The New York Times Crossword

ACROSS

1

5 9 16 17 18 19 22 23 27 29 30 33

35 38 39 42 45 46 48 50

Stick under the bed?

Served flawlessly? Play with, as a catnip mouse Off-the-books business, perhaps Olympics venue Shifty type? Lubricate again Words before a deadline

Site of a Herculean task

Function

Sparkly wine cocktail

Praises to the heavens

Fumble

Cog on a wheel ___ crawl

Mideast federation since 1971, in brief Dunderhead Fraternity letter Brand of congestion medication

Where wild animals are most likely to see you Old-fashioned “Whoopee!” Capital of Brazil until 1960, informally

Refuses to

Make broader Desert home to the legendary Mongolian death worm Conservative, in a sense 53

57 58 60 61 63 65 66 68 1

2 3 4 5 7

Subject of a fully exposed image? Affirming words Surprise encounter Polite refusal Muppet named after a character in “Midnight Cowboy”

How this puzzle’s grid must be rotated in order to read the answers to the starred clues, when written in 17-Across Bamboozle

1977 Linda Ronstadt hit

Word before and after “to,” in a religious phrase Org. endorsing P.P.E. for workers Jean who wrote “Wide Sargasso Sea”

DOWN

Moves quickly, as a cloud

Really enjoy In keeping with Video game franchise starring major-league baseballers Shortest path connecting two points on a sphere Surname of father/ son actors James and Scott

Henry Ford’s sole heir 8

9 10 11 12 13 15 24 28 30 31 32

Consider something to be Overly suspicious Word often abbreviated to its middle letter in texts

*Like a household with a stay-athome parent, maybe

Sambuca flavoring Padded accounts? “___ see it from my perspective …” *Longtime Mazda catchphrase *Annual gathering of superhero fans Member of TV’s Addams Family It comes and goes Last in a series

Mer makeup *Babe-in-thewoods quality Where the smallest bones in the body are found 36 37 39

40 43

45 47 49 50

51 52 54 56

59 62 64

Tiny particle

Wee ’un

Antique tools for pressing clothes Ficus fruit

Mighty Patch target

Lot in Genesis, e.g. Papal emissary Swindle

More or less, in time

Señor’s send-off River deposits N.B.A. Hall-ofFamer Thomas Best-selling 2019 memoir subtitled “A Coming-ofGender Story” Components of a hard six, in craps Quick bite

Last in a series Farm delivery letters