Friday NYT reinkings

46 down: Pale Yellow (5). With crossings _A _ _ E, I wrote in TAUPE, without really knowing what color that is. [OK—what color is it? I Google—it's a "brownish gray."] The answer was MAIZE.

47 across: Weak excuse for missing homework (7). With I_O_ _ _ _, I wrote in IFORGOT. Nope—ILOSTIT, instead.

30 across: Butterfly with black-and-white eyespots (9). With an H as the final letter reasonably certain, I wanted this to end with MOTH. Yes, I really wanted this to be a MOTH. Then I thought—wait—is a butterfly a moth? I FORGOT. The answer, WOODNYMPH, blocked me for a pleasing 5 minutes or so.

Answers that came last or were otherwise annoying:

6 across: Medium size in a lingerie shop (4). Women's clothing, a weak spot. CCUP.

32 down: Noted shopper scolder (9) I could picture the guy with the glasses, "Don't squeeze the ... OK, the what? The LARMIN?! the GARMIN?? Something like that, but these seemed to be Dr Seuss characters, not advertising personalities, and they didn't have enough letters, anyway. Ah...the CHARMIN. But that wasn't the guy's name, was it? Back the drawing board. I guessed MRWHIPPLE but did confirm it with Gloria, since it somehow seemed very, very, very wrong.

7 down: Ingredient in Long Island Tea (7). I had _ _ _ _CAO written in, but the nearby clue, "Cacao plant feature" (with answer POD, WTF?) completely blocked any ability I might have had to summon with CURACAO. This is the last area of the puzzle I finished.

Misc

1) Didn't feel this at all.

2) Going to mail a letter, I almost stepped on a raccoon as it emerged from this gutter.

GLORIA: Did you drop the letter in the gutter?

THANE: No.

3) I've proposed that Sarah Palin's GOP acceptance harangue be referred to as

[ Yes—I know politicians use speech writers frequently. But Obama wrote his own books, and I'll bet most—if not all—of his most important speeches, also. ]