The New York Times

No. 0705

ACROSS

1 “Well, that much was clear” 12 Sequence of steps 13 Present-day request? 14 Don’t match 15 Cheat

16 Poet Scott-Heron 17 God who is destined to slay the serpent Jörmungandr 18 “Beowulf” and “Gilgamesh,” for two

20 Drain

21 “You there!” 22 “His ___ little mouth was drawn up like a bow” (line from “A Visit From St. Nicholas”) 23 City planner, at times 24 Forest giant 26 Right on a map 28 Disney villain inspired by the drag queen Divine 29 Anxiety 33 Mulligan

35 Betray nervousness, in a way

36 Shift, for one 39 “High five!” 41 ___ End (setting in “The Lord of the Rings”) 42 Dutch scientist with an eponymous “cloud”

43 Word with boot or spaghetti 44 Mark’s replacement 45 NewLeaf potato, e.g., in brief 46 “Anything Goes” writer Porter 47 “Skip me” 49 Flinches, but only a

little

52 Study of riddles 53 Absence excuser

DOWN

1 They’re offered seven times a year 2 Classic Beat Generation roman à clef

3 Rocks

4 Popular pet originally from Mongolia

5 A, for one

6 Saw and punch 7 Outer ear?

8 GPS guess 9 Celebrate, as a new year

10 Total

11 One holding all the cards

12 First word in a 13-Across 13 London-based insurance company

14 Say “Yay!,” say 17 Via, on signs

19 Peeved, for short 20 Ancestral emblem 22 Dispenses, with “out”

23 Sassy, lettershaped gesture accompanying a retort 25 German food that’s better than it sounds? 27 “George,” in aviation slang 30 Certain surprise party? 31 Department store that once sold mail-order houses 32 So

34 Holes in the wall? 35 Subway stop: Abbr. 36 Certain creature comfort?

37 Ray on one’s TV 38 Like some N.S.F.W. content

40 Hunt

43 Bat signal 44 What one star may represent 46 Fatigues, familiarly 48 Royal attendant 50 Pepper, for one: Abbr.

51 Chess ranking system named for a Hungarian physicist