Holy cow! First of all, DH just came through asking if the puzzle was up yet. I said he needs to be patient! And now, this well keep us busy today. It’s a biggie! Thanks! Pouring a cup of coffee to get started.

Edit now that I’ve looked at it: I can’t read 1b at all.

Thanks bpath. The word is bopper, and I put that in the initial post.

I love that your hubby is involved!! LOL

I’m killing time before a soccer game and of course forgot my reasing glasses. That said, I can still zoom and read all but 1b.

But FOAS, you know the word is 'bopper', correct?

Well now, this should keep me busy for a couple of days. . . .

Rusty

“But FOAS, you know the word is 'bopper', correct?”

Yes, posting is slow without glasses, too, so cross-posts will happen! 😀

A tip: If you zoom in, don’t cut off the edges, or beyond the edges, of the boxes.

And for referencing in this puzzle - letters are going across and numbers are going down. It's usually the other way around. I;m going to need a bigger piece of paper.

I didn't want to do any housework today anyway.

And for referencing in this puzzle - letters are going across and numbers are going down. It's usually the other way around. I;m going to need a bigger piece of paper.

Ooh, tell me about it!

I just started jotting down some guesses and I keep mixing up my rows/lines, numbers/letters. 😡

Wow! This is a big one - more fun 😃

I still have 1/3 to go! I had to make a chart to keep track, thanks for the tip blfenton.

edit: I love when DH wanders through the room, glances at it, and we get one or two at the same time. Down to 1/4 left to go.

I'll admit I've been at this most of the day so far. Made a typed list of my answers and I think that's helping. At this point I have answers/guesses for all but five of them. Doing much better than I thought I would when I first looked at it this morning.

But it's time now for a break and a snack!

Rusty

I am going to have to take the hint and write things down, I am forgetting my answers.

I just have to say that 4c and 7a make me smile every time.

Woah!!!! Brain Game on steroids!!!! Cool.

First look through, there are about 10 I don’t know and 2 that I’m not sure of. Not bad…. Will be back later.

Ok, I've gotten a few more - making progress. Here are the ones I still have no guess for:

2d, 6d, 7c, 7d, and 7e.

And my guesses for 1f and 5e are pretty iffy....

I haven’t had my coffee yet so no fresh answers this morning. I still need:

1f, 2c, 3f, 4d, 5e, 5f, 6b, 6d, 7e

I do feel like I’ve got ”bingo” because I have all of column a!

Ok finally getting to this for real. writing them down is definitely helpful for me. so far missing 14 and pretty confident about all but two of the rest.

Finally got 5f. I've been halfway there for a day and got it in a "duh" moment.

I have all of column A, B and C but a couple of my answers have BIG questions marks beside them. I'm missing 10 on the other columns.

It's a good thing I wrote my answers down yesterday, as I had forgotten a few of them when I checked in on this today.

Still have the same blanks, 1F, 2C. 3A, 3F, and 5F. (ETA to correct)

Big question marks by 4E, 6C, 6F, and 7D.

A couple others I'm not real sure of, but keeping current answers. Going to try to work on the blanks.

Rusty

Think I have answers for 1F, 2C and 5F ! ! ! Just two to go! ! ! Will be interesting to see the answers tonight!

Rusty

Okay, all you smartieboots, now that we are down to the final hours how’s about some hints? I’ll start at the top: 1f?

1 F Hint

Wot, wot? Sound the horn. We’re on the hunt for hints.🦊

bpath, we have some of the same unanswered ones, and others I'm not confident enough to give hints for (2C for example, my answer is pretty simple, so not positive it's right). For 4d, I can tell you that it was a real battle, but I eventually got it. And for 6b, well, when you find yourself in that position you tend to get them a lot.

Thanks, letters, I was afraid 4d would be my last stand.

I missed this yesterday, but I was having trouble with my eyes burning. Anyway, I tried resizing the puzzle and cut it into two parts. Perhaps this will help, but maybe not.

If this isn't better, I will delete this post.

^ Lars, that is better. I only wish my eyes were the problem. Got anything for my brain? 😀

Did Steve Allen write 6b?

lars - too bad your eyes weren't better yesterday. I could have used your skills then.

I'm not confidant enough of my answer for 1F to try to give a hint.

I think I've looked at both the puzzle and my list of answers so much I'm getting cross eyed. 5A is the one I was having problems with, not 5F. And the reason it was giving me problems was I was reading the word wrong. I had a couple of extra letters in it.

So I quit for now. . . . .

Rusty

Lars, that is a LOT better! ! ! Wish that had been here yesterday, maybe I wouldn't have had the splitting headache I had last night.

Rusty

Every time I look at 5a i see all kinds of words, almost like I’m looking through a shimmer.

It's Monday night! Jasdip will be off work soon! Hints needed for:

ho+ho+ho=

budget

^

(mmm, maybe have the budget one now)

3. O

2. U

1. T

¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ (wait, by typing it I got it! I have to hit the space bar between them, and that did it for me!)

ACCIDENT (turn your screen)

cy cy

moonsite???

Hmm. Maybe I’m wrong with my first hint for 1F. Does a fox hunt make sense? It kind of adds up.

Those two cys (D6)are doppelgangers. This puzzle was a whirlwind, jasdip

Roxsol, slapping myself upside the head for 1f. I’m a horn player, I should have known. It’s also how I remember what a 5th sounds like.

AHA! Got 6d! My mom and her sister are both born on the same day (and in the plains states!) and look nothing alike. I have cousins I can’t tell apart.

And one more edit, in sharing the latest hints and answers with DS, we talked through 3f and got it!

Another hint for 6b? 7e? Anyone?

bpath, I thought you had 6b. There was a very good clue given upthread.

eta Yes, from lettersatoz. Go look! You’ll stumble across it. Be careful if you’re clumsy.

7e, I have scrambled thoughts about offering hints for that one. I’m torn on what to do, what to say. Kind of a love/hate thing. (think anagram)

6b

I like Lars' split puzzle!

1a Just under the wire
1b Teeny-bopper
1c Love at first sight
1d Standing ovation
1e Splitting headache
1f Tally-ho

2a That's beside the point
2b Better safe than sorry
2c Balanced budget
2d Till the end of time
2e Dashed hopes
2f Shape up or ship out

3a Circular reasoning
3b Sitting on top of the world
3c Cancelled check
3d The last round-up
3e A Shot in the Dark
3f Outnumbered Three to One

4a Bottom of the ninth
4b More often than not
4c "Space Invaders"
4d Little Big Horn
4e The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
4f Skinny-dipping

5a Heat Wave
5b Start of something big
5c Upper (or high) income brackets
5d Three square meals a day
5e Close quarters
5f Line up in alphabetical order

6a All hands on deck
6b Accident-prone
6c Jaywalking
6d Cyclones
6e Flight of Fancy
6f Side-splitting joke

7a Open sesame
7b Dipsy doodle
7c Short shrift
7d Teetotal
7e Mixed emotions
7f Chip off the old block

Covering my eyes!!’

For 2c, I had over or above budget. Oh well.

For 3f, the best I could come up with was down and out.

5b, YAY! I loved Steve Allen.

6b, I never would have gotten that. I mean, I know the expression, I just never would have gotten the answer.

6f, I had ”inside joke”, which I think also works. But I concede to the author!

7b, YAY! I wasn’t sure, but I had it! It’s a favorite expression in our house!

7e, nope, I would never, ever, well maybe in a month, have gottent that.

Thanks, jasdip! great way to keep busy on a grey day!

I missed 1f, 3f, 5e, 6d, 7c and 7d. I’ve never heard the expression short shrift, but the rest I should have definitely gotten.

Fun collection - thanks Jasdip!

Letters, one of my favorite childhood books was The Phantom Tollboth. There is a character named Officer Shrift, who is very short. It took me 20 years or so to get the joke.

For 3f I had counted out.

For 5f I had disorderly line up

For 6f I had inside joke

For 7d and 7f I didn't have anything.

Dipsy doodle is an expression I’ve never heard in my life so I didn’t stand a chance on that one. The last round up is another unfamiliar one, although I’ve vaguely heard of it. Got the rest. Short shrift, on the other hand, is quite commonly used over here.

Floral, I know how you feel. I do a cryptic crossword from Australia so I'm always having to look up cultural references. My husband and I use"dipsy doodle" a lot, especially to describe our route when running errands.

I knew dipsy doodle because it's an old popular song that (I think) had a dance to go along with it.

As a kid growing up, I loved everything that had anything to do with cowboys, horses, westerns, etc., and Gene Autry was second only to Roy Rogers on my hero list. So the song 'The Last Roundup' came easy to me. And it's been going through my mind ever since I opened this puzzle Sunday.

I had thought of 'Circular reasoning' for 3A but didn't think that would be a thing, so didn't put it on my list.

So I missed a total of 7. And the one I am kicking myself about is C6. Not once did I realize that was the letter J! 'Walking backwards' was the best I came up with for that one. SMH.

This was a real brain work out! But a fun one.

Rusty

Here's all the ones I missed:

2c

3f

4d

5b

5e

7d

7f

I thought I had 2c - but my answer was 'over budget'

This was a good one, Jasdip - some of them are very clever!