C.C. asked me to guest blog the Tuesday Crossword. I hope I do it justice. But before I get started, congrats to T Frank and Jean. I saw where you were in Rhode Island which is where I currently reside.

Okay, here goes.

Theme: THE WIZARD OF OZ

21A: Helpless: OVER A BARREL

26A: Something wonderful, in old slang: THE BEES KNEES. Never heard of this. Here is the definition. It is also a restaurant.

43A: '80's animated character assisted by the seven Color Kids: RAINBOW BRITE

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto. All we're missing is the "Somewhere." Maybe a clue that involves the movie Somewhere in Time. Only because I like stories/films about time travel. In case anybody is curious, the title of the song has been both - "Over the Rainbow" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Depends on where you look.

I remember that stupid character in 43A. My daughter needed everything that went with her 20 years ago. Cost big bucks.

1A: Punch line's lead-in: SETUP

6A: Where many a T-shirt is tie-dyed: CAMP. I bet there were a lot of tie-dyed shirts here 40 years ago.

10A: Mil. truant: AWOL

14A: Bernardo's girl, in "West Side Story": ANITA. Never read the book or saw the movie. Rita Morena played her in the movie.

15A: “Rubáiyát” poet Khayyám: OMAR. Could also have been clued Epps or Sharif.

16A: Type of lily: SEGO

17A: Generous sort: GIVER

18A: Put the kibosh on: VETO

19A: Like most hoopsters: TALL. Now this is a tall hoopster - for C.C.

20A: Fuss: ADO

24A: Landed: ALIT

25A: London insurance market: LLOYDS

31A: "How much wood ___ a woodchuck chuck ...": WOULD

32A: Weapons: ARMS

33A: Curly and Larry's cohort: MOE. I never liked them. There is supposed to be a movie in 2010.

36A: Concerning, in memos: IN RE. (in regard)

37A: Rum-soaked cakes: BABAS. They look good.

39A: Cass or Michele, in the '60's: MAMA. Sigh!!! The Mamas and The Papas.

40A: Prefix with thermal: GEO

41A: First Bond movie: DR. NO. I still think Sean Connery was the best Bond.

42A: Protection: AEGIS. In the Iliad, it was the shield or buckler of Athena or Zeus and was fashioned by Hephaestus.

46A: Bring in from abroad: IMPORT

49A: Overconfident morality tale critter: HARE

50A: Character who, in a movie released nationally 70 years ago today, sang the ballad formed by the first words of 21-, 26-, and 43-Across: DOROTHY GALE. Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

53A: Past: AGO

56A: Take a gander: LOOK

57A: Exploitative type: USER

58A: Felt the effects of overexertion: ACHED

60A: Morlocks' "The Time Machine Prey": ELOI. I love time travel. Did I already say that? I think the Back to the Future films handled it the best.

61A: Physical lead-in: META

62A: Not save: SPEND. The government is sure doing a lot of that lately.

63A: Hotel repository: SAFE. Interesting how it comes on the heels of "Spend."

64A: Important times: ERAS

65A: Domesticates: TAMES

Now for the down clues.

1D: Drawn-out story: SAGA

2D: Oklahoma city on the Chisholm Trail: ENID. This is usually a crossword staple.

3D: VCR successor: TIVO

4D: Sporty truck, briefly: UTE. For sports "ute" ility vehicle.

5D: Released with conditions: PAROLED

6D: Violates the Tenth Commandment: COVETS. Another great movie starring Charlton Heston, president of the NRA (see 30D).

7D: OAS part: AMER. OAS = Organization of American States.

8D: Espionage name: MATA. Goes hand in hand with James Bond and Dr. No ( 41A).

9D: Predicaments: PROBLEMS

10D: Houston team: ASTROS. Speaking of another Texas team - what's up with that jumbo tron in the new Cowboy's stadium?

11D: Exhausted: WEARY

12D: Leered at: OGLED

13D: Reclines lazily: LOLLS

22D: Compete: VIE

23D: Brewpub brews: ALES. Might need one after getting through with this guest blog. I don't care how early in the morning it is.

24D: Competent: ABLE. I hope everyone thinks I was able to do this okay.

26D: Piece of kindling: TWIG

27D: Sharpen: HONE

28D: Mark's successor: EURO. Wasn't thinking Deutschmark here at first.

29D: "Shish" dish: KABOB. Sheesh!!! Still, there is nothing like them for a cookout on the barbie.

30D: Second amendment advocacy gp.: NRA

33D: Biblical gift bearers: MAGI

34D: Leave out: OMIT

35D: Alleviate: EASE

37D: "Fox News Sunday" panelist: BRIT HUME

38D: Michigan's ___ Arbor: ANN

39D: No more than: MERE

41D: Dressmaker's seam: DART. For some reason, I wanted darn and finally remembered dart.

42D: Side by side: ABREAST. This one probably got Dennis and the DF's (as we used to call them) going for a bit.

43D: First-year player: ROOKIE. Not that I keep up on it, but I wonder who's rookie card is worth the most these days.

44D: Tara family: O'HARAS. Tara is the fictional plantation in this movie.

45D: ___-Mart: WAL

46D: Doesn't do a thing: IDLES

47D: Gelt: MOOLA. With the government "spending" instead of "saving", how can we have any of this?

48D: Smoking gun, e.g.: PROOF

51D: River through France and Belgium: YSER. Another staple for crosswords. During the Battle of the Yser in the First World War the river was deliberately flooded from Nieuwpoort up to Diksmuide in order to provide an obstacle to the advancing German Army.

52D: "I ___ Kick Out of You": GET A

53D: Polite interruption: AHEM

54D: Trait source: GENE

55D: Bookie's concern: ODDS

59D: Numbers pro, briefly: CPA

Well, that's it for today's puzzle. I hope everyone appreciates my comments. Thank you, C.C. for letting me do this. I haven't been to the site in a long, long time because of the "work police" but was on vacation this week. Starting next week, it will probably go back to infrequent visits. It was nice to know (from yesterday's comments) that I was missed.

Take care.

Dr. Dad