Across
1.
Hunchbacked creatures in "The Lord of the Rings"
ORCS
5.
"Delicious!"
YUM
8.
___ 66 (iconic 2,278-mile highway)
ROUTE
10.
Clickable greeting in an inbox
ECARD
13.
Pull out all the stops
GOBIG
14.
Green gunk in a fish tank
ALGAE
15.
"Very grateful for your help!"
MANYTHANKS
17.
Student’s stat
GPA
18.
Exclamation that aptly rhymes with "shriek"
EEK
19.
"I’ll get this meal"
MYTREAT
22.
Day, in Spanish
DIA
24.
Timeworn
OLD
25.
Statements that lack substance … or, when read phonetically, a description of the spoken phrases at 15- and 19-Across?
EMPTYTALK
29.
Absolute ___ (operation represented by |x|)
VALUE
30.
Prongs of a fork or a kalimba
TINES
33.
Segment of a movie
SCENE
34.
Rechargeable two-wheeled vehicle
EBIKE
35.
Where a 33-Across might be filmed
SET
36.
Dish like gumbo
STEW
Down
1.
Alternative to .com or .net
ORG
2.
Hotel unit
ROOM
3.
Big cigar-exporting nation
CUBA
4.
Unwilling to spend much
STINGY
5.
"Uh-huh"
YEAH
6.
Sch. near Hollywood
UCLA
7.
Calendar holder on a refrigerator
MAGNET
9.
Cairo’s country
EGYPT
11.
Tool for collecting fallen leaves
RAKE
12.
A student might be assigned one in a classroom
DESK
16.
Fortuneteller’s card deck
TAROT
19.
Trees that are sources of syrup
MAPLES
20.
Make super happy
ELATE
21.
Lines not in the script
ADLIBS
22.
Software coders, informally
DEVS
23.
Powerful Apple computer
IMAC
26.
Something to whistle or hum
TUNE
27.
Forcefully throw, in modern lingo
YEET
28.
Work with needles and yarn
KNIT
31.
Barely manage, with "out"
EKE
32.
Work with needle and thread
SEW