It's All Fun and Games Until ... The last word of each theme answer is the name of a card game, unlike Chess, which is a board game.
17-Across. * Wrestling contest where opponents hold hands: THUMB WAR.
25-Across. * Homemade liquor during Prohibition: BATHTUB GIN.
39-Across. * Marinated antipasto items: ARTICHOKE HEARTS.
And the unifier:
64-Across. Chess finales, and what the answers to the starred clues have: ENDGAMES. The END word of each theme answer is a Card GAME.
Across:
1. Scoffer's laugh: HAH(toolah).
4. Shapes of some annexes: ELLs.
8. No longer feral: TAMED.
13. Kerfuffle: ADO.
14. Roll of fabric: BOLT.
15. Open declaration: AVOWAL.
19. Replace outdated connections, perhaps: REWIRE.
20. Sprinkler hookups: HOSES.
21. Georgia home of the Allman Brothers: MACON.
23. Poetry Out Loud org.: NEA. As in the National Endowment for the Arts.
24. Top poker cards: ACES.
27. Fatherly nickname: PAPA.
29. __-friendly: USER.
30. Quilters' gathering: BEE.
32. Positive quality: ASSET.
35. "It's a cinch!": EASY.
43. [OMG!]: GASP.
44. Sticky pine product: RESIN.
45. Long, slithery fish: EEL.
46. "Humpty Dumpty" rhyme scheme: AABB.
49. Thompson who won four NBA championships with the Warriors: KLAY. Klay Alexander Thompson (b. Feb. 8, 1990) currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks. He previously played for the Golden State Warriors for 13 seasons.
56. Money to repay: LOAN.
59. Reproductive cells: OVA.
60. __-Coeur Basilica: Paris tourist spot: SACRÉ. Today's French lesson. Sacré-Cœur Basilica is a minor basilica in Paris and is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
61. Pianist's practice piece: ÉTUDE. More of today's French lesson.
62. Cocktail garnishes: OLIVES.
66. Experts: MAVENS.
67. Rum quaff: GROG. There are several "origin" stories of how Grog came to be. Here is one version.
68. Not mainstream, informally: ALT. As in Alternative.
69. White of "The Golden Girls": BETTY. Betty Marion White (Jan. 17, 1922 ~ Dec. 31, 2021) was a wonderful comedian and actress. She also starred in the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
70. Filming locations: SETS.
71. __ Moines, Iowa: DES. Anyone here from Iowa?
Down:
1. Gentle yoga style: HATHA. Everything you wanted to know about Hatha yoga but didn't know to ask.
2. Like some committees: AD HOC. Today's Latin lesson.
3. Indoor cats, e.g.: HOUSE PETS. // And 63-Down. 3-Down doc: VET.
4. Flows out, as the tide: EBBS.
5. Close to the ground: LOW.
6. Camel kin in Peru: LLAMA.
7. Classic Fender, familiarly: STRAT. Everything you wanted to know about Fender guitars.
8. Fortunetelling decks: TAROTS.
9. Utah or Maine, in Washington, D.C.: AVENUE.
10. Make a path in a field, say: MOW.
11. Former Knicks center Patrick: EWING. Although Patrick Ewing (né Patrick Aloysius Ewing; b. Aug. 5, 1962) was born in Jamaica, he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts during his childhood before being recruited by Georgetown, where he played college basketball.
12. "Is it worth the risk?": DARE I?
16. Like turkey chili: LEAN.
18. Flat-topped landform: MESA.
22. Skydivers' needs: CHUTES.
25. Wild party: BASH.
26. La __ Tar Pits: BREA.
28. Ms. __-Man: arcade classic: PAC.
30. Tote or duffel: BAG.
31. Pitching stat: ERA. As in Earned Run Average.
33. Food preservative acid: SORBIC.
34. Scrape (by): EKE.
36. "Did I do something wrong?": ARE YOU MAD?
37. Fr. holy woman: STE. A continuation of today's French lesson.
38. Fr. fashion brand: YSL. More of today's French theme. The company is a luxury fashion house founded 1961 by Yves Saint Laurent (né Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent; Aug. 1, 1936 ~ June 1, 2008) and Pierre Bergé (né Pierre Vital Georges Bergé; Nov. 14, 1930 ~ Sept. 8, 2017)
40. Apple Pencil device: iPAD.
41. Mountain trail activity: HIKE.
42. Made a JPEG bigger, briefly: ENL. As in Enlarge.
47. Not at school: ABSENT.
48. Loud and shrill, as a trumpet: BRASSY.
50. Ski town in Utah's Wasatch Mountains: ALTA.
51. Weaver's device: LOOM.
52. Space for tech-savvy HS kids: AV LAB.
53. Clueless: NAÏVE.
54. Wine residue: DREGS.
55. Artistic category: GENRE.
57. "Skyfall" vocalist: ADELE. Adele (née Adele Laurie Blue Adkins; b. May 5, 1988) English singer-songwriter known for her soulful ballads and mezzo-soprano vocals. Yesterday she was drinking wine.
58. Cozy spots: NESTS.
61. Soufflé ingredients: EGGS. Yummers!
65. Part of a URL: DOT.
Here's the Grid:
חתולה
