Oops. Never mind. The answer, of course, is Qt's Style Sheets. I got the effect I want by modifying each tool button's style sheet as follows.

Qt Code:
  1. QToolButton:hover {border: 2px solid grey; border-radius: 12px}
  2. QToolButton:checked {border: 2px solid green; border-radius: 12px; background: rgba(0,0,0,25)}
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I'm all set.