New York (AFP) – The New York Times reported Wednesday that buying The Athletic had helped power the paper past its 10 million-subscription target years in advance, and the company is now aiming to grow by millions more subscribers. The paper has been trying to diversify its offerings and has successfully launched subscriptions to cooking recipes or to a games platform structured around crossword puzzles. CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said the $550 million acquisition of the sports news platform The Athletic announced in January had pushed The Times past the symbolic 10 million subscription mark. …