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New York Times, Monday, March 29, 2021

Author:
Lynn Lempel
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
45-Down : At just the right moment
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
10212/9/19793/19/20242
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
673172130
CircleScrabDebutPre‑WSFresh
91.61331220%
Lynn Lempel

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 76, Blocks: 38 Missing: {JQXZ} This is puzzle # 96 for Ms. Lempel. Jeff Chen's Puzzle of the Week pick. Monday freshness: 28%
Lynn Lempel notes:
For a good while I'd had the idea to do something with "to be or not to be," in the sense of "two B's or not two B's." I'd wanted to ... read more
Jeff Chen notes:
People ping me so often with various TO BE OR NOT TO BE ideas that it's hard for me to be impressed with any of them. That leaning ... read more
Jim Horne notes:

Puzzle is ingenious. English is weird.

1
A
2
T
3
W
4
A
5
R
6
R
7
U
8
G
9
B
10
Y
11
A
12
S
13
A
14
P
H
A
S
E
15
E
M
I
L
E
16
P
C
T
17
R
I
D
I
N
18
G
H
A
B
I
T
19
L
A
B
20
N
E
S
T
L
E
21
E
P
I
22
T
O
M
E
23
A
M
I
24
S
O
A
25
K
26
U
M
P
S
27
D
I
N
28
G
29
B
R
E
30
R
31
R
32
A
B
B
I
T
33
O
N
T
A
34
P
35
N
O
U
N
36
T
O
B
E
37
O
38
R
N
O
T
T
39
O
40
B
41
E
42
A
L
O
E
43
E
V
E
N
44
T
45
T
46
R
47
E
48
B
L
E
C
L
49
E
50
F
51
A
L
T
O
52
I
A
G
O
53
S
T
O
54
P
55
G
R
E
56
M
I
R
A
57
C
58
L
59
E
60
A
R
A
61
B
I
A
62
E
S
E
63
P
E
B
64
B
L
E
B
E
A
C
65
H
66
L
E
T
67
A
I
O
L
I
68
L
E
N
T
O
69
Y
D
S
70
S
A
N
T
A
71
O
N
S
E
T
© 2021, The New York Times3/29/21 ( No. 26,074 )
Across
1
Fighting, as countries : ATWAR
6
Team sport with scrums : RUGBY
11
Naked ___ jaybird : ASA
14
Stage of development : PHASE
15
Writer Zola : EMILE
16
Fractional amt. : PCT
17
Equestrian outfit : RIDINGHABIT
19
Part of a chem class : LAB
20
Lie snugly : NESTLE
21
Perfect example : EPITOME
23
French friend : AMI
24
Take a lo-o-ong bath : SOAK
26
Home plate officials, informally : UMPS
27
Minor job at a body shop : DING
29
Children's character who lives in a briar patch : BRERRABBIT
33
Not bottled or canned, as beer : ONTAP
35
Word that might be "proper" : NOUN
36
Hamlet's dilemma ... with a phonetic hint for the last words of 17- and 29-Across and the first words of 45- and 63-Across : TOBEORNOTTOBE
42
___ vera : ALOE
43
Wedding or parade : EVENT
45
𝄞 : TREBLECLEF
51
Voice below mezzo-soprano : ALTO
52
Schemer against Othello : IAGO
53
What the Supremes said to do "in the name of love" : STOP
55
Test for an advanced deg. seeker : GRE
56
Requirement for sainthood : MIRACLE
60
Peninsula with Oman and Yemen : ARABIA
62
Suffix with Sudan or Japan : ESE
63
California golf resort that has hosted six U.S. Opens : PEBBLEBEACH
66
Tennis do-over : LET
67
Garlicky sauce : AIOLI
68
Slow, musically : LENTO
69
Units on a football field: Abbr. : YDS
70
One who laughs "Ho, ho, ho!" : SANTA
71
Beginning : ONSET
Down
1
Mo. with many (not so) happy returns? : APR
2
Popular Girl Scout cookie : THINMINT
3
Undertake with gusto : WADEINTO
4
Buyer's warning : ASIS
5
Monopoly payments : RENTS
6
Try, try again? : REHEAR
7
Actress Thurman : UMA
8
Taunt : GIBE
9
Spot on a radar screen : BLIP
10
Supposed source of mysterious footprints in the Himalayas : YETI
11
Self-assurance : APLOMB
12
Shrimp ___ (seafood dish) : SCAMPI
13
Optimally : ATBEST
18
Amorphous lump : GLOB
22
Place to take a bath : TUB
23
Kerfuffle : ADO
25
Shelters for shelties : KENNELS
28
Run one's mouth : GAB
30
Outback hopper, informally : ROO
31
Routine that one might get stuck in : RUT
32
Pay to play : ANTE
34
Ring, as church bells : PEAL
37
Mississippi's ___ Miss : OLE
38
Huge bird of lore : ROC
39
In vitro fertilization needs : OVA
40
Citizens of Brussels and Antwerp : BELGIANS
41
Theatergoer's break : ENTRACTE
44
What a ballerina twirls on : TOE
45
At just the right moment : TIMELY
46
Made a higher poker bet : RAISED
47
White wetlands birds : EGRETS
48
___ constrictor : BOA
49
And others: Lat. : ETALIA
50
Shout after an errant drive : FORE
54
Artist Picasso : PABLO
57
Tax pros, for short : CPAS
58
"Star Wars" princess : LEIA
59
Black, in poetry : EBON
61
Has-___ : BEEN
64
Toasted sandwich, familiarly : BLT
65
All the rage : HOT

Answer summary:
1 unique to this puzzle, 2 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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