Theme: I am Positive this is Puzzle is a Plus: Each of Five theme answers are words which when paired with the unifier POSITIVE which is also presented symbolically by the PLUS sign in the middle of the grid, portray a very upbeat approach to life. Based on his conversations here, I would guess this puzzle presents JL's philosophy.

17. *Survey response: FEEDBACK. POSITIVE FEEDBACK, the pat on the back children and workers are always seeking.

21. *Trying to remember: THINKING. POSITIVE THINKING means Norman Vincent Peale to me.

26. *Prospects: OUTLOOK. POSITIVE OUTLOOK is what public companies and political spin masters are peddling.

48. *Disposition: MINDSET. POSITIVE MINDSET is a way to get yourself ready for a difficult task, allowing you to use the full power of your mind. I read the works of Jose Silva.

55. *Cocky manner: ATTITUDE. POSITIVE ATTITUDE is difficult to achieve as a teenager, and must not be confused with arrogance.

And the unifier,

63. Word (suggested by the black shape in this grid's center) that can precede the answers to starred clues: POSITIVE. The black shape being a Plus Sign, also used as symbol for POSITIVE in chemistry, on batteries etc.

Happy day all, your pseudo-guest blogger Lemonade here,(?)once again amazed by Mr. Lampkin's mind. His originality and creativity is not limited to the cluing or the theme, but to the visual aspect of the puzzle, where like his LBAR puzzle, he creates a grid which itself is a clue. He includes his humor, his music and delivers another wonderful time had by all. On to the specifics....


Across

1. Inedible Swiss cheese part?: HOLE. A simple but witty visual clue to begin.

5. Sched. uncertainty letters: TBA. To Be Announced, what shows up on your cable tv guide when the power goes off.

8. Greets the bad guy: HISSES. A shout out to our friend Snidely Whiplash?

14. Bard's black: EBON. Sing a long now? SONG 1.

15. "__ Latest Flame": Presley hit: HIS. Or sing later SONG 2; when I first heard the Beatles and Elvis, I was not impressed, proving my total lack of musical knowledge.

16. Bird that hangs its nest from a branch: ORIOLE. I grew up admiring this BIRD.

19. Rang: TOLLED. "Ask not for whom the bell tolled..."

20. Juliet's volatile cousin: TYBALT. We have seen this recently, but I love how John worked 68A. Oppressive boss: TYRANT into the grid.

23. Suffer defeat: LOSE OUT.

25. Cubic roller: DIE. Nice visual again, 1 DIE, 2 DICE.

29. Cartoon skunk Le Pew: PEPE. He's back.

32. Mideast political gp.: PLO.Palestine Liberation Organization.

33. UPS delivery: PKG. Package.

34. Know-it-all: SMARTIE. I don't see the normal continuation, "PANTS"

38. "Tomorrow" musical: ANNIE. Does anybody recall Sarah Jessica Parker as Annie on Broadway?

40. Push-up sound, perhaps: GRUNT. While not a simple clecho, I love the added 46A. Push-up garment: BRA, which emphasizes how tricky our language is, and therefore our puzzles. A twisted clecho master.

41. Longtime Dodgers manager: LASORDA. Tommy who said he bled Dodger blue.

44. Org. with shrinks: APA. American Psychological Association.

47. Software buyer: USER.

50. Chinese menu general: TSO. Chicken anyone?

53. Beethoven's only opera: FIDELIO. I am not familiar with this OPERA but I knew we would have some of John's music knowledge, and this and 30D. 19th-century Italian violin virtuoso: PAGANINI did not disappoint. Also, 49D. Like staccato notes: DOTTED. I no longer remember musical notation, but I am sure our resident composer does, as well as JzB.

58. Draw into wrongdoing: ENTRAP. A very complicated issue, and John's shout out to an old criminal defense lawyer?

62. __ Tomatoes: film review website: ROTTEN. Initially an irreverent little site, but now the most mainstream central location for movie critiques. Anyone ever throw a rotten tomato at a performer?

65. "Wait!": ONE SEC. Literally man!

66. Calendar col.: THU. COL. abbreviation for COLUMN, eh.

67. Weighty production: EPIC.

69. Short flight: HOP. I guess because you go up and down so quickly; quiet LOIS!

70. Cubicle furnishing: DESK. Dilbert lovers unite.

Okay a short nap, and moving on.

Down:

1. Test the weight of: HEFT. Not a good idea when wooing a new girl friend.

2. Carry out: OBEY. Not a good idea when wooing a new girl friend.

3. Leopold's co-defendant: LOEB. A most horrendous CRIME .

4. Ultimate goal: END ALL. That is the BE ALL and END ALL.

5. "Not to worry": THAT'S OK.

6. Cristal maker: BIC. I could not fit Louis Roederer in three spaces, so it had to be the see through PEN which was the object of my earliest memories, and which betrayed me.

7. Mail an invitation for, as a wedding: ASK TO. I am going to one on the 26th, my ex-anniversary?

8. Best-seller: HOT ITEM.

9. Age opening?: IRON. Right after Bronze in your history books.

10. Hairlike corn feature: SILK. None better than our own BARRY.

11. Like a rock: SOLID.

12. Nicholas Gage memoir: ELENI. Do not confuse him with NICHOLAS CAGE.

13. Rushlike plant: SEDGE. This includes the water chestnut plant.

18. "SportsCenter's Not Top Plays" videos, e.g.: BLOOPERS.

22. Marching syllables: HUPS. And a quick salute to Dennis and our other veterans!

24. Pre-op test: EKG.

26. Play-of-color gem: OPAL. Nice phrase, again very visual, you picture how the light changes color when you move an opal around.

27. Forearm bone: ULNA. Not very HUMERUS anymore.

28. Lots: TONS.

31. Commit 18-Down: ERR. It is after all human.

35. Old boats: TUBS. I think this comes from the boats they used to teach people to row, but I cannot confirm.

36. Memo "apropos of": IN RE. A semi-legal term for me!

37. Pierre's state: ETAT. Our French lesson, Jeannie; we see État often, it just means "STATE" like I live in Florida, and as Kazie explained many moons ago, the English word is the French word where the accent became an "S"

39. Paper in a pot: IOU. Not rolling papers, but in a gambling pot.

42. Gone: DEFUNCT. Like the Studebaker and the DeSoto.

43. Bone-dry: ARID. And a fine deodorant, which really do not de-odor, but mask our smells?

44. Pierre's soul: AME. More French; do you all have "l'âme soeur?"

45. More than fills the inbox: PILES UP. A clue that is only visual.

50. Medium's medium: TAROT. Nice internal clue.

51. Expressionless: STONY.

52. Playful swimmer: OTTER.

54. Diver's concern: DEPTH. Be careful before you dive in strange waters.

56. "__ girl!": ITS A. No, not many in my family, though we do have little Amelia (Mia).

57. Former girls' magazine: TEEN.Aha, the real theme, girls!

59. Ready to eat: RIPE. Not like I am now, but the Orange in the kitchen.

60. Brutus' bird: AVIS. Followed immediately by 61D. Eat like a bird: PECK. Another theme, because we had Oriole above!

64. "Now I get it!":O HO. I am more of an A HA man myself. Now I have done done it.

A treat to solve and blog with the greatest visuals in the grid and the clues; will John send us some pictures of Baltimore Orioles from one of his many adventures? Tune in and see. Where did ewe hide the LAMB reference Mr. Lampkin?

Until next time, see you soon (hopefully, eye doctor today).

Theme: Pun for the Money, Too for the Show. The title of an early TV game show has one word changed to a sound-a-like, resulting in an evocative and witty new show. For those who are much younger than I am, this may be a difficult puzzle, but I have never blogged a puzzle more in my wheelhouse, as these are are still somehow fresh in my mind from 50+ years ago. I do love me some puns.

17. Game show about bribery at a checkpoint?: SALE OF THE SENTRY. Really funny clue. SENTRY sounds like CENTURY. SALE OF THE CENTURY was a late 60s early 70s general knowledge game show, which began with Jack Kelly, the actor who portrayed Bart Maverick, to James Garner’s Bret Maverick, as the host. He was replaced by Joe Garagiola, a second string catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, who was a teammate of Enos Slaughter (see below).

27. Game show about an Algerian governor's search for his spouse?: QUEEN FOR A DEY. DAY sounds like DEY. This was the most difficult because I was unfamiliar with the term Dey (Arabic: داي, from Turkish Dayı, to mean the ruling governor under the Ottoman Empire. However, because the game show was apparent and only the switching of the A for an E would sound the same, it was not too hard. QUEEN FOR A DAY was one of the earliest reality TV shows, which began on radio in the 40s, and went to TV, hosted by Jack Bailey in the 50s, a sob story with no quiz show question asked, but the audience selected the winner based on my old favorite, the applause-o-meter. This was a most distressing show, where the more horrible a woman’s life was, the greater her chance to win. Jack Bailey went on to host TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES where he stayed until he was replaced by a young BOB BARKER.

48. Game show in which "Stuttering pig" might be a clue?: NAME THAT TOON. I wonder if Donna picked the reference to Porky Pig, when she saw the two Ts together in the answer? TUNE sounds like TOON. NAME THAT TUNE was another radio show which was brought to television in the 50s, featuring two contestants trying to name a song after the fewest notes. It was revived in 70s with a young singer then named KATHIE LEE JOHNSON, who later married football great FRANK GIFFORD, and co-hosted Live with Regis and Kathie Lee along with current media darling, Regis Philbin.

63. Game show in which couples confess indiscretions?: TWO TELL THE TRUTH. A fun show and perhaps a new reality TV show starring our wild and crazy celebrity couples. TO sounds like TWO. This is the oddball one, as in each of the first three, it is the last word which morphs into a sound-a-like. TO TELL THE TRUTH has been a tremendously successful and resilient show airing in 6 consecutive decades beginning in the 50s, when it was hosted by the incomparable BUD COLLYER who had achieved fame both as the voice of Superman on the radio, and as the host of BEAT THE CLOCK . After hearing my mother sing, he offered her a job, but she was in nursing school, and my chance to grow up in show business was lost.

Hi, Lemonade here, with my first Donna Levin, an honor and a joy. Forgive me, but once again the puzzle has so many references to my life, I had so much fun. On to the rest of the story.



Across

1. Equipped with 6-Across: ARMED. Okay, she started out with one of those now popular, unfair pairs, where you cannot begin to get answers until you solve the perps. The downs were okay though, so you also got 6A. See 1-Across: GATS, which is a colloquial name for guns.

10. May or Ann: CAPE. Tricky, Cape May is off New Jersey and Cape Ann is north of Boston, unlike its more famous Cape Cod, which is south.

14. Permission: LEAVE. By you leave, sire. An old fashioned word, 'Leave' has been used with the meaning of permission since at least the 9th century, and was very popular in my friend Will Shakespeare's work (more on him later).

15. Natural shade: ECRU. This common puzzle word comes from the French meaning raw, or unbleached.

16. Turow memoir: ONE L. This abbreviation for the first year of law school is a fairly new phrase which did not exist in my day.

20. Warning: OMEN.

21. Understanding words: I SEE. Mira, mira.

22. Elite octet: IVIES. We had reference to the eight IVY League schools just recently.

23. Paragon of redness: BEET. Beets are really not all that red, and in New England we said Red as a Lobster, which are not that red until you boil them.

25. Maneuver: FINESSE. Are you a direct, or finesse player?

31. Muse who inspires poets: ERATO. This is a crossword must know, as are all the muses.

32. 1,000-yr. realm: HRE. Ah, we already had an indirect reference to the Ottoman Empire, and now we have the Holy Roman Empire, which began after Charlemagne and lasted until the 1800s. The OTTOMAN ran from about 1300 to the 1920s.

33. One-time neighbor of French Indochina: SIAM. Now known as Vietnam and Thailand.

37. Arabic is one of its two official langs.: ISR. An abbreviation for Israel, whose population is 20% Arab.

38. Surfer's guide: SITE MAP. Internet surfers, fooled you?

42. "Exodus" hero: ARI. Another Israel reference, this to the engrossing historical novel by Leon Uris.

43. Suffix with grammar: IANS. Ah, we have some GRAMMARIANS among us.

45. Nonsense: ROT. That is a bunch of Rot!

46. Links coup: EAGLE. Two less than par in golf. A hole in one on a par three is also an eagle. I have never made one.

52. Biblical betrayer: DELILAH. The Torah temptress who sold out poor Sampson by cutting his hair, and the inspiration for this SONG .

55. __ dixit: IPSE. See, more for me; a law term meaning something said but unproven.

56. Up in the air: ALOFT.

57. They may be wild: OATS. Yes, and you must sow them while you are young, or so I have read.

59. Stage group: CREW. I tried to make this more complicated than it was, thinking about a team of horses.

66. Relax: EASE. A verb variant.

67. Slobbering canine: ODIE. Again, my first thought when I glanced through the clues was CUJO.

68. Mobile one of song: DONNA. A beautiful deception, as the Italian pronunciation is masked, and the constructor gets her name in the puzzle. This SONG is from Verdi's Opera Rigoletto and the lyrics are:"Woman is flighty
Like a feather in the wind." I heard this music often as child.

69. Batik artist: DYER. All you wanted to know about this CLOTH .

70. Tech support caller: USER.

71. Worry about: SWEAT. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and its all Small Stuff. RELAX, we made it through to the Downs.

Down:

1. As well: ALSO.

2. Chew (out): REAM. I am going to ream him a new... oops, have to stop there.

3. Gander, e.g.: MALE. Not the verb; what's good for the goose? She needs a Gander.

4. It's as likely as not: EVEN BET. Nicely clued.

5. "In __ Speramus": Brown U. motto: DEO. Latin, meaning "In G-d We Hope." In English the word 'aspiration' and others come from this root.

6. Bothers: GETS TO. Those un-clued related clues like 1A and 6A are getting to me.

7. Dull discomfort: ACHE. They give me an ache behind my eyes.

8. Timber producer: TREE FARM. Hmm, too simple for me.

9. Pension start?: SUS. A nice classic prefix clue; did you suss it out?

10. Transmits: CONVEYS. Carries etc.

11. They're not pros: ANTIS.Probably the first misdirection clue I remember from watching my parents do the Sunday Times; they are not Amateurs.

12. Famille members: PERES. Now for my French lesson, and a question. PERE means FATHER and FAMILLE is FAMILY; but is it fair because there is only UN PERE PAR FAMILLE, so how can it be plural?

13. "Family Ties" mom: ELYSE. Michael J. Fox's TV mom, a pretty California woman as seen in this LINK who was married for 15 years to David Birney, with whom she worked in Bridget Loves Bernie and now now Meredith has announced she is in a committed relationship with another woman.

18. Feudal holding: FIEF. Another essentially legal concept, describing land which was titled to an individual who could then pass ownership to his heirs in exchange for loyalty to the ruler of the land. The word has morphed into FOEFF and then FEE, which is why land transfers are now said to be in FEE SIMPLE.

19. Strauss's "__ Nacht in Venedig": EINE. A NIGHT IN VENICE, by JOHANN STRAUSS, Jr. While his father was famous for his waltzes, Junior gained favor for his light operettas.

24. Slaughter on a diamond: ENOS. The original hustling ball player, he and Garagiola were stars of the 1946 World Series where St. Louis beat the Red Sox.

26. Notion: IDEA. I have an Notion to give you a good spanking...

27. Former Cunard fleet member, for short: QEII. I love cruising, and once owned a travel agency so I could cruise inexpensively.

28. Starry-eyed bear?: URSA. Do you like Major or Minor better?

29. Make: EARN. What did you make last year?

30. Bonnie Blue's daddy: RHETT. Another GWTW memory.

34. "I hate the Moor" speaker: IAGO. More Shakespeare, from OTHELLO .

35. Woodstock singer before Joan: ARLO. I have previously ranted on ho disappointed we all were sitting in the mud in Bethel New York, when Arlo performed and refused to play even the short version of ALICE'S RESTAURANT which now that his star has dimmed, he is happy to play. I changed my avatar to my uncollected ticket to Woodstock.

36. Manner: MIEN. Another old fashioned word.

39. "__ la Douce": IRMA. A cute MOVIE starring Shirley McLaine and Jack Lemmon (coming to my aid?).

40. Points of initial progress: TOE HOLDS. Our favorite word, describing the pint we first began to solve a puzzle. You think Donna reads blogs?

41. Some motel guests: PETS. I wanted ROACH, but...

44. Napoleon vessel?: SNIFTER. NAPOLEON BRANDY is a designation of how long the liquor has aged. Oddly, I was at dinner with a nephew and his girl friend, explaining about how brandy was first distilled from wine (grapes) but is now made from fruits also, Schnapps, is a form of fruit brandy. COGNAC is a brandy from a specific region in France (just as Champagne, is a sparkling wine from a different region).

47. Recanted in embarrassment: ATE CROW. Meaning admitting you were wrong to the public, perhaps because cooked crow is very unpalatable.

49. Der __: Adenauer epithet: ALTE. Well, after this week you could not get this one wrong.

50. "That sly come __ stare": "Witchcraft" lyric: HITHER. This LOOK was featured in the song made famous by Frank Sinatra.

51. Church area: APSE. Crossword staple.

52. Out: DATED. PASSE and DATED both have 5 letters.

53. His Super Bowl MVP performance was his last NFL game: ELWAY. One of the few to retire on a high note, which I guess is what Bret wanted.

54. Out: LOOSE. This took a while, but I guess it is like let the dogs out.

58. Play to __: A TIE. Kiss you sister, mister?

60. Cryptic character: RUNE. These are the old alphabets which used in Europe until replaced by the Latin one we use today.

61. Italian volcano: ETNA. In Sicily.

62. Comedy routine infielder ...: WHAT. Classic comedy, which like a crossword is based on MISDIRECTION . 64D. ... and Bud's partner in the routine: LOU.

65. QB's scores: TDS. Cheerleaders, just would not fit.

Well, there you have it, a very fun, and seemingly quick solve, filled with memories and humor. Donna at her best. Until next time, remember to eat your vegetables, and there is always room for J E L L O.