabama governor

Ivey

42 Bother

45 Language from which we get bupkis and shtick

48 Starting place 50 Knuckle-headed

gesture?

53 Neuters

55 911 responder 56 When repeated, a toy

train

57 Hamlet’s interrogative after “How now!”

59 Pope after Benedict

IV

60 Bali, for one

61 M.L.B. execs

63 Stuff in a loft

64 Title for “Game of

Thrones” knights