This puzzle had the typical handful of people I’d never (or barely) heard of. I know I’ve seen GRISSOM in my puzzle before, but that didn’t help today - needed most of the crosses to get it (41D: Second American to fly in space). This AYER guy is totally unknown to me (44A: Philosopher who promoted logical positivism). AYERS, everyone’s heard of now. AYER, not so much. And GREER (41A: 20-Across in the Hall of Fame) - 20A: Net rival (Sixer)???

Xword search information — Across: 11. The sculptures ….see bellow; 16. Ready to crash; 18. Like the Empire State Building; 20. Net rival; 21. Bush jumper, informally; 27. Polaroid; 31. Elvis’s “___ of Blues”; 33. Comic who kills;

I know Rosey GRIER, but Hal GREER was before my time. His Wikipedia entry contains this curious claim: “Hal Greer is recognized as the only African-American athlete enshrined in a major sports hall of fame from West Virginia.” I had heard of TITO (35A: Defier of Stalin), of course, but that doesn’t mean his name came to me instantly. A cross or two was enough to do the trick. And I know ARP pretty well, but I am not familiar with the names of either of the sculptures (or ARPS) in question today (11A: The sculptures “Cloud Shepherd” and “Coquille Crystals”).

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