puzzle

 ACROSS

  1 Unadventurous

  6 Statutes

 10 Place for a sail

 14 Gladiator's venue

 15 Dating back to

 16 Twistable cookie

 17 *Artist known for painting rectangular regions of color (see this answer's first 2 letters + last 2)

 19 Warm, in a sense

 20 Prefix with "center"

 21 1910s conflict: Abbr.

 22 Athlete's best effort

 23 Wise

 26 Game with Reverse cards

 27 *She played Sarah Connor in "The Terminator" (... first 2 letters + last 2)

 32 Charon's river

 34 Actor Omar

 35 Tribute in verse

 36 John, across the Atlantic?

 37 All together

 40 Dorothy Parker's forte

 41 "Wow, no way!" to a texter

 42 Not phony

 43 "More Than Honey" insects

 44 *"The Tale of Peter Rabbit" author (... first 3 letters + last 1)

 49 Darling

 50 Sword covers

 52 Ed of "Up"

 55 Up to now

 56 Play it by ___

 58 Pal

 59 Mobbed by mosquitoes ... or a hint to each starred clue's answer, based on the word that surrounds it

 63 Big name in pineapples

 64 "Hold it right there!"

 65 Brick worker

 66 How cucumber soup is served

 67 Accompanying

 68 First course, for short?

DOWN

  1 "Ditto"

  2 Snares

  3 Form of exercise involving a hammock

  4 Liquid in a pen

  5 "On the Origin of Species" author

  6 Frida Kahlo or Rita Moreno, e.g.

  7 Fire proof?

  8 Pan for moo goo gai pan

  9 Airport with a BART stop

 10 Golden Horde member

 11 The "A" in BART

 12 Stitched line

 13 Sped

 18 Had bills to pay

 22 Herb hidden in "Can I see?"

 24 Insta uploads

 25 European range

 26 Ballpark figures?

 28 H.S. exams

 29 2011 caper film where Ben Stiller plays a building manager

 30 "Garfield" dog

 31 Brings home

 32 Messy person

 33 Heavy reading?

 37 Boo-boo

 38 No, in German

 39 Upper limit, informally

 43 Get in the pool, perhaps?

 45 Like many crosswords

 46 "Is that right?"

 47 Many an "Eighth Grade" character

 48 Japanese floor covering

 51 Really enjoy

 52 Electrically versatile

 53 "Beat it!"

 54 ___ and void

 57 "The Biggest Little City in the World"

 59 "Gross!"

 60 Tuna in a poke bowl

 61 Little kid

 62 PC linkup

solution