Solution: Casino's cut - NYT Crossword

I chose wrong for both of these clues, which made the northwest corner of this grid the final bit of my solve. For 2D, [Touchdown locale], I went with “inzone” — sports, and a malapropism for end zone, on my part — rather than TARMAC, the surface on which airplanes alight. At 7D, [Casino’s cut], I was sure the entry was “take.” The correct answer is close, but it didn’t occur to me until I absolutely had to change its first letter to make 1A work: It’s RAKE, which is taken in games like poker, where there’s no other way for a casino to get a share of the money being gambled since the dealer doesn’t play.