puzzle

 ACROSS

  1 Fraudulent offer

  5 "___ the Night Before Christmas"

  9 Word before "Putty" or "String"

 14 Like a couch potato

 15 Scratchy voice

 16 Forge an alliance

 17 Have ___ in your pants

 18 Understudies with scheduled appearances

 20 *Artistic freedom (note the last word in each starred clue's answer)

 22 Split from a country

 23 Color, like Easter eggs

 24 *Oxygen carrier

 31 Awards for Naomi Osaka

 34 Homophone and antonym of "raise"

 35 Bambi's mother, e.g.

 36 Water filtration brand

 37 Yucatan natives

 38 Therapy center?

 39 "What I think ...," in a text

 40 Word that becomes its own antonym when an "n" is added to the front

 41 Extracted, like ore

 43 *They're pressed when typing

 47 DiFranco with the album "Revolutionary Love"

 48 What might be curbed?

 52 *Environmentalist's concern

 56 Look inward

 58 Perimeter

 59 Off-limits

 60 Grain in dolmas

 61 Animal on Morocco's coat of arms

 62 Strict

 63 Subpar

 64 Very small


DOWN

  1 Is really good

  2 Kayak alternative

  3 Certain ancient Nahuatl speaker

  4 Whodunit genre

  5 Used a stencil

  6 Picture-perfect spot?

  7 Italian wine region

  8 Design detail, for short

  9 Tangy orange drink brand

 10 "Be right there!"

 11 Lo-cal

 12 4G ___

 13 Word that a nod might replace

 19 Has another go at

 21 The ___ of March

 25 First Pixar film with a female protagonist

 26 Lasagna section

 27 Netflix crime drama set in Missouri

 28 Garden with forbidden fruit

 29 Handed-down tales

 30 Pb on the periodic table

 31 It's a long story

 32 Japanese wrestling form

 33 "The ___" (2016 musical centered around a high school dance)

 37 Period to recharge alone

 41 Bit of 29-Down

 42 Tel Aviv resident

 44 Unhealthy lack of color

 45 In ___ (all together)

 46 Graphic artist M.C.

 49 Break up

 50 Some frozen waffles

 51 Very small

 52 Shape of a sugar clump, maybe

 53 Group for people 50 and up

 54 Ben Folds Five, inaptly

 55 Danish shoe brand

 56 Ave. crossers

 57 Acai bowl bit, maybe

solution