Solution: Managed an unmanageable group, figuratively - NYT Crossword

This is an idiom for the ages, making its Times debut (in any form, as best as I can tell). If you’ve managed to organize a motley and iconoclastic crew into a cohesive and productive unit, well, you’ve HERDED CATS. There’s a famous Super Bowl commercial that puts a Western spin on this term, but its fairly recent origin, many say, is a T-shirt at a 1981 Mensa meeting. The funny thing is that so many Mensa members took credit for inventing the slogan that pinning down this etymology for certain appears to be impossible.