Initial Thoughts by Andrew Cole First appeared in Skill Shot #56 March 2020

ACROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1. Deadpool's snack, for short 14 15 16

6. Assistants 17 18 19 11. Elijah's workplace, for short 20 21 22 23 14. Sans ___ 15. Centerpiece of 24 25 26 27 28 29

"" 30 31 16. ___ Fastbreak 17. Angry 32 33 34 35 36 18. Black ___, "secret" Seattle music venue 37 38 39

19. Acquire 40 41 42 20. Composer Danny 22. ___ day of 43 44 45 Christmas, occasion for drummers 46 47 48

drumming (sadly 49 50 there is no day for bassists bassing) 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 24. Kindergarten storage nooks 60 61 62

28. Milk sugar 63 64 65 30. Equal in duration 31. Cry of delight © 2020 popularized by Homer Simpson 52. "I didn't know he 6. Book that used to 33. Princely 32. Solid, liquid, or gas had it ___" be kept in the car 35. Pale 33. Dangerous 55. Apple tablets 7. Waffle maker 36. Constructs a book 34. Teen's triumphant 60. ___ for tat 8. Defective 38. Chicken cordon ___ gesture 61. Princess of firecracker 39. "Now!" in the 37. Letters of support, 62-across 9. Dept for a lit class hospital for short 62. re-theme of 10. Like some carnival 41. Product's freshness 38. Doctor on the Family Guy rides or dark period Enterprise 63. Middle-schooler's alleyways 42. Kind and 39. PC port standard response to 11. Heavenly dessert considerate that rhymes with 60-across 12. Supports, as a 44. New ___, cap maker fuzzy 64. Iron Maiden criminal 45. Member of the fam 40. Exasperate designer Keith 13. Soak 46. seating 41. More cunning 65. With passion 21. One of the "Little option 42. Salt Lake City Women" 47. Broadway musical inhabitant DOWN 23. 1999 Seattle 48. Sheats who 43. Employ the 1. 2008 TV-themed protest subj. programmed guillotine machine 24. ___ pants (ankle , 45. Meandered, as a 2. 2013 Spike Jonze exposers) Monster Bash, river movie starring 25. Artist on "Yeah!" , 46. Quantity of Joaquin Phoenix featuring Lil Jon & and many others monkeys 3. Retirement acct. Ludacris 50. ___ Cooper 48. Pays attention 4. Cambridge 26. Elijah's band 53. Nothing 49. Shaq, e.g. engineering sch. 27. __ 302 Mustang 54. "___ about that?!" 50. "All By ___": Celine 5. "It's the end of the 28. Beck hit 56. Vietnamese soup Dion hit world as we know it 29. Astronaut 57. Painting or 51. "Snakes ___ Plane" and ___" affirmatives sculpture, e.g. 31. Partner of dined 58. Neighbor of Md. 59. Plane's place