puzzle

ACROSS

  1 Apart from that

  5 Lustrous

 10 Letters on an invitation

 14 First light

 15 Double-reeded instruments

 16 Duel tool

 17 *Keg?

 19 Immense

 20 "Snowy" bird

 21 Number of Canadian provinces

 22 Popular mints

 23 Nebraska city that's home to the largest indoor swamp

 25 Midwest hub

 27 *Leg?

 32 Stomach muscles, briefly

 35 Ward of "The Fugitive"

 36 Ape found in the Congo Basin

 37 Pressing need?

 39 Genre for H.E.R.

 41 Worry ___ (Guatemalan figurine)

 42 Alaska's tallest mountain

 44 Takeover

 46 Name shared by two Spice Girls

 47 *Peg?

 50 Not domesticated

 51 Spread, like fingers

 54 Decrease

 56 Rowing stick

 59 Vatican-related

 61 It's a long story

 62 "To illustrate ...", and a hint to interpreting the starred clues

 64 Word after "spark" or "power"

 65 Speak your mind

 66 Vocal range below soprano

 67 Moral transgressions

 68 Exams for HS juniors

 69 Briny expanses


DOWN

  1 Slight advantage

  2 Slow, in sheet music

  3 Bunch of bees

  4 Win over

  5 Sun, in Spanish

  6 "Sure it is ..."

  7 Subject of many songs

  8 Excited about

  9 Fashion monogram hidden in "fancy slacks"

 10 Cleric's title

 11 Where a guest might crash

 12 Sleeveless suit part

 13 Furry family members, often

 18 Cultural value system

 22 Garb for blending in, for short

 24 Where "skyscrapers bloom" and "Cadillacs zoom," in a "West Side Story" song

 26 Uproars

 28 Words between "chicken" and "king"

 29 Drew of children's lit

 30 Ready and willing partner?

 31 Lounge around

 32 Turturro of "The Sopranos"

 33 Name that bookends "bracket"

 34 "Well, I'll be darned!"

 38 Many of them say "Hello!"

 40 ___ Perignon

 43 Old Italian bills

 45 Father's nickname

 48 One-masted sailboats

 49 Woolly animals that can hum

 52 Fruit in some turnovers

 53 "Big Three" conference site

 54 Venomous snakes

 55 Indonesian island where Nyepi is observed

 57 Opera highlight

 58 Flat fee?

 60 Early August births, astrologically

 62 Stylish dresser

 63 ___ out (cancels)

solution