Oh my, another fun long one, perfect for hibernation! It’s cold today, this puzzle will keep my brain warm :)

Yep, need paper for this one again. Quick look- through, I’m missing just a few. Bottom left is clever.

Fun!! Lots of these didn't come to me right away, so I'll have my work cut out for me tonight - love it!

I think I got most of them on the first run through.

Well, at least I got more than I usually get first time around.

Rusty

Ok, back for a longer look and I think I have everything except for - believe it or not - 3B. It seems like it should be so simple, but I’ve stared at it long enough and it’s just not coming to me. Hmmm…..

I got quite a few on my first run through, but also drew a lot of blanks. Just finished spending a little more time and think i have some decent answers for all except 5f and 6f. Still working on those. Some of these are really cute and clever.

Can anyone tell me what the tiny word nest to 'willow' is in 5B?

Rusty

Rusty, it’s ping.

^^^ Thank you!

Rusty

I'm still missing 4 of them. There is tomorrow morning when I can have more coffee.

After my first sit-down with paper and pen, I’m missing 3b, 5f, 6f.

1a sleeping on the job

b cornerstone

c high jinks

d getting up before the crack of dawn

e roger, over and out

f narrow escape

2a equal rights

b little house on the prairie

c waving goodbye

d condensed milk

e two-car garage

f stand-up comic

3a Lucille Ball

b partly cloudy

c I before e except after c

d mixed greens

e spiraling inflation

f polka-dotted

4a full-length mirror

b man in the moon

c clams on the half-shell

d the check is in the mail

e Count Dracula

f open-and-shut case

5a no u-turn

b weeping willow (cute)

c suspended animation

d pretty please, with sugar on top

e receding hairline

f elevator out of order

6a and 7a double-decker bus

b middle aged spread

c tiptoe through the tulips

d three blind mice

e raised eyebrows

f steal from the rich and give to the poor

7b top of the morning

c light socket

d tortilla flat

e safety in numbers

f round of drinks on the house

I called narrow escape - great escape. I missed spiraling inflation and I have no idea what tortilla flat is.

I thought it was great escape also; and I never did get partly cloudy (duh!!), but otherwise did well. Thank you, Jasdip - Happy Friday!

1d getting up before the crack of dawn - I had break, close enough I’d say

3b partly cloudy - can’t believe I missed this!

5f elevator out of order - I kept seeing either ”love it or leave it” or ”love to overeat” so no, I wasn’t close here!

6f steal from the rich and give to the poor - shoulda gotten this one

7d tortilla flat - don’t know what that is. I had press

Not great, not terrible!

Oops one more:

1f narrow escape - I had bold escape

^ foas - haha, I kept seeing tea lover in 5f but couldn't figure out why it was wavy - I'm not a tea drinker so wasn't sure if that was a nod to a type of tea, but eventually realized it was elevator!

I didnt do as well as I thought, but I think some of us can take at least partial credit for some of our answers.

1f - I had Great escape

2d - I had Lowfat milk

3b - Partly Cloudy

6b - Age Groups or Age range

7d - no idea what a tortilla flat is either. I just said ’flat tortilla‘ because they are.

I totally missed 3e and 6f, take from the rich and give to the poor, and came up with nothing there.

"Tortilla Flat" is a novel by John Steinbeck, also a town in Arizona.

I missed 5C and 6F, all I could ever see in 6F was an extended porch of some kind. 6B eluded me completely, also. I'm beginning to worry about me when I can't even come up with a guess, even if it's weird!

Rusty