17. Kiefer Sutherland and Ashley Olsen each has one: TWIN SISTER.
23. Window washing aids: CHERRY PICKERS.
40. Memorable "Twilight Zone" feature: OPENING NARRATION.
50. Pressure that won't quit: CHRONIC STRESS.
65. Sleights-of-hand with cups, or a hint to this puzzle's circles: SHELL GAMES.
Each set of circled letters spells a GAME: TWISTER, CHECKERS, OPERATION, CHESS.
Melissa here. An extra column makes this grid 15x16, to accomodate the 40A grid-spanning themer OPENING NARRATION. Some publications won't accept odd-sized grids. For reference, you can see a list of odd-sized grids that were published in the NYT on XWord Info, here.
Across:
1. Overwhelm: SWAMP.
6. Perfectly: PAT. Tricky. To know something so well that you can say or do it without having to try or think: I'd given the talk so many times I had it down pat.
9. Scenery chewers: HAMS. Ha.
13. "End of discussion": CASE CLOSED.
16. "Bike faster!": PEDAL.
18. Tiny cake, maybe: EMOJI. Another tricky one, could be almost anything besides cake - there are emoji's for almost everything now.
19. Movers but not shakers, ideally: VANS. Hee.
20. "Blade Runner" genre: NEO NOIR. Neo-noir is a revival of the genre of film noir. The film noir genre includes stylish Hollywood crime dramas, often with a twisted dark wit. Neo-noir has a similar style but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements and media. 33 Essential Neo-Noirs.
22. Go quickly: BOP. True, as in, 'I'm going to bop down to the store.' But in my line of work I cannot see BOP without thinking Bureau of Prisons, which is the Federal prison system.
26. Advanced sci. class: AP CHEM. AP = Advanced Placement.
29. It carries a charge: ION.
30. Confucian path: TAO. The "way," or "path" to be followed.
31. Three-sided pastry: SAMOSA. Wikipedia: South Asian fried or baked pastry with a savory filling like
spiced potatoes, onions, peas, beef and other meats, or lentils. It may
take different forms, including triangular, cone, or half-moon shapes,
depending on the region.
36. Plenty o': LOTSA.
43. Upset with: MAD AT.
44. Tchaikovsky's "Souvenir de Florence," e.g.: SEXTET. In this case, a string sextet scored for 2 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos. It's over 30 minutes long, and starts out quite energetic. Might be good in the background while solving crosswords.
45. CPR pro: EMT. Emergency Medical Technician
46. "Illmatic" rapper: NAS. Montero Lamar Hill, known by his stage name Lil Nas X, was the most-nominated male artist at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, where he ultimately won awards for Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Time named him as one of the 25 most influential people on the Internet in 2019,
48. '90s White House Press Secretary Myers who wrote "Why Women Should Rule the World": DEEDEE.
57. Camping gear brand: REI. Recreational Equipment, Inc., is the largest consumer coop in the country - owned not by shareholders but by members — people who use the business.
58. Internal airway: TRACHEA. Windpipe.
59. Works on roofs, say: TARS.
63. Canvas-angling device: EASEL. I think of it more of a propping-up device, but angling is useful, too, when painting.
67. Big name in labels: AVERY.
68. Go through the wringer: SWEAT IT OUT.
69. Actress Sedgwick: KYRA. Married to Kevin Bacon.
70. Headphone jack letters: AUX.
71. U. of Md. team: TERPS. Maryland Terrapins commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams.
Down:
1. 1970s-'80s sketch show: SCTV. Second City Television was a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran intermittently between 1976 and 1984.
2. "SNL" parody Baba __: WAWA. Gilda Radner's imitation of Barbara Walters.
3. Words that clarify spelling: AS IN. D as in dog.
4. Good sort: MENSCH. A person of integrity and honor. The term is used as a high compliment, expressing the rarity and value of that individual's qualities.
5. Mac rivals: PCS. When it comes to Apple vs. Windows - most people have a decided preference.
6. Baffling question: POSER. Not familiar with this definition, although Merriam Webster includes it. I usually hear it as a term referring to a person who acts in an affected manner in order to impress others.
7. Fur tycoon: ASTOR. John Jacob Astor was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City.
8. Super small: TEENY.
9. Clothes line: HEM. Nice clue.
10. Photoshop maker: ADOBE.
11. Serious: MAJOR.
12. Loses one's footing: SLIPS.
14. Football offense position: LINEMAN. A player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. Also a power line technician, made famous in Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman. I lived in Canada for a short time when I was very young, and my parents were fans of both him and Anne Murray (both Canadian). [Correction! Was thinking of Gordon Lightfoot, Glen Campbell is not Canadian.)
15. Little bit: DROP.
16. Prepares, in a way, as coffee: PERCOLATES. Is there anything else besides coffee that is prepared by percolating?
21. King Richard __: III.
24. With pause: HESITANTLY.
25. Sheepshank, e.g.: KNOT. Had to look this one up. From Wikipedia: A shank is a type of knot that is used to shorten a rope or take up slack, such as the sheepshank. The sheepshank knot is not stable. It will fall apart under too much load or too little load. 26. Elemental unit: ATOM.
27. Dad: PAPA.
28. Like Oberlin College since the 1830s: COED.
32. Dosage amts.: MGS. Milligrams.
33. Gender-neutral pronoun: ONE.
34. Doo-wop horn: SAX.
35. Works on walls: ART. Misdirection - was assuming adjective, not noun.
37. Like a 25-Down: TIED. I know some of you don't like these kinds of clues.
38. Vague amount: SOME.
39. Chip in a pot, maybe: ANTE.
41. Billionth: Pref.: NANO.
42. Remedied a distribution error: RE-DEALT. Needed perps for everything after the RE.
47. Dubbing title: SIR.
49. Will focus: ESTATE. Ohhhh ... that kind of will.
50. Loose floorboard sound: CREAK.
51. Like anvils: HEAVY.
52. Early __: RISER. I visited my daughter in Arizona over Mother's day weekend. I think everyone in Arizona is an early riser, you have to be. The sun fills up the whole house very early. It makes for an early bedtime, too.
53. Mama of music: CASS. From the Mamas and Papas.
54. Sound that starts "around": SCHWA.
55. Brexit target org.: THE EU. The European Union.
56. Stretch out, maybe: RELAX.
60. Don Juan's love: AMOR. Not a person, the word love in Spanish.
61. Do another stint: RE-UP.
62. Former Mach 2 fliers, briefly: SSTS. Super Sonic Transport. Air France and
British Airways blamed low passenger numbers and rising maintenance
costs for retiring the Concorde. Passenger numbers fell after an Air France Concorde crashed
minutes after taking off from Paris in July 2000, killing all 109 people
on board and four on the ground.
64. Part of BCE: ERA. Before the Common Era.
66. "Scram!": GIT.
