About the Puzzle

I submitted this puzzle to the Los Angeles Times in 2018, where it was ultimately rejected, but I had written it a few years earlier. They didn't like the focus on songs (even though these ones are pretty well-known, I think!), but I think the idea is still really interesting and clever and well-executed, so I'm still quite proud of it! 

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Well done!
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  • 1 "Chicken fried" item
  • 6 Abu's hat
  • 9 More conservative
  • 14 Anti-itch cream ingredient
  • 16 "No idea!"
  • 17 1988 Poison hit, literally?
  • 18 Flashed, like one's teeth
  • 19 It's a bad name to have
  • 20 Besmirch
  • 22 Digits on govt. forms
  • 23 Got a ticket, maybe
  • 25 Two in a million?
  • 26 Second in com.
  • 28 1988 Robert Palmer hit, literally?
  • 33 Company with the slogan "Dip life to the fullest"
  • 36 Singer who's performed in 10 languages
  • 37 Hangtime, to boarders
  • 38 Stalin ordered his assassination
  • 41 Uses a sick day, say
  • 43 Like this column: Abbr.
  • 44 Pendant shape
  • 46 MacDonald's combo?
  • 47 2010 Bruno Mars hit, literally?
  • 51 Solder
  • 52 Maine Black Bears rival, for short
  • 53 It may be out on a limb
  • 57 Drummer Ulrich
  • 59 Kennel Club's focus
  • 62 Like "shmuck" vis-a-vis "schmuck": Abbr.
  • 63 Not vacant
  • 65 1961 Roy Orbison hit, literally?
  • 67 Went cross-country?
  • 68 Sees something that isn't there
  • 69 Chump
  • 70 One shy of 12-Down?
  • 71 Substituted (for)
  • 1 What a 69-Across falls for
  • 2 Dress to the nines
  • 3 Weather slowly
  • 4 ___ Z
  • 5 Bucks coach Jason
  • 6 Idiosyncrasy
  • 7 As a unit
  • 8 Nice things to catch
  • 9 Half or full follower
  • 10 1996 Olympic gold medalist in tennis
  • 11 Kissing, metaphorically
  • 12 One shy of 70-Across?
  • 13 Almost half of roulette numbers
  • 15 Aim (towards)
  • 21 Non-majors course, perhaps
  • 24 19-Across, minus water
  • 27 More passe
  • 29 Dreaded men?
  • 30 "Food, ___" (2008 documentary)
  • 31 Super Bowl number in 2019
  • 32 Cosmetics guru Laszlo
  • 33 Saves, e.g.
  • 34 It's topped by a keystone
  • 35 Paid dividends
  • 39 Vandalized, as a car
  • 40 "Yahoo!"
  • 42 Mortgage
  • 45 Gave a beating, with "up"
  • 48 Scaredy-cats
  • 49 Like many occult creatures
  • 50 In the grasp (of)
  • 54 Big occasion
  • 55 70s treaty concerning ICBMs
  • 56 Don in a fitting room
  • 57 Speak like Sylvester the Cat
  • 58 "She's a Lady" songwriter
  • 60 Other, south of the border
  • 61 Spore-bearing organism
  • 64 Peer of Ben and Jerry
  • 66 "Fresh Prince" actress Long