5. "Roots" author Alex

10. Just a tad

14. Bundle

15. Full of life?

16. Arp art, e.g.

17. Holiday lead-ins

18. Compare

19. "Beg pardon ..."

20. Continuously

23. Stead

24. Old salt, i.e.

25. Prefix for "night" or "day"

28. Theatre fare

32. Kind of layer

34. Lode load

37. Ceaselessly

40. Digestion aid

42. Graduation music composer

43. By way of, briefly

44. Incessantly

47. D.C. VIP

48. Calyx part

49. Amber source

51. Biblical verb ending

52. African antelope

55. Chap

58. Unending, seemingly

64. Wine's partner?

66. Stony debris

67. In deep water, e.g.

68. Make a choice

69. Strange, in a way

70. Protective covering

71. Edge of night

72. Closes in on

73. Otherwise

1. Support, in a way

2. Nag, nag, nag

3. Varnish or lacquer ingredient

4. Repair a patchy lawn

5. Five, to ten

6. Touched down

7. Take a shine to

8. Tennis great Chris

9. Dirt spreader?

10. Comic Sandler

11. Huge critters, like 36D

12. Bar requirement

13. Kind of cat or turkey

21. Mystique, e.g.

22. Golfer's choice

26. Accustom

27. Bratty kid

29. Yemeni port

30. Gentle

31. Incense

33. Clearasil target

34. Past plump

35. Fix firmly

36. Jumbo & Dumbo

38. Teen idol

39. See 31D

41. Detergent choice, perhaps

45. Aquatic plant

46. Baltic capital

50. Cancel

53. Month after Adar

54. "I give up!"

56. Twangy, as a voice

57. Layers

59. Nerd

60. Diva's ditty

61. At no time, poetically

62. Animal shelters

63. Scruff

64. Netflix offering

65. Letters of credit?