The New York Times Crossword

By Robert S. Gard

ACROSS

1 Mail inits. since

1971

5 ___-Carlton (hotel

chain)

9 Lettuce or cabbage

14 Small recess

15 Drill (into)

16 Hero of Narnia in C.

S. Lewis novels

17 Evidence of a day

at the beach

19 In a deadpan

manner

20 Spleen

21 Middle of a classic

boast from Caesar

22 Spanish girlfriend

23 “Phooey!”

25 Chocolate confection with a molten core

28 Partner of

“ceases”

31 “Science is like ___: Sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it”: Richard Feynman

32 Cleric’s title, for

short

33 Tiki bar drink

35 Part of a decentsized plot

36 Effect of secondhand pot smoke

39 Uber-fan

41 Ted ___, author of the bestselling shortstory collection “Exhalation” 42 Make a mistake

43 “Well, lah-di-___”

45 Made an irreverently sarcastic comment

49 Flight of fancy

52 Crooner Mel who was called “The Velvet Fog”

53 Common sight along the Norwegian coast

54 Male admirer

57 Signature Obama achievement, in brief

58 Held on (to)

59 Description of 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across, in different senses?

61 Where it’s at

62 Afghan’s place

63 Bottom of a boat

64 Army squad

leaders: Abbr.

65 Rudely “welcome”

the away team

66 “Toy Story” boy

DOWN

1 Remove the

fastenings from

2 Evening party

3 Tools for fireplaces

4 Winter item on a

car’s roof rack

5 Hank Aaron holds the MLB record for these, for short (2,297)

6 Smidgen

7 Fishing net

8 Mindfulness-based

practice

Edited by Will Shortz No. 0202

9 Cop-turnedvigilante in a postapocalyptic film

10 Courtier who oversees Hamlet’s duel with Laertes

11 Member of a powerful ruling elite

12 B-baller in

California

13 “___ takers?”

18 Altima maker

22 “___ Maria”

24 Shakespeare’s

“___ of Athens”

26 “Given the way

things appear …”

27 12/24 or 12/31

29 Small songbird

30 Upper part of a Vandyke beard, informally

34 German “Geez!”

35 Belligerent, in

British slang

36 Swiss founder

of analytical

psychology

37 Largest Chinese

ethnic group

38 Like “three men” of

nursery rhyme

39 Patch things up,

say?

40 Unimportant

things

43 Funereal

compositions

44 Chip in

46 N.H.L. team with a mythological eponym

47 Presided over a

roast, say

48 Lethal

50 Dunkable edible

51 Degrade

55 Nobelist Wiesel

56 Miles away

58 Big name in

pharmacies

59 One of Islam’s Five

Pillars

60 Inits. before a

nickname