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New York Times, Friday, December 26, 2025

December 27, 2025

By Andrew Spooner • 70 Clues

Across Clues

1. Dawdler → SLOWPOKE
9. Cuts short → ABORTS
15. Typical sight in a bank robbery cartoon → MONEYBAG
16. Kitsch → LOWART
17. Doing some theater work → USHERING
18. Cracked wheat used in tabbouleh → BULGUR
19. One whose beauty is on the inside → GEODE
20. Whole kit and caboodle → GAMUT
22. ___-Latin (like some modern coinages) → NEO
23. Plant that's toxic to cats → LILY
24. Some babysitters → NANAS
25. A cold one is unexpected (and usually unappreciated) → CALL
26. Since Jan. 1, on a pay stub → YTD
27. Tuesday, in French → MARDI
28. Song commonly performed outdoors → CAROL
29. Food that can be prepared de canasta → TACOS
30. ___ Tuesday (end of the pre-Lenten season) → SHROVE
31. One toeing the line? → TIGHTROPEWALKER
35. Individually → APIECE
36. Editorialize → OPINE
37. Overly self-assertive → BRASH
38. Like a good sponge cake → MOIST
39. Down Under bird that scientists are working to "de-extinct" → MOA
42. Singular, with or without its first letter → LONE
43. Origin story family in DC Comics → KENTS
44. Facility → GIFT
45. Certain care provider, for short → EMT
46. Re-fresh? → RETRO
47. It might be marked with an X → PORNO
48. Linked (with) → TIEDIN
50. Drive → AMBITION
52. Harden and become resistant to change → OSSIFY
53. Life partner, perhaps? → CELLMATE
54. Old coin with a picture of Generalissimo Franco → PESETA
55. Treated with respect → ESTEEMED

Down Clues

1. How a supervillain might brag → SMUGLY
2. Flip → LOSEIT
3. Waiting for support, maybe → ONHOLD
4. Like untended plots → WEEDY
5. Funeral ___ → PYRE
6. Broad band? → OBI
7. Royal Australian Air Force insignia → KANGAROO
8. Competition that combines speed with balance → EGGANDSPOONRACE
9. Professor Dumbledore → ALBUS
10. Contest → BOUT
11. Bevy : quail :: parliament : ___ → OWL
12. The world's end, in Norse mythology → RAGNAROK
13. Mr. or Ms. Right → TRUELOVE
14. Baby sitter? → STROLLER
21. Half of a classic rum cocktail's name → MAI
24. Component of a nautilus shell → NACRE
25. Eric who wrote and illustrated "Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me" → CARLE
27. Stick by a fireplace → MATCH
28. Mantra → CHANT
29. Nearby things → THESE
30. Like the pope's guards → SWISS
31. Area on which to eat or play cards → TABLETOP
32. "You can absolutely count on me" → IPROMISE
33. Figure in sci-fi's "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," e.g. → GIANTESS
34. Great illustrations → EPITOMES
38. Connected → MET
39. Sister of Moses → MIRIAM
40. Worth considering → OFNOTE
41. Made up → ATONED
43. Nation dubbed the "cradle of mankind" → KENYA
44. "Understood?" → GOTME
46. Big break → RIFT
47. Stack (up) → PILE
49. Casting need → DIE
51. Short diner order → BLT