For 55A “Royalties for any musician?” I focused more on the “royal” part than the musician, leading me to COUNT CHECKS (count as in title of nobility).
With you on NAIF - the N was the last thing that I filled in. I had wAIF instead and it just wasn’t clicking. (Not knowing ILENE Chaiken made the cross harder).
Made some errors while trying to rush through it. Fairly approachable crossword otherwise, and a nice theme.
answer spoilers
ADVICES/ADVISES ughhhh.
Forgot about NAIF. It shows up in the NYT Spelling Bee. Last seen on the 19th. https://nytbee.com/Bee_20230819.html
For 55A “Royalties for any musician?” I focused more on the “royal” part than the musician, leading me to COUNT CHECKS (count as in title of nobility).
Spoiler
With you on NAIF - the N was the last thing that I filled in. I had wAIF instead and it just wasn’t clicking. (Not knowing ILENE Chaiken made the cross harder).