(JULIAN) BARNES, KEEPING AN EYE OPEN — [B]y the Sixties... there was Postmodernism, and later post-Postmodernism, and so on until eventually the labels ran out. A literary critic in New York was later to call me a "pre-Postmodernist," a moniker I am still working on.
| A. | Last of 40 spaces in a game | BOARDWALK |
| B. | Natural talent; suitability | APTITUDE |
| C. | Maurice ____, Canadien who was first in the N.H.L. to score 500 goals | RICHARD |
| D. | What junk food is low in | NUTRIENTS |
| E. | Deceased subject of a classic Monty Python skit (hyph.) | EXPARROT |
| F. | Accept without question | SWALLOW |
| G. | Hungarian dog breed with a very shaggy coat | KOMONDOR |
| H. | One of the Blues Brothers | ELWOOD |
| I. | Soothing to the skin | EMOLLIENT |
| J. | Pertaining to cockatoos, macaws and such | PSITTACINE |
| K. | Hugeness | IMMENSITY |
| L. | Forces trained for ops in all terrains (2 wds.) | NAVYSEALS |
| M. | Exercising bottoms (2 wds.) | GYMSHORTS |
| N. | Myrmecologist's study | ANTS |
| O. | Feat that's taboo to talk about while it's in progress (hyph.) | NOHITTER |
| P. | Crime-fighter played on TV by Robert Stack (2 wds.) | ELIOTNESS |
| Q. | Headwear leaving much of the head uncovered | YARMULKE |
| R. | Perfect, unblemished | ERRORLESS |
| S. | Unwilling to be convinced otherwise | OBSTINATE |
| T. | Paper a builder might need | PERMIT |
| U. | Formidable rock formation in Yosemite (2 wds.) | ELCAPITAN |
| V. | Putative; trifling | NOMINAL |