NYT Crossword hints

1 Across: Main characters for an early reader (4 letters)

5 Across: They get rings for hoops (9 letters)

14 Across: Skin-care brand known for its pore strips (5 letters)

15 Across: Large restaurant vessel shaped like another vessel (9 letters)

16 Across: Conference handout (5 letters)

17 Across: Dubious sighting in the night sky (9 letters)

18 Across: Started to boil (6 letters)

20 Across: Work, as a joke (4 letters)

21 Across: Romance author Huang (3 letters)

22 Across: They might be rehabbed with knee flexion (4 letters)

23 Across: His #33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003 (5 letters)

25 Across: Winner of the 2025 Outstanding Drama Series Emmy, with "The" (4 letters)

26 Across: Personne canonisée: Abbr. (3 letters)

27 Across: ___ Capital, investment firm co-founded by Mitt Romney (4 letters)

28 Across: Hits the mark, in a way (4 letters)

29 Across: Many people climb it (12 letters)

33 Across: Naturally concluded (12 letters)

35 Across: Ones giving a toast at an outdoor party? (12 letters)

37 Across: Court session, perhaps (12 letters)

39 Across: Like much of Libya (4 letters)

41 Across: Depicting the world bleakly and cynically (4 letters)

42 Across: Put your back into it (3 letters)

43 Across: "Sweet dreams are made of cheese / Who am I to dis a ___?" (parody lyrics) (4 letters)

44 Across: Is immersed (5 letters)

46 Across: Fair trade, say (4 letters)

47 Across: "It is not easy for a ___ to balance himself on a ladder": "Animal Farm" (3 letters)

48 Across: A word in closing (4 letters)

49 Across: Relative of house music (6 letters)

51 Across: Inverse of an exponential function (9 letters)

54 Across: Vikings' offense? (5 letters)

55 Across: What a supposed bug is often revealed to be (9 letters)

56 Across: Grant (5 letters)

57 Across: Deftly evades (9 letters)

58 Across: Come off as (4 letters)

1 Down: Nonhuman provider of medical advice (8 letters)

2 Down: Neck topper (9 letters)

3 Down: Shoves (in) (5 letters)

4 Down: Sonic system (4 letters)

5 Down: Org. featured in 1998's "Enemy of the State" (3 letters)

6 Down: Breaking character? (16 letters)

7 Down: Like parts of Istanbul (5 letters)

8 Down: Common Chinese surname (5 letters)

9 Down: ___ legs (4 letters)

10 Down: Stability aids, informally (3 letters)

11 Down: Soft, silky material (6 letters)

12 Down: Depicts stylishly (6 letters)

13 Down: Green day star, for short (5 letters)

14 Down: Humongous, slangily (6 letters)

19 Down: Stocked and sold, as goods (7 letters)

24 Down: August ___, "Fences" playwright (6 letters)

25 Down: Makes sense of (6 letters)

27 Down: Deliberately exasperated (6 letters)

28 Down: More sassy (6 letters)

30 Down: Indecisive way to end (6 letters)

31 Down: Gets by (6 letters)

32 Down: Binary, in a way (7 letters)

34 Down: Former (9 letters)

36 Down: "Wow ... what are the chances?!" (8 letters)

38 Down: Publisher of the front-page headline "This sport is stupid anyway" after a U.S. loss at the World Cup, in brief (6 letters)

39 Down: Half-spoken, half-sung passages of an opera (6 letters)

40 Down: Not fair (6 letters)

43 Down: Nearly 90 (5 letters)

44 Down: It goes on top (5 letters)

45 Down: Shockingly unconventional (5 letters)

46 Down: Stepped-on instrument (5 letters)

48 Down: "___ chic!" (4 letters)

50 Down: Time divisions (4 letters)

52 Down: "___ You That Somebody?" (1998 Aaliyah hit) (3 letters)

53 Down: Half of a couple (3 letters)