Author: Natan Last
Editor: Will Shortz
Across
| Lead | MAIN |
| Jan. 1, for all racing thoroughbreds in the Northern Hemisphere | BDAY |
| Rotten, as chances | SLIM |
| Bit of shelter | EAVE |
| Boombox sound | BLARE |
| Place for a flat | TIRE |
| Is propelled by fans | CROWDSURFS |
| River through Bath | AVON |
| Final four? | HORSEMEN |
| ___ Belova a.k.a. Black Widow | YELENA |
| Flexible request | ANY |
| Aix-___-Bains, France | LES |
| "Be right there …" | ONESEC |
| Strategy to prevent a runner from stealing a base | PITCHOUT |
| Fruity cooler | ADE |
| "Funky Cold Medina" rapper | TONELOC |
| Drudge or trudge | PLOD |
| Who wrote "In the morning there is meaning, in the evening there is feeling" | GERTRUDESTEIN |
| Sun, say | BASK |
| One-third of France's motto | EGALITE |
| Genre prefix | ALT |
| What Rose decides to do for Jack in "Titanic" | POSENUDE |
| Pointed the finger at | BLAMED |
| Sch. that's home to the Keydets | VMI |
| Cousin of a crow | JAY |
| Mocha native | YEMENI |
| Part of the mind that is "like all propagandists, relentlessly repetitive," per Adam Phillips | SUPEREGO |
| Unfettered | FREE |
| Waved at, maybe | SHOOEDAWAY |
| Word before "Nobody" or "No Sunshine" in R&B titles | AINT |
| Long-term security, for short | TBOND |
| Format of some N.S.A. leaks | MEMO |
| Body of art? | TATS |
| Track, often | SONG |
| Porter alternatives | ALES |
Down
| Anime and manga genre involving robots | MECHA |
| M.L.B. career leader in total bases | AARON |
| ___ tower | IVORY |
| It's broken by hounds | NEWS |
| Old Nickelodeon kids' show featuring a puppy leaving paw print hints to be solved | BLUESCLUES |
| Cry that might be said while snapping the fingers | DARN |
| Pound sound | ARF |
| "Who else would I be talking to?!" | YESYOU |
| Banal | STALE |
| Hides one's true self | LIVESALIE |
| Attached, as a patch | IRONEDON |
| Terrorized, say | MENACED |
| Ability to detect misinformation, slangily | BSMETER |
| Use a roller on, in a way | DELINT |
| Battle of Isengard fighter | ENT |
| Meat in tonkatsu | PORK |
| ___-podge | HODGE |
| "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" novelist, 2019 | OCEANVUONG |
| Tribute | TESTAMENT |
| ___ Postlethwaite, whom Spielberg once called "the best actor in the world" | PETE |
| Indoor arcade | GALLERIA |
| Had bad posture | SLUMPED |
| Picked up | TIDIED |
| Something most people lose with age | BABYFAT |
| "The tongue of the soul," per Cervantes | PEN |
| Sappho and Horace | ODISTS |
| They may include dashes | MEETS |
| Ring highlight? | JEWEL |
| Best effort | AGAME |
| Oscillates wildly | YOYOS |
| In a moment | SOON |
| Hindu embodiment of virtue | RAMA |
| "The White Lotus" airer | HBO |