The New York Times Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

1 Lightly box 5 Ukr. and Lith., once 9 Word used in place of “chapter” in “A Christmas Carol” 14 Soldier of Sauron 15 Runaway 16 Like the function f(x) = x3 17 ___ sort 18 Suppositions 19 “Euphoria” channel 20 “___ but a scratch” (Monty Python quote) 21 Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, etc. 22 Inject (with) 23 Alumni divs. 24 Consume, with “of” 26 Triage team member 28 Awkward radio silence 33 With 39- and 44-Across, dramatic work depicted in this puzzle’s grid 36 Part two of a three-step bottle instruction 37 Shortening, for short 39 See 33-Across 41 Grp. that sends you a card for your 50th birthday 42 Kind of wrench 44 See 33-Across 46 Beyond clean 48 Certain still-life figures 50 Brain-enhancing device used by Professor X 53 ___-weekly 55 Tear 58 Suffix with cyclo59 ___ Love, Utah’s first Black congressperson 60 Steely Dan, e.g. 61 Close relative, briefly 62 ___ and leaves 63 Was brought back out for airing 64 Notoriously difficult chem class 65 Wheel track 66 “The little woman who wrote the book that started this great war,” as Lincoln supposedly said 67 Structure put together by a crane 68 Car trip pastime

DOWN

1 Like Santa after entering a house, perhaps 2 The spinners? 3 What the Avengers do 4 “His Master’s Voice” co. 5 Popular hot sauce 6 Up to now 7 Reddish-brown 8 Blvds. 9 Bagel topping 10 Ice cream container 11 Father of, in Arabic 12 Feeling in the room 13 Prefix with tourist 21 Derek Walcott’s “Omeros,” for one 22 1950s prez 25 Opportunity for a service break 27 Renaissance artist Albrecht 29 Steak ___ 30 Eleven plus two and twelve plus one, e.g. 31 It’s south of Leb. 32 What one is known for, informally 34 Daisy Mae’s man, in old comics 35 Scrappy-___ (cartoon dog) 37 Some toy batteries 38 Cousin of a club 40 Dance featuring jerky arm movements 43 “Well played!” 45 Exultant cry 47 “Life of Pi” director 49 Goof 51 French 101 verb 52 Naval jails 54 Delectable 55 Type of animal fat 56 In favor of 57 Bone-chilling 60 Salk and Pepper, in brief 61 Sixth U.S. president vis-àvis the second, e.g. 62 Illusionist Geller