Conjunction Junction

Fun and done. Thanks, Capn.

The awkwardness with which I hiccuped, staggered and stumbled into a solution belies the elegance of Cap'n Rick's creation. Well.done!

Another excellent creation. I spent a good bit of time trying to figure out the order of UNISON before I went back to the grid !

I submitted UNISON and wondered which letters I had wrong. Very nice Cap'n.

oops...add me to the list who submitted Unison first. Loved it...noticed the 3 plus signs right away. And of course, I am in the age group that watched SchoolHouse Rock when it was originally broadcast...and then bought the tapes for my children. Thanks Cap'n Rick!

Nice one, Cap'n! Elegant as always. (My first incorrect entry UNISON was due to some grid dyslexia, but I soon sorted it out)

Had to back solve for the final letter. Very nice!

Great construction!

Very elegant!

Very nice. I got stuck for a while because I had TIMID for Hem and Haw, and ACH for Hue and Cry... there is really not a lot going on with USTANO! I was sure on the others, fortunately- just had to wander around looking for better matches for those two.

Beautifully constructed!

But is there any reason for order?

I first thought No.s would be the answer to MIN/MAX but then decided that "wave peaks/CRESTS" would be better. But I couldn't read my notes so looking at the letters I had originally written USINON, I entered with complete confidence "UNISON".

... blink, blink...

That's wrong? Oh, I'm using old No.s and not the new CREST. So USINCO hmm... put that into an anagrammer and get: COUSIN. That's a little strange but it can work. Enter.

Wrong. Okay, not a blink-blink but okay. Cousin was the only anagram, but if it was No.s after all? Enter into an anagrammer.... UNIONS. Okay, that HAS to be it.

It is! But the order... kind sideways and around..... I still like UNISON as an alternate answer.

Oh, for gosh sake. The tatoo on my forehead "always check grid order"

.....

Well, I should have realized when I got it tatooed to my forehead that I'd only see it if I looked in a mirror.

Was sure it was going to be UNITES (had TIMID for HEM AND HAW). But couldn't find an E word. So had to reconsider and found my way to the correct answer. Saw UNISON but thought SERE was a better match. Thanks for the Sunday fun, Rick!

Very nice, as always. Spotted the plus signs right away when looking at the blank grid, so was onto it from the jump. I think HIS/HER was the first one I saw while filling it, and I had put SERE in there before I got to HOT and DRY, so speedy from there. Was a bit wobbly about some of my fill choices in the SW, but it worked out in the end. :) Fun stuff, thanks! :)

So fun to remember Schoolhouse Rock! Aaaaaand, now I’ll just be singing this ALL DAY! Thanks for an enjoyable meta, Cap’n.

According to the CJ lyrics, You should always say “thank you”, Or at least say “please”. Everyone in unison: Thank you AND please keep them coming, Cap’n! Fascinating grid and excellent meta primer.

Loved it, Capn! I knew what to do right away, but doing it was another matter! My first guess was FUSION, although I had no idea where FRENCHY fit in. Then I did the UNISON thing. Thanks!

Another great nightcap for a Sunday night. I see what you did with 56D!

Ah, I almost fell into the UNISON trap but avoided it just in time!

Safely sailed at sea, no nudges needed...perhaps because I could discern the difference between Shinola and "almost" fitting alternates? Saw HIS/HER first and knew that had to be UNISEX, then almost fell into UNISON with others but saw that SAHARA was hot and dry, but SERE was a d͟e͟f͟i͟n͟i͟t͟i͟o͟n͟ of HOT and DRY. Got slightly off the charted course when I decided that ITSALOT was the alternate for MIN and MAX which would have been fine letterwise but then that left HEM and HAW which I tried to force into SHINOLA (ain't that a load of crap) but then saw the error of my ways when I went back to my jottings and saw I had already tentatively assigned MIX and MAX to NOS. Fun puzzle Cap, as always. Fill was a little more challenging than usual but given your constraints. Oh, and who else had a temporary tightening of the gluteal muscle when they saw 16A "Pageant once...."?

I backsolved for the 'i', though I probably didn't actually need to. It was just easier than reading through all the clues again. Thanks!

Submitted the anagram UNISON -- it also works with the title -- then checked the order in the grid. Interesting that four of the pairs start with H and two with M. Hmm.

Not Bobby Dorough's best song, not even his best Schoolhouse Rock song --- that's Figure Eight -- but, like this puzzle, much fun.