G’day! I’ve been wanting to put 1/7 Across – a fantastic, not nearly well-known enough Australian band — in a grid for a long time and came up with a theme where they’re a natural. Enjoy the solve, share the grid. Next up will be a tough themeless.
Words: 75
Average Length: 4.77
Difficulty: 3 out of 5
(The title reflects the fact that Modest Mouse was a fourth theme answer in an earlier draft of the puzzle. I didn’t like a lot of my fill so I started over and found the puzzle worked better with only three theme answers (plus the revealer). My apologies to this very fine band.)
1/7A: Australia and Canada must lead the world in per-capita production of terrific music. Whenever I listen to this band I’m smiling and ready to dance. They are amazing musicians, adept in any genre, who write irrepressible songs about loving life and not taking yourself too seriously. Here is a link to their YouTube page. One day when the world is “normal” again, I will visit Australia and time my stay to catch one of their shows.
22/24/25A: Despite having surprisingly few #1s, this band has as strong and deep a catalog as any of their contemporaries.
56D: I like The Royal Scam even better.
Jeff's Puzzles 