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New York Times, Thursday, October 30, 2025

Author:
Howard Neuthaler
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
What every baseball inning starts with
TotalDebutLatest
29/17/202410/30/2025
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
0010100
CircleScrabDebutFlowFresh
11.581321.270%
Howard Neuthaler

This puzzle:

Rows: 16, Columns: 15 Words: 80, Blocks: 39 Missing: {JQXZ} Grid has mirror symmetry. This is puzzle # 2 for Mr. Neuthaler. Grid flow: 11.2 Thursday freshness: 48%
Jim Horne notes:
Click the grid to see the NYT animation of Elphaba DEFYING GRAVITY. ... read more
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overlay
© 2025, The New York Times10/30/25 ( No. 27,750 )
Across
1
Place for a pencil sharpener : DESK
5
Argentine plain : PAMPA
10
Prayer leader : IMAM
14
Droves : ATON
15
Disney princess who longs to be "part of that world" : ARIEL
16
Come to : WAKE
17
Either acting sibling Andrew or Elisabeth : SHUE
18
What pulls out all the stops? : DRANO
19
Food generally known outside the U.S. as "lady's fingers" : OKRA
20
Start illegally, say : HOTWIRE
22
What every baseball inning starts with : NOONEON
24
"Kind of" suffix : ISH
25
Shore up the ranks : RESTAFF
27
Little pest : ANT
28
Animal with a white rump : ELK
30
Highlands hat : TAM
31
Epitome of simplicity : ABC
33
Binge : SPREE
35
"I'll ___ you!" : SUE
36
Pop-pop : GRAMP
39
Country sharing the world's longest international border : CANADA
41
Showed great pride, in a way : BEAMED
42
Desirable Vegas couple? : ACES
43
Lake in the homeland of the Washoe people : TAHOE
47
___ Blaster (toy) : NERF
48
Inconsequential : MERE
49
Journeys by foot : TREKS
50
Ones eliciting knee-jerk reactions, informally? : DOCS
51
Exemplar : PARAGON
53
Having a strong sense of direction? : BOSSY
57
Likely oriented toward platonic relationships, in brief : ARO
58
Members of the dolphin family that prey on dolphins : ORCAS
63
Like a revving engine : AROAR
64
Skater Midori : ITO
65
Words after "ding, ding, ding" : TOAST
66
With 68-Across, "Wicked" song suggested by the answers to the seven starred clues (and whose singer is spelled by the circled letters reading from left to right) : DEFYING
68
See 66-Across : GRAVITY
70
Bronzed : GOTATAN
71
Not just yet : LATERON
72
Abjures : ESCHEWS
73
Target of urban renewal, say : EYESORE
Down
1
Soup stock in Japanese cuisine : DASHI
2
*The ones over there : ETHOS
3
Washington, Jefferson or Madison : SOUTHERNER
4
Already heard, say : KNEW
5
*One selling commercial time, informally : PADRE
6
Takes in : ARRESTS
7
The Marlins, on scoreboards : MIA
8
Lewis Carroll or George Orwell : PENNAME
9
*It's used to scrub in the tub : ALOOF
10
Jubilant postgame report : IWON
11
Show up unannounced? : MAKEACAMEO
12
*Some Scandinavian money : AKRON
13
Indicated : MEANT
21
Irritated : IRKED
23
Old enough : OFAGE
26
Symbol for the ratio of a circle's circumference to its radius : TAU
29
*Stand before a meeting : LEASE
32
*Genre for Aretha Franklin or Usher : BRAND
33
One might start "Your Social Security number has been compromised" : SCAM
34
Rate : PACE
37
Chicago exchange, for short : MERC
38
Certain attachments : PDFS
40
Flour used in Indian flatbreads : ATTA
41
Kiss in a telenovela : BESO
44
Calls to court : ARRAIGNS
45
*Your home : HEART
46
Voice command to an Android device : OKGOOGLE
51
Fool's gold : PYRITE
52
Write, as music : NOTATE
53
Symbol of authority : BADGE
54
Small dessert sandwiches : OREOS
55
Left of center? : SOFTC
56
Get ready to have one's tonsils checked, perhaps : SAYAH
59
Wanders : ROVES
60
World capital on the world's longest river : CAIRO
61
Family name with an eponymous Row, Court, Place and Avenue in New York City : ASTOR
62
Composer Jule : STYNE
67
Slangy refusal : NAW
69
Fish also known as a batomorph : RAY

Answer summary:
3 unique to this puzzle, 1 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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