Answer: THISBE

In Greek mythology, Thisbe is the ill-fated lover of Pyramus. Thisbe and Pyramus were young Babylonian lovers who grew up in neighboring houses. They were forbidden to be together by their families, but they communicated through a crack in the wall that separated their homes. Eventually, they made plans to meet outside the city under a mulberry tree. Thisbe arrived first, but when she saw a lioness with blood on her mouth, she was terrified and ran away, leaving behind her cloak. Pyramus arrived later, found the bloody cloak, and assumed that Thisbe had been killed. Filled with grief, he took his own life. When Thisbe returned and discovered what had happened, she also took her own life. Their tragic love story is immortalized in Ovid's Metamorphoses and is often portrayed as a tale of forbidden love and miscommunication.

Note: The provided meaning of the answer is for the latest New York Times crossword puzzle clue: Pyramus' beloved, in myth. Explanations are generated by AI and may be inaccurate.