twoberry

Thanks to the crosses, 12 of the letters of TWENTY-ACROSS were easy to fill in. Thanks to the revealer coming relatively early, my confusion ended and I relished the gentle aha moment. Quite a nice puzzle -- and congrats, Peter, on your patience and determination to become a puzzle constructor. As for those who complain about this not being tricky enough for a Thursday, I agree that this would have been a better fit for Tuesday or Wednesday, but I for one was delighted with today's solving experience.

Lee Marvin's car-washing tool? Before I answer, I'd like to point out an interesting alternative answer at 6D in Richard Silvestri's wonderful cryptic today. I wrote in RECLAIMED rather quickly. A stretch of land could be called a "claim," especially when ownership is disputed. And RECLAIMED and RETRACTED equally define "took back." (I miss seeing discussions of the occasional cryptics? Are they still published? If so, can someone tell me how to find them?) Anyway, Cat Ballou's squeegee. I know it doesn't work, but I like it anyway. Pirandello agrees with me.