Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. The circled letters can be "mixed" around to give you the word
CLONE, which is a Double of the original. Dolly the Sheepwas the first CLONEd mammal.
Dolly and her "original" mother
19-Across. Historic U.S. Olympics hockey victory, familiarly: MIRACLE ON ICE. CLONE
On February 22, 1980, the United States Hockey team beat the Soviet Union team
and won the Gold Medal at the Olympics that were held in Lake Placid, New
York. Wow! Can that really have happened 42 years ago!!!
27-Across. Satirist who redefined the word "truthiness": STEPHEN COLBERT. CLONE
52-Across. Tennis format with man-and-woman pairs ... and a hint to each set
of circles: MIXED DOUBLES. Clones are "doubles" of the
original. Bit of a stretch, I think, but if you see something deeper in
this theme, please let us know.
Across:
1. Acting credits list: CAST.
5. Start to crumble?: CEE.
As in the letter "C".
8. "__ of a Salesman": DEATH. A 1949 play by Arthur Miller (Oct. 17, 1915 ~ Feb. 10, 2005).
13. "The Godfather" enforcer __ Brasi: LUCA. Luca Brais is
the fictional character from The Godfather. In the movie, he
was portrayed by Lenny Montana (né Leonardo Passafaro; Mar. 13, 1926 ~ May.
12, 1992), a professional wrestler.
14. It's true: FACT.
15. __ City Music Hall: RADIO.
16. Singer Lambert who sometimes sings with Queen: ADAM. Brian May (b. July 1947), an original member of Queen, is apparently not keen on
working with Adam Lambert (b. Jan. 29, 1982).
17. Thing to scratch: ITCH.
18. Equipment, on a balance sheet: ASSET.
22. Tolkien trilogy, to fans: LOTR. As in Lord of the Rings. You either love the trilogy or hate it.
23. Hosp. crisis area: ICU. As in the Intensive Care Unit.
24. Peter and Agnes: Abbr.: STs. Both are Saints. Hi,
Irish Miss!
31. Rd. or hwy.: RTE. A Road and a Highway are both Routes that will get you somewhere. But, "if you don't know where you
are going, you might wind up someplace else." ~ Yogi Berra.
32. Brontë's Jane: EYRE. Jane Eyre is a 1847
novel by Charlotte Brontë. I probably read parts of it back when I
was in high school.
33. Unpeaceful, queasy feeling: NAUSEA.
34. Structure with a keystone: ARCH.
36. Some school RAs: SRs. Some college Resident Assistants
might be Seniors in College, or just Seniors in the community. Many
colleges allow older folks to be the dorm house "parents".
38. "__ Yankees": DAMN.
39. Iroquoian people, or a hairstyle named for them: MOHAWK.
42. Enjoy an e-cig: VAPE.
45. Admin on Reddit: MOD. As in a Moderator.
49. Formerly named: NÉE. A crossword staple.
50. "The Simpsons" outburst: DOH!
51. Comics villain __ Kadabra: ABRA.
57. Fast: RAPID.
60. Red gem: RUBY.
61. Move like molasses: OOZE. In 1919, a steel tank of
molasses in Boston, Massachusetts ruptured, ultimately killing over 20 people
and injured scores of others. This Molasses Flood did more than just ooze along: it moved rapidly through the city.
Dennis Lehane wrote about this event in his novel Any Given Day.
62. Garlicky spread: AIOLI.
63. Votes for: YEAS.
64. Shrek, for one: OGRE.
65. Welcome at the door: GREET.
66. Std. paper size: LTR. Letter is the standard paper size.
67. Pained whine: MOAN.
Down:
1. Chowder ingredient: CLAM. Clam Chowder can be white (New England) or red (Manhattan).
2. Car with a four-ring 54-Down: AUDI. Audi's origin story. // And 54-Down. See 2-Down: LOGO.