As suggested by the last answer in Column O, solvers should add bars between the words in the grid. The directions in Rows A and O say FIND THREE SWORDS / EXAMINE THE HILTS.
In exactly three places in the grid, the bars will form a sword shape (four bars in one direction crossed by a two-bar "hilt"). The six letters underneath the hilts, taken in order, spell MUSTER.
Rows
- Instructions, part 1: 3 wds. - FINDTHREESWORDS
- Sign outside a studio in use: 2 wds. - ONAIR
Zapotecs' state - OAXACA
Princess of Alderaan - LEIA - Slow-cooked French stew - RAGOUT
Room aesthetic - DECOR
Common name for when Operation Neptune occurred: Hyph. - DDAY - Monopoly space with a question mark - CHANCE
In for the night, perhaps: 2 wds. - ATHOME
Bodybuilder's six-pack - ABS - "Is it ___ so? then I defy you, stars!": Shakespeare - EEN
Comedian Giedroyc - MEL
"Grim" figure with a scythe - REAPER
"Steal My Sunshine" band - LEN - Spiritual tradition that emphasizes wu wei - TAOISM
Large coffee server - URN
May, under one's own volition: 2 wds. - FREETO - Each of the Os in SOH-CAH-TOA: Abbr. - OPP
Teacher's request at the top of a poor assignment: 2 wds. - SEEME
Temporarily fix using available materials: Hyph. - JURYRIG - Common name of plants in the Antirrhinum genus - SNAPDRAGONS
Engrave using acid - ETCH - "Is it possible for me?": 2 wds. - COULDI
Get on a horse - MOUNT
___ & Marty (short-lived variety show) - MAYA - Second VP under Grover - ADLAI
Buzzed - TIPSY
Drink slowly: 2 wds. - SIPON - Large group of people, as of celebrities in a show - BEVY
Central line of latitude - EQUATOR
Org. that named Kim Sei-young their 2020 Player of the Year: Abbr. - LPGA - Masses of eggs - ROES
Ironman participants, during the last leg of the event - RUNNERS
Onetime 9-3X manufacturer - SAAB - Largest country by area that has never hosted the Olympics - INDIA
Course where you might learn about supply and demand: Abbr. - ECON
Jenna Elfman role from 1997 to 2002 - DHARMA - How cats ask for Meow Mix, according to the product's slogan: 2 wds. - BYNAME
Broad City producer Aniello - LUCIA
Bring up - REAR - Instructions, part 2: 3 wds. - EXAMINETHEHILTS
Columns
- Magic technique to control a choice made during a trick - FORCE
Operatic character who sings "Vissi d'arte" - TOSCA
Persuasive payment - BRIBE - Like a load of dirty laundry, often: 3 wds. - INAHEAP
Vertex on a graph - NODE
Banded chalcedony - ONYX - Host city for the 1998 Paralympics - NAGANO
Pope born Camillo Borghese: 2 wds. - PAULV
Housemother to Tootie, Natalie, Blair, and Jo - EDNA - "The Wanderer" singer - DION
Discard the wrong card, for example - MISPLAY
Where the king is the king of, in The King and I - SIAM - Temporary agreements to stop fighting - TRUCES
Frasier character played by Moose - EDDIE
He plays Elliot on Mr. Robot - RAMI - Word after Marigold or Budapest in movie titles - HOTEL
Be deserving of - MERIT
Beatrix, in the Netherlands, from 1980 to 2013 - QUEEN - Big Bird's teddy bear - RADAR
"Savory" basic taste - UMAMI
"I give! I give! Stop tickling me!" - UNCLE - Phillips ___ Academy (New Hampshire school) - EXETER
Concept called "Ich" in the title of a 1923 book by Sigmund Freud - EGO
Transpire as planned: 2 wds. - PANOUT - Individually - EACH
Pear variety - ANJOU
Foul odor - STENCH - Ice cream parlor serving amount - SCOOP
Site whose first video was The Landlord: 3 wds. - FUNNYORDIE - Like a welcoming reception - WARM
Drops a pop fly, perhaps - ERRS
Game company purchased by Wizards of the Coast - TSR
Rajiv ___, president of the Rockefeller Foundation - SHAH - What you are now, relative to when you started solving this puzzle - OLDER
1990 Robyn Hitchcock album - EYE
One thousandth of an inch - MIL
Garment worn with a choli and a ghagra - SARI - Transformer who became a Lamborghini Countach LP500 S: 2 wds. - REDALERT
Clothing - APPAREL - Person requiring insulin shots - DIABETIC
Surface on which asanas are performed: 2 wds. - YOGAMAT - Refuses: 2 wds. - SAYSNO
Its national football team is the Black Stars - GHANA
What's missing? - BARS
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | |
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| A | F | I | N | D | T | H | R | E | E | S | W | O | R | D | S |
| B | O | N | A | I | R | O | A | X | A | C | A | L | E | I | A |
| C | R | A | G | O | U | T | D | E | C | O | R | D | D | A | Y |
| D | C | H | A | N | C | E | A | T | H | O | M | E | A | B | S |
| E | E | E | N | M | E | L | R | E | A | P | E | R | L | E | N |
| F | T | A | O | I | S | M | U | R | N | F | R | E | E | T | O |
| G | O | P | P | S | E | E | M | E | J | U | R | Y | R | I | G |
| H | S | N | A | P | D | R | A | G | O | N | S | E | T | C | H |
| I | C | O | U | L | D | I | M | O | U | N | T | M | A | Y | A |
| J | A | D | L | A | I | T | I | P | S | Y | S | I | P | O | N |
| K | B | E | V | Y | E | Q | U | A | T | O | R | L | P | G | A |
| L | R | O | E | S | R | U | N | N | E | R | S | S | A | A | B |
| M | I | N | D | I | A | E | C | O | N | D | H | A | R | M | A |
| N | B | Y | N | A | M | E | L | U | C | I | A | R | E | A | R |
| O | E | X | A | M | I | N | E | T | H | E | H | I | L | T | S |