The New York Times Crossword

Answers below

ACROSS

1 Some people have checkered ones 6 Buenos ___ 11 The “me” of “Despicable Me” 14 First name in cosmetics 15 Like some online purchases 16 Alley-___ (fancy basketball shot) 17 Classic work with chapters titled “Attack by Stratagem” and “Maneuvering an Army” 19 Clear tables at a restaurant 20 Kylo ___ of “Star Wars” 21 Emerald ___ (Ireland) 22 It’s reversed in a mirror 24 Signature Phil Collins hit ranked among VH1’S “100 Greatest Songs of the 80s” 28 Musical skill 29 Cher or Sade, voicewise 30 State generating the highest percentage of its electricity by wind 33 Drill conductor, informally 35 Wed. follower 38 Changes political affiliation 42 Egg layer 43 Cries of protest 44 Cowboy’s charge 45 Only player on more than two winning World Cup teams 46 Stage name of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys 48 Flee to remote safety 56 Book that comes with a set of keys 57 Sign of sainthood 58 Debtor’s note 59 Oaf 60 Despondent … as progressively suggested by 17-, 24-, 38- and 48-Across? 64 Computing pioneer Lovelace 65 Concur 66 Scheduled to arrive 67 Director Spike or Ang 68 Big books 69 “Really?,” in textspeak

DOWN

1 ___ dish 2 Pale 3 Bit of equipment for an angioplasty 4 Spill the ___ (gossip) 5 Top Italian soccer league 6 Kind of sauce 7 Derive by logic 8 Like some data and deals 9 Emissions control grp. 10 Florence Griffith Joyner or Wilma Rudolph 11 It’s prepacked for an emergency 12 Where a slice might go 13 Victory by a Cinderella team, e.g. 18 Russian despot 23 “Ay, dios ___!” 25 Pressure, metaphorically 26 All-weather protectors 27 Olympian Korbut 30 “Sorta” 31 What the middle of 58-Across stands for 32 Victory 33 Home for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 34 Communication at Gallaudet Univ. 35 Fashion dictates that its width be the same as that of one’s lapels 36 Recipient of Grammy’s 2020 Song of the Year award for “I Can’t Breathe” 37 Euro rival, in brief 39 Toque 40 Prefix with -gram 41 Homophone of 35Down 45 Show of love, for short? 46 One of the Spice Girls 47 Musical combos? 48 Islamic equivalent of kosher 49 Practice piano piece 50 Pond scum, typically 51 Afternoon hour 52 Abhors 53 Approvals on Facebook 54 Trompe ___ 55 Optimistic 61 “Me” problem 62 Pitching asset 63 “___ Lips Are Sealed” (Go-go’s hit)