puzzle

ACROSS

  1 Eager kids' plea

  6 Spine line?

 11 Small shot

 14 What Bernese Mountain Dogs do a lot

 15 To no ___ (in vain)

 16 Snakelike fish

 17 Lloyd of the U.S. women's soccer team

 18 Put down new turf

 19 X, in sorority names

 20 Gave some alone time

 22 Enter on tiptoe, perhaps

 24 James with a posthumous Pulitzer

 25 Popular drinking game

 26 Mars 2020 org.

 28 Key ring?

 30 They may be loose or split

 31 Very strong hold

 33 T. follower

 35 Self-important tyrants

 36 Made small waves

 40 Vessel for boiling water

 41 Coconut or almond cookie

 42 Light brown

 45 Not smooth

 47 "Frozen 2" queen

 48 (Jackpot!)

 50 Birth control options: Abbr.

 52 Sarcastic comment after a misfortune

 53 Draws new boundaries, say

 55 Biblical couples' cruise

 56 Love, on an Italian valentine

 58 Starting players

 60 Angry feeling

 61 Dovetail joint component

 62 Polynesian Disney heroine

 63 Reel's partner

 64 Trapped in branches

 65 Rubbed the wrong way

DOWN

  1 Org. concerned with outbreaks

  2 Shrinking Asian sea

  3 "Just 'cuz"

  4 Chef who owns Spago

  5 The 1%

  6 Weigh station factor

  7 "___ changed" (ex's claim)

  8 Graduation cap attachment

  9 '80s funk balladeer

 10 Respected one, in many cultures

 11 Signal to come over

 12 In support of

 13 Arm rests?

 21 Hipster's grooming tool

 23 Animal that isn't preyed upon, and a hint to the first four letters of 4-, 9- and 21-Down

 25 Fast-tempo jazz style

 26 "Pick" lead-in

 27 Singer Grande, to fans

 29 "___ better to have loved and lost ..."

 32 Slimy substance

 34 Pollution regulator, for short

 36 Mechanic's cloth

 37 Text in a cat meme

 38 Dawn goddess

 39 It may include the sequence CAT

 41 Cocoa holder

 42 Dessert whose name is French for "lightning"

 43 Fried, sugar-covered pastry

 44 Amassed, with "up"

 46 New Year's Day, informally

 49 Hilton competitor

 51 Savory taste

 53 Tear apart

 54 Rational

 57 Caviar

 59 ___ Hatter

solution