Position Play by Fred Piscop

Across 1. Pessimist's phrase 6. Verne hero Phileas 10. Boxer LaMotta 14. Solitary sort 15. 1847 Melville work 16. "A thousand and one __" 17. "__ luck!" 18. Othello's ensign 19. "Now hear __!" 20. Libation for a baseball player? 23. Shepherd's place 24. Kerouac's "Big __" 25. Put together 28. Jazz date 31. Chopin's homeland 36. Roth __ 37. Hummer's instrument 39. Croc's cousin 40. Heart of a basketball player? 43. __-Saxon 44. Quiz scandal figure Charles Van __ 45. Baton Rouge sch. 46. Pancake servings 48. Checkers side 49. Word in an octagon 50. Actress Thurman 52. Sun __-sen 54. Place for a football player to browse? 61. Metered vehicle 62. Diva __ Te Kanawa 63. Go like a kangaroo 65. Help with a heist 66. Lustful god 67. Everglades wader 68. Offered, as a farewell 69. Parts of matches 70. Bootlickers' responses

Down 1. Under the weather 2. Hen's pen 3. Nay sayer 4. Chocolate giant 5. Barely perceptible amount 6. Pâté de __ gras 7. General Bradley 8. "We Got the Beat" band, with "the" 9. Totally botch 10. Burlap fiber 11. Netman Arthur 12. Dullea of ''2001" 13. Double curve 21. Comics Viking 22. Heavy shoe 25. Rocks that split into sheets 26. "__ You Glad You're You?" 27. Pal of Pooh 29. Classic shirt brand 30. Like a lot 32. Washroom, in brief 33. Like the Tower of Pisa 34. "That's false!" 35. Evaporate 37. Iowa city on the Mississippi 38. Brutish sort 41. Pampering, briefly 42. Color anew 47. Enjoys a cheroot 49. Howard, Fine or Howard 51. In flames 53. Monk's home 54. Rum-soaked cake 55. Chopped down 56. Give as an example 57. Harness racing gait 58. Snake sound 59. Sharer's word 60. Patella's place 61. Bar bill 64. Sot's symptoms, for short Copyright © Fred Piscop