3. Academy Award category: BEST ACTRESS. CATS
18. "Great to find that out": GLAD I ASKED. AIDA
20. Eclectic online digest: UTNE READER. RENT
26. Au pair: LIVE-IN NANNY. ANNIE
24. Arrives, and an apt description of the sets of circled letters: SHOWS UP.
Melissa here. I'm putting the grid up top, so you can see C.C.'s clever gimmick. The circled letters, read UP, are all Broadway SHOWS.
Across:
1. Flash __: impromptu gatherings: MOBS. One of my all-time favorite flash-mobs, even though it's quite old now.
5. Chew like a squirrel: GNAW
9. Pretzel topping: SALT.
13. Pentathlete's sword: EPEE. The five events in the modern pentathlon—fencing, swimming, horse riding, pistol shooting, and running—were chosen to reflect skills that cavalry soldiers of the 19th-century ought to possess and refine.
14. Low opera voice: BASSO. From Wiki: Basso profondo (Italian: "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo, contrabass or oktavist, is the lowest bass voice type. Below: Basso Profondo Trio - Song of the Volga Boatmen.
15. Joshua __ National Park: TREE. Two distinct desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, come together in Joshua Tree National Park.
16. Swell: RISE.
17. "Your work is awesome!": I'M A HUGE FAN. When I met my son's new girlfriend, she said "I'm a huge fan of your work," meaning my son. How can I not love her?
19. Overstep boundaries, perhaps: INTRUDE.
21. Civil rights activist Baker: ELLA. Who was Ella Baker?
22. Beverage brewed in a chawan: TEA. What Makes a Bowl a Chawan?
23. "The Bone Garden" novelist Gerritsen: TESS.
25. City that hosts the State Fair of Texas: DALLAS.
29. Fifth of a nickel: CENT.
31. Round of applause: HAND.
33. Aggravate: IRK. And 40A just a few below ...
34. "I'll handle this": LET ME.
36. __-Free: contact lens solution: OPTI.
37. By way of: VIA.
38. Fact-checker's catch: ERROR.
39. Leave stunned: AWE.
40. Troubled to no end: ATE AT. 1) Annoyed 2) Annoyed greatly 3) Annoyed no end 4) Annoyed persistently 5) Bedeviled 6) Bothered 7) Bothered a lot 8) Bothered a lot 9) Bothered big-time 10) Bothered constantly 11) Bothered deeply 12) Bothered greatly 13) Bothered incessantly 14) Bothered nigglingly 15) Bothered no end 16) Bothered persistently.
42. Thanos, to the Avengers: FOE. Supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
43. Those, in Spanish: ESOS.
45. "Say cheese!": SMILE.
46. QB stats: TDS.
47. Org. fighting for LGBTQ rights: ACLU. What do we want? An end to acronyms! When do we want it? ASAP!
48. Garlic's covering: SKIN. For a few years I lived in Gilroy, just on the other side of the fence from one of the Christopher Ranch garlic processing plants. When they were drying, it would literally rain pieces of the paper skins for days.
49. Emphatic agreement: YES I DO.
51. Washed-out: PALE.
53. Go out for a bit?: NAP. Cute.
56. Light in signs: NEON.
58. Text from a glum chum: SAD FACE. There's an emoji for most everything. 🧄
60. Gala celebrating the Academy Awards: OSCAR PARTY.
64. Heavy burden: ONUS.
65. Like ground chicken: LEAN.
66. Dubai dignitaries: EMIRS.
67. Fully aware of: ONTO.
68. Palm fruit: DATE.
69. Promotional sample: DEMO.
70. Turns blue, maybe: DYES. The image that popped into my head was Violet, from Willy Wonka.
1. Deserve: MERIT.
2. Offer one's two cents: OPINE.
4. One with a crystal ball: SEER.
5. Go and Go Fish: GAMES.
6. Org. that uses cryptanalysis: NSA. National Security Agency.
7. Arthur in the International Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE.
8. "__ that be nice!": WOULDN'T.
9. Real bargain: STEAL.
10. Bark: ARF.
11. Field for grazing: LEA.
12. Value of a Q tile, in Scrabble: TEN. Trivia: The highest score ever achieved for a single move in a Scrabble tournament was by Cathy Evans of Redbridge, Essex, who played QUETZALS for 365 points during the November 1986 Letchworth Open Scrabble Tournament.
14. Bathroom fixture: BIDET.
27. Sans serif typeface: ARIAL. Font and design geeks will enjoy this documentary all about Helvetica. You can watch the whole thing free here.
28. Go rollerblading: SKATE.
30. Music genre that spawned screamo: EMO. Never heard of screamo.
32. Donkey Kong, e.g.: APE.
34. Southpaw: LEFTY. How Did Lefties Become Known as 'Southpaws'?
35. Wear down: ERODE.
39. Yahoo! alternative: AOL. Not so much an alternative. According to Wikipedia: AOL is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc.
41. "Spare us the details!": Abbr.: TMI. Too Much Information.
44. Served, as ice cream: SCOOPED.
48. Brings down the house: SLAYS.
50. Plain silly: INANE.
52. Four-footed Jetson: ASTRO. The Jetson's family pet.
55. Guadalajara cash: PESOS. And 29A CENT.
57. January or June: NAME. Sneaky.
59. Something to chew on: FOOD. And 5A GNAW.
60. Like antiques: OLD.
61. Zooplankton's habitat: SEA.
62. Litter box visitor: CAT. And ASTRO, just above at 52A.
63. Hoop's outer edge: RIM.
