Puzzle

 ACROSS



  1 Melville captain

  5 In ___ straits

  9 Balkan native

 13 First part of N.B.

 14 The dark side

 15 Concepts

 17 *Fires

 19 Doughnut-shaped cake type

 20 Cartoonist's liquid

 21 Unimportant bother

 22 Certain guy, in personal ads

 23 Director Judd

 26 It might be tipped or passed

 29 *Sights under tired eyes

 33 Like the worst fail ever

 35 Install, as carpet

 36 "___ Man" (Village People hit)

 38 Suffix for "infant"

 39 Letter feature rarely found in comics

 43 Easy seasoning instruction

 46 Gushing review

 47 *Cartoonists, at times

 51 Tie-___

 52 Apprehensive

 53 Not home

 55 Single bicep curl, e.g.

 56 Most goofy

 61 Egg-shaped

 64 Get rid of unnecessary stuff, as you must do in the starred answers

 65 Convey, as information

 66 Sunburn reliever

 67 On a ship, perhaps

 68 Cat's number of lives, proverbially

 69 Ironically, it might leave a ring when removed

 70 Big Apple address abbr.

DOWN

  1 Opposite of pro-

  2 Shofar, e.g.

  3 Just somewhat

  4 Mild soap brand

  5 It's written with a point in the U.S. but not in France

  6 First and worst tsar?

  7 Curling site

  8 Windy City trains

  9 Sis, say

 10 End of UChicago's URL

 11 Name meaning "reborn"

 12 Scolding for a Scottie

 16 Puts away

 18 Harley bike

 23 "Give it ___!" ("Try!")

 24 Church benches

 25 "Li'l" character in comics

 26 Haw's accompaniment

 27 Org. for many therapists

 28 Involuntary jerk, e.g.

 30 Russian activist Gorbacheva

 31 Condo regulation

 32 "Someone Like You" singer

 34 "Queen of Funk" Khan

 37 Ends' partner

 40 "Groovy!"

 41 Brown, but not Auburn

 42 Service charge

 44 What fresh pumpkin seeds need to do

 45 Harassed online

 47 Senator, on occasion

 48 Lopsided

 49 Many a Sherpa

 50 Shipmate of Scotty

 54 Very important person

 56 "Sisters" actress Ward

 57 Very important person

 58 Site with one-of-a-kind goods

 59 Spotted

 60 Ceiling type with a higher center

 62 Coffee yogurt color

 63 <O>

 64 Sand ___ (Pacific flounder)

Solution