Wednesday, March 16, 2011, John Lampkin

Theme: I am Positive this 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.

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

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

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

48A. *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.

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

And the unifier,

63A. 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 Don G's L-BAR 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 it.

Answer grid.

A treat to solve and blog with the greatest visuals in the grid and the clues; John also sent us some beautiful pictures from his many adventures. Where did ewe hide the LAMB reference Mr. Lampkin?

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

Lemonade

Note from C.C.: Lemonade won't be available next week, so he's blogging twice this week.

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 Gary Steinmehl

Theme: "ET TU, BRUTAL"?  -

Exercise and workout terms for today, the 15th, and Ides, of March.

20A. Last leg of a race : HOME STRETCH - Highly recommended activity before any activity; as a goalie, it is imperative that I STRETCH first.

27A. Chocolate bar with crisped rice : NESTLE CRUNCH - Too many of these, and you'll need to do more CRUNCHES, those sit-ups for 'rock hard ABS', a crossword staple (but not today).

49A. Overseas news-gatherers : FOREIGN PRESS - Leg, bench PRESS, etc., as I am sure there are others.

59A. Very little, in slang : DIDDLY SQUAT - wonderful phrase to speak, like "my pay is diddly squat", and a SQUAT; bend at the knees with a straight back - harder than it sounds, let me tell you.

and the unifier at 57D: PR specialists, and a word associated with the ends of 20-, 27-, 49- and 59-Across : REPS - PR Public Relations REPresentative, (ixnay on Mr. Sheen) and a REPetition, the number of times each exercise is performed within a set - and I am not a gym rat; all my exercise comes from 4 straight hours of carrying varying sizes of packages from the conveyor to the UPS truck.

Splynter filling in for a Santa with a sick "Elf".

And away we GO~!

ACROSS:

1. Cote bleats : BAAS - [koht] - noun: 1. a shelter, coop, or small shed for sheep, pigs, pigeons, etc.

5. Further : ALSO - also: hence, therefore, ergo, and, then....

9. Big name in restaurant guides : ZAGAT - established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979; see the Wiki article.

14. Flattop opposite : AFRO

15. Steady fellow : BEAU - French

16. Author Zola : EMILE - French Author, a regular in crosswords.

17. Plane or sander : TOOL - got me several of these. Plane.

18. Elongated fish : EELS - the plural implication on "fish" got me on this one.

19. Turning point : PIVOT

23. Nice season? : ETE - oh man, French, again, I seem to get a lot of this - Nice, the city in France, and the French word for summer (season).

24. Snail mail need : STAMP - I just used one yesterday, first time in forever....

25. Color in the four-color process : CYAN - CYMK, the process that uses CYAN, Yellow, Magenta, and blacK; as opposed to the RGB, two of the options in Photoshop and printing processes.

34. Plug-and-play PC port : USB - another computer term, Universal Serial Bus, for connections between devices. The abbr. of PC for Personal Computer = the abbr. answer.

37. Borat creator Sacha Baron __ : COHEN - love him, or hate him, I guess I am on the fence....

38. Trapper's gear : SNARE

39. Sheltered Greek walkway : STOA

41. Number-guessing fund-raiser : LOTTO

43. IRS agent : T-MAN - Tax Man, like a G-man, a Gov't Agent.

44. False __ : ALARM

46. Paris's __ la Paix : RUE DE - Eh, more French. Map, middle right going diagonally right.

48. Ambulance initials : EMS

52. Run or ruin : DASH - as in "dashed hopes"

53. Times spent in prison or in office : TERMS

57. Dusting aid : RAG - thought MOP first

64. Remove from the videotape : ERASE

66. Cleveland's lake : ERIE

67. DDE's alma mater : USMA - Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th president, and the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY.

68. Argentine grassland : PAMPA - Image

69. Ole Miss rival : 'BAMA - Alabama, crossword regular.

70. Modern Roman, e.g.: Abbr. : ITALian

71. Take badly? : STEAL - Good clue

72. Disappearing slope apparatus : T-BAR Skiers' assist getting up a hill.

73. Big Board letters : NYSE -New York Stock Exchange - I think this was in my first blog, too....

DOWN:

1. They're drawn in tubs : BATHS - very good clue; did anyone think "rings"?

2. In progress : AFOOT - "Strange things are AFOOT..."

3. Bakery quality : AROMA

4. Serious : SOLEMN

5. Aid's partner : ABET

6. Look that may be accompanied by a smirk : LEER

7. Shopping news : SALE - another great clue

8. Bounce, as from a bar : OUST

9. Gentle winds : ZEPHYRS

10. Porthos, to Athos : AMI - uh, French !

11. Abraham, to Lincoln : GIVEN NAME

12. Oodles : ALOT - never liked this answer

13. Place for a beret : TETE - yup, it's French

21. Risky business, briefly : SPEC - Speculation, that someone might come along and buy, as a house.

22. Brutus' 300 : CCC - Hey~! Ides related~! Roman 100 = C

26. Bee or Em : AUNT

28. Fa follower : SOL

29. Rose feature : THORN

30. Rain more gently : LET UP

31. Rectangular computer key : ENTER - Space, too

32. Stuff (into) : CRAM

33. Lady birds : HENS

34. DoD fliers : USAF - Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force.

35. D-Day target city : STLO - Oh, man, French - Conan had a guest last week who claimed in shock, he "turned white as a Frenchman's Flag" - that's funny....

36. Monopoly, for one : BOARD GAME - one of my favorites; you can get them custom made to any city, and movie, too.

40. House painter's calculation : AREA - height is a factor, too - ever try to paint a stair well?

42. Dedicated verse : ODE

45. Card player's goof : MISDEAL

47. Ballpark figs. : ESTS - Estimates. - What's your Ballpark, C.C.?

50. Letters under a 4 : GHI - duh, got me. Look at your phone.

51. Fashion sparkler : SEQUIN

54. Out of practice : RUSTY

55. Cass and Michelle, famously : MAMAS

56. Old hat : STALE

58. "I smell __!" : A RAT

60. Unpaid loan, e.g. : DEBT

61. Not bright at all : DRAB

62. Bean town? : LIMA - ah, not a Bahston reference, but the Peruvian city.

63. Wine taster's guesstimate : YEAR - our friend Tinbeni, any good at this ? I did not drink for the "year", let me tell you....

65. Healthful resort : SPA - after a good workout, head for the SPA~!

Answer grid.

Thanks for the chance to "pinch hit", C.C., look forward to more opportunities.

Splynter